Title tags are the prominent clickable headlines in search results and the #1 on-page ranking factor; they directly affect conversion before anyone sees your website. It’s important to get them right!
Under the hood, title tags (also called SEO titles or meta-titles) are hidden snippets of HTML code that summarize page content, much like the title of a non-fiction book.
A simple title tag:
<title>Home</title>
By default, the hidden title tag matches the visible title of the page. In this example, both are name “Home”. That’s the default behavior of most websites.
Leaving title tags in this default mode is a big SEO mistake — don’t do it. Instead, title tags should be independent of page titles.
Independence creates an opportunity to create a emotionally-compelling visible page title for readers paired with a highly-optimized location + service title tag for search engines. Those two components are then combined by the Yoast SEO or Rank Math plugin in WordPress. This solution is the best of both worlds. (If you’re not using WordPress, you can still use this method, but it will be a bit more work.)
Example: This is what a typical unoptimized home page title tag looks like.
<title>Home | Fast, Effective In-Home Dog Training | Fresno & Clovis</title>
Firstly let’s dump “Home”. It’s a worthless page name. Also, keyword research tells us that searchers are not looking for “fast” or “effective” dog training (but “in-home training” is a valid, differentiating term). Finally, this title tag omits the name of multiple locations in the market area, when they should be there.
Optimizing the Title Tag
New research shows the benefit of greatly expanding title tags to include important keywords, modifier terms, and locations. This website (in red, below) gained 36 first-place positions in one month simply by switching to long-form title tags!
This domain gained 36 first-place positions in one month.
The improved long-form style includes additional elements:
We dropped the page name “Home” because it’s almost meaningless, and replaced it with “Fresno’s 5-star Dog Trainer” because reviews are a super-important conversion factor
We added core keywords that we know searchers are using; these came out straight out of the keyword list that was developed early in the project
We included one alternate spelling: “k9” instead of “canine”
We added the modifiers “best” and “near me” which keyword research shows are popular. This is one of the few ways to optimize for popular “near me” searches without looking ridiculous.
We expanded locations to multiple nearby cities
It’s not done here, but in some cases, a big competitor’s business name can be used to gain branded traffic on their dime. Use those pages to compare your (better) service to theirs!
Finally, we skipped the brand name because it eats up space and isn’t worth much since results for local brand searches (if known at all) will usually be found in the #1 position.
Here’s the revised title tag for the home page:
<title>Fresno's 5-star Dog Trainer | Best In‑home Dog Training | Fresno, Clovis, Chowchilla, Madera, Visalia, Tulare, Hanford | Dog Training Near Me | Puppy Training Near Me | Dog Behavior and Obedience Classes | K9 Training | Leash Training</title>
The keyword list tells us what people want — then we match their intent and communicate it to Google in the title tag.
Note that only a small portion of the title tag will be visible in search results. And, yes, every SEO audit tool will flag long title tags like this as non-conforming. But it seems Google still “reads” very long title tags.
Our approach is to take a great deal of care to write the hidden portion of the title tag ONCE. Then, tell the reader what the post or page is about in the page title. Include a keyword or two in the page title that is not already present the hidden portion of the title tag.
Yoast or Rank Math will combine the post or page title with the hidden title tag automatically. So the full title looks like this:
visible post or page title + hidden seo title
This is one of those fast and easy tweaks that moves the needle. We can bump your rankings with new and improved title tags! See our Local SEO packages.
Update August 2021. About 20% of the time, Google ignores title tags and instead substitutes H1 headings or even anchor text from internal links. Apparently they intend to “produce more readable and accessible titles”. You have no control over this, so don’t worry about it. Google dynamic generation of titles seems unrelated to ranking.
Here’s a short tactical guide to achieve top local search rankings.
Why are top rankings so important? Because over 50% of traffic goes to the first three search results. 75% of traffic goes to results on the first page. If you’re not on the first page, you’re missing most of the opportunity to connect with customers.
I will outline what to do to rank in the top tier locally, but not how to do each step. With due respect, there are so many subtleties to doing the work, it doesn’t make sense for most businesses to tackle it themselves. If you have the budget, hire an experienced local SEO professional to get most of this done quickly, the right way.
I’m a fan of outsourcing everything described in this post except written content simply because it’s hard to find people that can step into the shoes of a service provider and create content from their point of view and experience. Expertise matters. Writers with long experience in your niche might be able to pull it off. But avoid generic content. No one wants fluff — weak content won’t attract links, convert visitors, or rank well relative to authoritative sources.
And by the way, it’s not enough to write the text. Who is handling media selection? And who is optimizing posts to help rank them in search? Without optimization, you won’t see much benefit from the content.
Local Search Ranking Factors
What local ranking factors are important? Here they are (based on 2019 Moz data).
There are factors over which you have no control, some which you can influence, and others over which you have direct control.
Factors You Cannot Control [Skip Entirely]
Proximity. A super-important factor that’s not even mentioned in the Moz data . . . because there’s nothing you can do about it except optimize the other factors (or add another location). Proximity is the nearness between your location and the searcher’s location. Search results may shift dramatically depending on the searchers’s location.
If you’re on the north end of town, and the searcher is on the south end, you better be sending a strong signal to search engines. How do you create a strong signal? By optimizing all the other factors here: Google listing, backlinks, reviews, etc.
Personalization. Google personalizes search results based on individual search patterns (unless the user opts-out). There’s nothing you can do to shift how personalization changes your search ranking.
Factors You Can Influence [Save for Later]
Social Media. You can increase your social media activity to boost search visibility, but it’s a weak correlation, and requires a large effort for little impact. Skip it until you have the more important signals dialed-in 100%.
User Behavior. User activity includes click-throughs, click-to-call actions, etc. User activity requires interaction with your search results or local business listing, and both of those depend on visibility. More activity = more visibility. You won’t reap the benefits of the user activity signals until you maximize visibility. So work on the factors that you can control that lead to higher visibility first. After user activity signals kick in, they tend to cement your listing near the top of results, a very welcome and well-deserved outcome.
Factors You Can Control [Take Action Now]
Thankfully, there are important local search signals that you can directly control. Here they are, sorted from most to least influential:
Google My Business listing. The most important local ranking signal (excluding proximity). A mini-industry has sprung up to keep Google listings current and vibrant. See my tips to do it yourself.
Reviews. One of my favorites, because reviews are not just a ranking signal, reviews are enormously important to conversions — turning visitors into a customers. You must have a review acquisition strategy in place. Integrate reviews into your business process. Acquire reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and any vertical directories that apply to your niche. You can largely control reviews by providing good service, responding to all reviews, and calmly addressing complaints that occasionally pop up.
On-page SEO. Good news! This factor is totally under your control. On-page SEO means taking to time to optimize each post and page as well as making sure the structure of your website is optimal. Get some professional guidance to nail the subtleties of on-page SEO.
Citations. Easy! Citations are just mentions of your business information on various sites and directories. Citations should match your website and listing information exactly. Hire an SEO consultant to get these done for you. 50 good citations should be enough in most cases. Don’t forget citations from contacts you already have: local clubs, sponsorships, events, etc.
Backlinks. Backlinks (links from other websites that point to your website or listings) are the toughest signal to implement, which is why search engines assign them a lot of credibility. In theory, you could create content that is so awesome, people will spontaneously backlink to it. That’s ideal, but it’s also time-consuming and tough to pull off.
Alternatively, figure out what websites are linking to your key competitors (your local SEO consultant can tell you, or get a one week Ahrefs trial for $7), then go after those same backlinks. If your local niche isn’t super-competitive, that may be enough.
Don’t forget to ask for backlinks from these local sources:
The same factors that affect traditional organic rankings affect your local pack rankings.
We’ve already touched on the importance of backlinks. But what about content — blog posts, videos, infographics, etc?
The need for content depends on your competitive environment. If you have just one or two local competitors, you might be able to get away with just minimal information about your business on your website.
But if you have more than a few competitors, or it would irk you to lose even one customer, then content is your friend. By creating content, you’re explicitly telling Google what your business is all about and simultaneously attracting visitors in organic search results.
Since few competitors will have a decent content initiative going, you can break out of the pack by creating blog posts, Google listing posts, videos, and infographics that dovetail with known search activity. At the minimum, create content that highlights your services at each important geographic location in your market area.
Did you know that Google is perfectly happy for users to take action in search, without ever seeing your website? Seriously, they don’t care. But to the extent people actually do visit your website, Google also wants to see signals that will help them satisfy searcher’s needs:
How much time to visitors spend on your website (the “dwell time”)
How deeply do visitors explore
Do visitors submit forms
Do visitors click call buttons?
What percentage of visitors come back later?
All of these actions are supplemental ranking factors, and they largely depend on the quality of your content. See https://backlinko.com/seo-content.
Checklist for Content Creation
How to approach content in a nutshell:
Understand your niche. How does your organization differ from others, and how is it positioned in the market? Do not overlook this step — it’s crucial to everything that follows.
Hire a pro to do the keyword research, and to look into the long-tail questions that are being asked about your niche. Ahrefs is one of the best discovery tools.
Using Ahrefs or Google search, find out what competitor content is highly ranked for a particular keyword search.
Drawing on what competitors have done, create a resource that is more comprehensive and more authoritative than theirs. Integrate local terms too (the locations where you want to be found).
Don’t forget Google listing posts. Create a short post for your listing and link it to your main website content.
Remember there are content creation shortcuts: audio transcription, re-writing existing posts, curating found posts, etc.
In short, start with what the market wants, then create content to match that intent.
Your website must be entirely usable on a phone; it’s a mobile first world.
Add schema markup that explains your business information and services in terms search engines understand. Get your local SEO consultant to implement schema (it’s tedious and not worth learning yourself).
Conclusion — Four Steps to Top Ranking
My advice to local organizations and businesses is to work through this guide, checking off each step as it’s done.
To check rankings, don’t fall into the trap of searching for one or two favorites keywords on Google. That’s not a big enough sample, and you won’t be getting a true picture versus your competitors. Instead, use a ranking tool to check multiple keywords. I typically check 50 – 100 keywords each week or each month. Nightwatch works well. If your business has competitors in each neighborhood, take a look at Local Falcon.
Start with the low-hanging fruit you can control: Google listing, reviews, on-page SEO, and citations.
Fix the basic technical issues: Make sure your website is fast, works perfectly on mobile devices, and has schema in place. Optimize any existing content.
Not ranking high enough? Add backlinks to at least match your competitors.
Need more juice? Start creating substantial content, including posts or pages that combine your service description with geographic locations. Content will support your local pack results and also boost organic results.
It will take time for these tactics to gel and work together. And of course, care must be taken to do things right. Do not give up. When everything comes together, you should find yourself in the top tier of local search results, enjoying a stream of new leads, without the burden of advertising costs.
Since images often comprise 40% to 50% of page size — more than other any type of element — optimizing them is an obvious tactic in our quest for a fast website.
To give users the best experience, we should automatically compress images so they load as quickly as possible, and re-size them to fit the viewing environment.
Optimole is the best way I’ve found to make that happen. First, an example . . .
Desktop Display
This original image was uploaded at 3,434 × 2,447 pixels — fine for a 4k TV on a fast connection, but too big for a typical HD computer monitor, and overwhelming for a phone.
We need a way to fit the image to the device so the website doesn’t bog down and the user has a good experience.
Optimole does this by compressing the image in Google’s WebP format, which is about 25% smaller than typical JPEG files.
Then, Optimole re-sizes the image to exactly fit the user’s viewport, meaning it fits the image to each user’s display regardless if they are using a TV, monitor, tablet, or phone.
Efficient compression plus on-the-fly re-sizing — that’s the combination that gets users exactly what they need. No more, no less.
At Optimole’s medium compression setting, this full-width image on a HD desktop display is just 161 KB — a whopping 92% decrease from the original JPEG file size.
Mobile Display
When viewed on a phone, Optimole re-sizes the image to exactly match the viewport width of a iPhone — 375 pixels. The image file now weighs just 18KB — a massive 99% decrease from the original image size! Yet, it looks fine.
If Optimole detects a slow connection, it will further reduce the resolution (within reason) to ensure the image is still viewable.
Losing the Duplicates
With Optimole, there’s no longer any need for WordPress to generate multiple sizes of each image — something it does by default. Why store all that stuff? If your site has 100 images, do you really want to store 500+ duplicates in various sizes? Not me.
Before Optimole, this site automatically generated six different alternate sizes, highlighted in blue below, some generated by WordPress itself, and some generated by the theme. The files didn’t precisely match the user’s device, they ate up a lot of disk space, and backups took much longer than necessary.
It's Backup TimeAs always, backup your site before taking the next steps.
With Optimole, all of those extra files are obsolete. Let’s eliminate them by adding a filter to WordPress. It’s simple, just a line code that looks like this:
The optional second filter (below) disables the WordPress feature that re-sizes huge images that might be uploaded straight from a camera or phone. Enabling this filter means your original image will be stored on the server. That’s handy if you don’t have an organized way to store your original images, but be aware it will eat up more storage space.
The easiest way to add these filters is with the Code Snippets plugin. Install the plugin and paste in the code as shown above. In this example, I kept my two snippets separate in case I want to change something later.
Optimole Setup
I won’t get into how to install or configure Optimole because everything is explained in their guide. It’s straightforward and fast.
Conclusion
Optimole transparently optimizes images with no image-handling knowledge required.
User Experience: the best image quality on any device or connection type
Ease: once set up, it’s hands-off
In combination with the filters, only the original full-size image remains on the server, minimizing storage space and reducing backup times.
Optimole effectively fool-proofs the site against clueless users. Even if someone uploads crazy huge images straight from a camera or phone, site performance won’t be affected.
The only shortcoming I found it that Optimole does not automatically crop images into a standard aspect ratio standard: 2:3, 4:3, 16:9, etc. Cropping still has to be done manually within WordPress, or ideally prior to uploading the image.
Backlinks — also called inbound links — are links on other domains that point to your website.
Backlinks may be text links, buttons, or images. They all behave the same way; clicking a backlink sends a user (wherever they are) to your website.
20 years back, Google figured out that backlinks were an accurate gauge of the website quality. A backlink is a vote. Get enough votes, and you’ll find yourself at the top of the search rankings. I’m dramatically simplifying things, but that’s basically how it works.
Here’s an example. Want to look cool yet rugged even though you don’t know prairie coal from a barkin’ iron? I mean, really, who does? To pull off your cowboy charade, you’ll need a pair of authentic Western boots. See what I did there? Boulet Boots just got a backlink from me. Simple, right?
The actual backlink code looks like this:
<a href="https://www.bouletboots.com/">authentic Western boots</a>
Why did I link to them? Well, I want others to enjoy some authentic boots too. That’s pretty much it.
People link to resources that are cool, informative, entertaining, or emotive.
Big surprise: a key backlink method is to create something on your website that’s cool, informative, entertaining, or emotive . . . so people link to YOU.
Backlinks are Traffic Channels
Until recently, backlinks were often ignored as a local SEO factor because businesses could rank on the first page in a local market area based on their listings, reviews, citations, and website content.
Those days are fading.
All markets are becoming more competitive as local businesses invest in a spectrum of SEO tactics and get smarter about how to outrank their competitors.
But it’s not all about search engine ranking. Backlinks are independent traffic channels, sending visitors to your site for free, around the clock.
Today, quality backlinks may mean the difference between great first page visibility, or being lost back on the third page, plus they are beautiful traffic channels in their own right. And THAT is why you need to a backlink acquisition strategy.
Backlinks lead to: higher search ranking + free organic traffic + more conversions = money!
See?
Backlink Sources
Oh boy, that’s the issue . . . there are so many methods. Only some of those methods for suitable for a typical local business with limited in-house skills or resources.
You could buy backlinks. That industry is still alive, but it’s expensive and carries some risk. In 2018, the average cost for a backlink is $361.44 according to Ahrefs. Roughly $1,000 for three backlinks. You may be need 20, 50, or 100 backlinks depending on your competitive situation. That’s a lot of money that could be better spent elsewhere. Moreover, paying for links explicitly violates Google’s guidelines. My advise: don’t do it.
If buying links is not such a great option, what is?
Earning Backlinks
Earning backlinks means taking specific actions to acquire backlinks organically. There are many ways to take action, and I’ll point out some below.
Find one or two backlink methods that make sense for your business and get crackin’.
This post is a launch point for the best resources I’ve found that will give you all the backlink ideas you need.
If you want to find out how many backlinks your business needs to compete against local competitors, and what backlinks they have, give us a call.
Well-chosen images attract attention. They flesh-out your content in a natural, immediate way. The encourage users to take action. Images add life to your business listings, social media updates, as well as your website. Why not give those images some extra long-term SEO value?
How Image Tags Add Value
Tagging simply means embedding text into an image so that search engines (and humans) can better understand it. Tagged images reinforce your brand, services, and location. It’s an under-used, zero-cost tactic that will help boost your local search engine rankings.
Without tags, images don’t tell the whole story. The best Google can extract from an tag-less image are technical factors such as dimensions, date taken, colors, and the general subject matter: a face, a boat, a bird, etc.
Where is the specific information about your business? Its services, physical location, the exact subject matter of the image, and how it relates to the viewer? That’s where tags come in. Tagging squeezes a lot more value out of your images and ties them directly to your organization.
How to Tag Your Images
Step 1: Find a Tagging Tool
Here’s a free app that tags batches of images very quickly. It’s called GeoSetter. Go to http://www.geosetter.de/en/, download the software and install it on your Windows computer. If you’re a photographer, you may already have Adobe Lightroom; it also works well.
Step 2: Open a Folder of Images
Go to
” Ensure that your alt attributes are descriptive, specific, and accurate.'” — Google
Step 3: Write the Tags
This is where you add keywords and location data. No need to enter everything. For local search purposes, it’s primarily location data including latitude and longitude, along with keywords. You can get latitude and longitude of your business here. Note that smartphone photos will already have GPS location data baked-in. Don’t change it unless you want to purposely do so for strategic reasons (to concentrate on your business or service area). Once entered, be sure to Set Current Values for All Selected Images (to save the changes).
Step 4: Rename the file
Optimized File Name: One of the most important and easiest optimization. If you do anything, do this. No special tools are required. Rename your image using a format similar to this: keyword-location-brand.jpg. Example: transmission-repair-mountain-automotive-boulder-colorado.jpg
Local SEO Meta Tags (embedded in the image). Users won’t see this data, but search engines will.
Use GeoSetter. Download the template here:
Object Name: Describes the image. You could cleverly add a keyword too. GeoSetter will show a error if you enter more than 60 characters. In practice, I’ve been able to write many more characters, but be aware applications may truncate everything beyond 60 characters, so make those first 60 characters count.
“Vinyl Resting Place — music for discerning collectors.”
“Seattle actress shows off her SuperWhite dental treatment”
“23-pound Yellowfin Tuna caught off La Jolla Shores”
In 2012, KissMetric even stated that “Captions under images are read on average 300% more than the body copy itself, so not using them, or not using them correctly, means missing out on an opportunity to engage a huge number of potential readers.”
Location: Country, State, City, Sublocation (Neighborhood). There’s no specific field for the address of the business.
Latitude & Longitude: Geographic coordinates of the location.
Keywords: List of terms that describes activities, services, staff, inventory, or other aspects of the business that appear in the image.
HTML Tags (in the website)
Alt(ernative) Text
Caption
Title
Optional image tags that have little or no affect on SEO.
These mostly relate to image rights and contact information of the image creator.
Copyright: Copyright notice.
Credit: The specific wording of the attribution
Contact Information of the person that created the image: Address, City, Postal Code, Country, Phone, Email, URL.
Creator: The name of the photographer.
Source: The name of the original owner or copyright holder.
Google+ is a social networking and local business platform. Even though Google+ never really took off as expected, it’s still relevant because the Google+ badge to binds your website to your Google+ page and to your Google My Business listing.
Why is a Google+ Badge Important?
A Google+ Badge provides a convenient way for users to share your business with their network (their Circles), give you a public endorsement (a +1), or visit your Google+ page content.
That engagement matters because +1’s and follows may affect where your website appears in Google search.
Lots of +1’s will likely boost your rankings. And if a patient +1’s your practice, followers of that patient are more likely to see information about your business directly in their Google search results, ranked higher than it otherwise would be.
We provide your business information in a special format called structured markup because your Google+ Badge uses it by default.
Wait! My Google Badge is Too Huge, Ugly, Distracting, etc. Is There Another Way?
Yes! You’ll get similar functionality with just the +1 button and the link button. We provide both to use in place of the badge.
KML files provide geographic information about your business and are used primarily by Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Mobile. By specifying the exact geographic location of your business, the KML file supports the accuracy and validity of your location. One KML file supports multiple locations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_message color=”alert-info” style=”rounded”]IMPORTANT: uploading the KML file requires access to the root directory of your domain. The root directory is the main or top-most directory (folder) of your website server. It’s usually named public_html, www, html, public, or web . Website builders such as Wix, Weebly, iPage, WordPress.com, Squarespace, Bluehost, Go Daddy, Virb, etc. typically do not allow root directory access. If you’re using a website builder tool, stop here and skip this step. Don’t worry, the KML file is nice to have, but you’ll do fine without it.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
Get it Done: Uploading a KML File to Your Server
Download the file called locations.kml in your Dropbox SEO folder to your computer.
Login to your website control panel and find the file manager tool.
Using the file manager tool, upload the file to your site’s root directory. You’re done, awesome!
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_message color=”alert-info”] Alternative: Use FTP software such as Filezilla to upload the file. You’ll need your FTP username and password.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]
A Google Map will help patients find your location, get driving directions, write reviews on a mobile device, upload photos, and share your location.
Get it Done: Google Map
Decide where you want the map to appear on your website
Find the file called map.htm in your Dropbox SEO folder. Open it with a text editor.
Copy the code between the BEGIN and END of the HTML section.
Paste the code where you want the map to appear. Let the stampede commence!
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_message color=”alert-info”] Option: To make the map responsive (so it will automatically re-size and keep its proportions on a mobile device), add this step: copy the code between the BEGIN and END of the STYLE SHEET section, then paste it into the Head section of your page. In WordPress, paste it into the style.css file or your theme’s custom CSS field. [/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Where Should the Map be Placed?
Your Contact page, your Home page, or both — these are the same locations as your structured markup. If you don’t already have a contact or location page, create one for your Google map and any other information a patient might need to find and contact your practice.
What if I Already have a Map?
We recommend you use the Google map we provide, especially if you’re now using a map from Bing, Mapquest or another vendor.
Changing the Size or Proportions of the Map
Look for “width” and “height” in the code, then enter the dimensions you want (in pixels). For example: you could change the dimensions to create a small map for your home page, and a larger map for your contact page.
[vc_row full_width=”” parallax_image=”” visibility=”” css_animation=”” center_row=”” typography_style=”” column_spacing=”” tablet_fullwidth_cols=”” bg_style=”” parallax=”” parallax_mobile=”” parallax_style=”” parallax_direction=”” video_bg=”” video_bg_overlay=”” border_style=””][vc_column width=”1/1″ style=”” visibility=”” css_animation=”” typo_style=”” drop_shadow=”” bg_style=”” border_style=””][vc_column_text]Schema.org structured markup is a standard supported by Google, Bing, Yahoo and other major search engines. By adding structured markup code to your website, we can communicate your business contact information, location, and services to search engines in a meaningful, concise way.
Here’s an example. It looks like a simple name, address, and phone number — but it’s not — there’s more going on behind the scenes.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”” parallax_image=”” visibility=”” css_animation=”” center_row=”” typography_style=”” column_spacing=”” tablet_fullwidth_cols=”” bg_style=”” parallax=”” parallax_mobile=”” parallax_style=”” parallax_direction=”” video_bg=”” video_bg_overlay=”” border_style=””][vc_column width=”1/1″ style=”” visibility=”” css_animation=”” typo_style=”” drop_shadow=”” bg_style=”” border_style=””][vc_single_image image=”6310″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” rounded_image=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”” parallax_image=”” visibility=”” css_animation=”” center_row=”” typography_style=”” column_spacing=”” tablet_fullwidth_cols=”” bg_style=”” parallax=”” parallax_mobile=”” parallax_style=”” parallax_direction=”” video_bg=”” video_bg_overlay=”” border_style=””][vc_column width=”1/1″ style=”” visibility=”” css_animation=”” typo_style=”” drop_shadow=”” bg_style=”” border_style=””][vc_column_text]
My website already has address information. Do I still need Schema?
Yes. Structured markup is a better way to communicate your core business information to search engines. Our code can directly replace your existing information block, or it can be displayed separately, in a different location.
If you keep your existing information block, your business information should match our code exactly. Do not change the code we provide (it’s too easy to break). If you think it’s incorrect, contact us.
Where should structured markup be placed?
On your home page or contact page. It’s also fine to place it on every page (in a sidebar or footer).
Get it Done: Adding structured markup to your website.
Decide where you want the structured markup (the business information block) to appear on your website.
Download the schema.txt file from your Dropbox project folder.
Open the file in a text editor, then paste it into your website page. (In WordPress, paste it in a text widget.)
Save the page, then open it in a browser to make sure everything looks right. Congrats on another job well done!
Our code has no default style (appearance); it will adapt itself to the style of your website page. Your web developer can customize the layout and style using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Structured markup should not be altered in such a way that it cannot be read directly from the page — that will undermine its effectiveness according to Google’s guidelines.
To center the structured markup block, change the first line like this:
