I spent three hours yesterday fixing one comma. One comma in a client’s JSON-LD markup that was blocking their star ratings from showing up in Google. Three months of five-star reviews, invisible because of punctuation.
That’s structured data for you. When it works, you show up with star ratings, business hours, and all that fancy stuff that makes people click. When it doesn’t work, you’re just another blue link nobody notices.
I’ve watched too many local businesses get buried on page 2 while their competitors show up with those rich snippets that catch your eye. Not because they’re better businesses. Just because they figured out how to talk to Google properly.
And no, I’m not talking about Google My Business. That’s a different thing entirely. I’m talking about the actual code on your website that tells search engines what the hell you do and where you do it. The stuff that turns boring search results into the kind that get clicks.
What Structured Data Does
Structured data is you telling Google exactly what your business is about instead of making it guess. Google’s terrible at guessing. It’ll think your pizza restaurant is a food blog. Or that your plumbing company sells bathroom fixtures.
You know when you search for something and some results have star ratings? Or business hours? Or event dates? That’s structured data working. Without it, you’re just text on a page.
Think about it. Someone searches “emergency plumber near me” at 2 am. Your competitor shows up with “Open 24/7” right in the search results. You just show up as a link. Who gets the call?
The numbers back this up. Rotten Tomatoes saw 25% more clicks after implementing structured data. Food Network got 35% more traffic. For a local business getting 100 visitors a day, that’s 35 more potential customers. Every day.
Why You Need Tools
Here’s what happens when you try to handle structured data without proper tools: You copy some code from a blog post. Change a few things. Paste it on your site. Check Google a week later. Nothing’s changed.
Why? Because you had an extra bracket somewhere. Or used the wrong date format. Or forgot a required field. And Google just ignored the whole thing.
Structured data tools catch this stuff before it ruins your day. They validate your code, show you exactly what Google sees, and tell you what’s broken. Because trust me, something’s always broken.
I once watched a restaurant lose their review stars for six months because someone updated their website and accidentally deleted one line of code. Six months of looking like they had no reviews while their competitor showed 4.8 stars.
The Only Format You Should Care About
There are three ways to add structured data to your website. Two of them aren’t efficient.
Microdata: This mixes code into your actual page content. Change your content, break your structured data. Fun times.
RDFa: Even more complicated than microdata. Unless you’re a masochist or have very specific technical requirements, skip it.
JSON-LD: This goes in your page header where it can’t mess with your content. Google prefers it. It’s easier to maintain. Use this one.
Seriously. JSON-LD. Don’t overthink it.
The Tools That Matter
Google Rich Results Test
This is ground zero. Free tool straight from Google that shows exactly what they see when they look at your structured data.
Paste your URL. It spits out what structured data it found and whether you qualify for rich results. More importantly, it shows you what’s broken.
I run every page through this before it goes live. Every. Single. Page.
Search Console’s Structured Data Reports
If you don’t have Search Console set up, what are you even doing? Go set it up. Now.
The structured data report shows how your markup performs across your entire site. Not just one page. Your whole site. You’ll see valid items, warnings, and errors all in one place.
This is where you catch problems before they spread. Like when you realize your blog template has been generating broken Article markup for six months.
Schema.org Validator
Google’s tools show what Google thinks. Schema.org validator shows whether your markup follows the standards everyone agreed on.
Sometimes Google lets stuff slide that breaks later. This tool catches those edge cases. The interface looks like it was designed in 2003, but the information is solid.
JSON-LD Playground
When you’re writing or editing JSON-LD, this tool saves your sanity. Paste your code, see exactly what data it creates. Catches syntax errors before they hit your site.
I’ve wasted too many hours hunting for missing commas and brackets. This tool finds them instantly.
Bing Markup Validator
Yeah, Bing. I know. But depending on your market, Bing might send you 10-20% of your traffic. Especially if your customers skew older or use Windows heavily.
Their validator sometimes catches different issues than Google’s. Takes two minutes to check. Worth it.
Using These Tools Without Going Insane
Start simple. Test your homepage first. Then your main service pages. Then your contact page. Don’t try to fix everything at once.
When you run tests, you’ll see three types of results:
Valid items: These work. Google will use them for rich results.
Warnings: Not critical but worth fixing. Might limit what features you get.
Errors: Fix these immediately. They can kill your rich results entirely.
The Mistakes Everyone Makes
Missing required fields: Every type of structured data needs specific information. A local business needs name, address, and phone number. Period. Not negotiable.
Wrong formatting: “Call us at 555-1234!” might work for humans. Google wants “+1-555-555-1234”. Dates, times, addresses, they all have specific formats. Use them.
Trying to be clever: Don’t hide structured data. Don’t stuff keywords in it. Don’t mark up stuff that’s not actually on the page. Google’s not stupid. They’ll catch you and ignore everything.
Tracking What Happens
Take screenshots of your search results before you implement structured data. Check again after a week. Then a month.
Use Search Console’s Performance report to track click-through rates. If you’re doing this right, you’ll see them go up. Sometimes dramatically.
The URL Inspection tool confirms Google can read your markup. Use it after any major changes.
The Part Nobody Talks About
Structured data isn’t magic. Your website still needs to work properly. Your reviews still need to be real. Your content still needs to answer what people search for.
But when you’re fighting for visibility against every other business in town, proper structured data is often what tips the scale. It’s the difference between showing up as just another link versus showing up with star ratings, prices, availability, and all the other signals that make people click.
I’ve seen HVAC companies go from invisible to dominating “emergency AC repair” searches. Restaurants that went from page 2 to showing their menu prices right in search results. Law firms displaying their consultation fees upfront, filtering out tire kickers before they even click.
This stuff works. But only if you implement it properly and keep it maintained.
Stop Reading and Start Testing
Seriously. Open Google Rich Results Test right now. Paste in your homepage URL. See what happens.
Found errors? That’s normal. Fix them one at a time. Start with the biggest pages, the ones that drive actual business.
Check monthly. Things break. Updates happen. Competitors get smarter.
If this feels overwhelming or you’d rather focus on actually running your business, that’s literally what we do at Localseo.net. We handle the technical nightmare so you can handle customers.
Either way, stop ignoring structured data. Your competitors aren’t. And every day you wait is another day customers find them instead of you.