TL;DR
The free Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress automatically adds basic Organization schema, which is a great starting point for your site's structured data. However, to implement full LocalBusiness schema with specific details like your address, opening hours, and price range for free, you must manually add a custom JSON-LD code snippet to your website. This guide will walk you through the exact steps to accomplish this without needing a premium plugin.
Understanding Local Business Schema: Why It Matters for Local SEO
Before diving into the 'how,' it's crucial to understand the 'what' and 'why.' Local Business schema is a type of structured data—a standardized code vocabulary—that you add to your website. This code doesn't change how your site looks to human visitors, but it acts as a clear, detailed business card for search engines like Google. It translates your key business information into a language they can instantly understand, which is essential for standing out in local search results. Getting your technical SEO right with schema ensures search engines can find and understand your business. This technical foundation is crucial, just as having well-written, engaging content about your services is essential for attracting customers. For marketers looking to scale their content creation efficiently, AI-powered tools like BlogSpark can revolutionize the workflow, allowing more time for strategic tasks like implementing schema.
When search engines can easily parse details like your address, phone number, hours of operation, and services offered, they can display them as 'rich results'. These are the eye-catching search listings that include maps, star ratings, and business hours directly on the results page. According to guides from Semrush, these enhanced listings can significantly improve your click-through rates by providing users with valuable information at a glance.
A common point of confusion is the difference between Organization schema and LocalBusiness schema. The free version of Yoast SEO sets your site up with Organization schema, which is a general type that identifies your website as belonging to a company. As defined by Schema.org, LocalBusiness is a more specific and powerful type of Organization. It's designed for businesses with a physical location and includes many more properties relevant to local customers. Think of Organization as the parent category and LocalBusiness as the highly detailed subcategory that unlocks the best local SEO features.
| Feature | Organization Schema (Yoast Free Default) | LocalBusiness Schema (Your Goal) |
|---|---|---|
| Type | General (@type: "Organization") | Specific (e.g., @type: "Restaurant", "Dentist") |
| Core Information | Business Name, Logo, Social Profiles | All Organization info, plus much more |
| Local-Specific Details | Not included in the UI | Physical Address, Geo-coordinates, Phone Number |
| Operational Details | Not included in the UI | Opening Hours, Price Range, Accepted Payments |
| Benefit | Establishes a basic identity for your brand. | Enables rich results in local search, maps, and knowledge panels. |
What the FREE Yoast SEO Plugin Automates for You
The free Yoast SEO plugin provides a solid foundation for your site's structured data graph, but it's important to understand exactly what it does and what it doesn't do regarding local business details. Yoast automatically generates essential schema behind the scenes, creating an interconnected web of data that helps search engines understand your content. The primary setting you'll interact with for this is 'Site Representation'.
Here’s how to configure the basic settings in the free plugin:
- Navigate to your WordPress dashboard.
- Go to Yoast SEO > Settings.
- Under the General tab, scroll down to Site representation.
- For the 'Your site represents a' field, choose Organization.
- Fill in your Organization name and upload your Organization logo.
Once you save these settings, Yoast will generate a basic Organization schema snippet in your site's code. It typically looks something like this:
<script type="application/ld+json" class="yoast-schema-graph">{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[...{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://yourwebsite.com/#organization","name":"Your Business Name","url":"https://yourwebsite.com/","logo":{...}},...]} </script>This is a necessary first step. However, the critical takeaway is understanding the limitations of the free version's user interface. As confirmed by both Yoast's own documentation and tutorials from SEO experts, the free plugin's settings panel does not include fields for the specific details that define a local business. This functionality is reserved for their premium Yoast Local SEO add-on.
The following LocalBusiness properties are not configurable through the free Yoast SEO interface:
- Physical address (street, city, zip code)
- Opening hours
- Telephone number
- Geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude)
- Price range
- Customer reviews or aggregate ratings
Therefore, while the free Yoast SEO plugin creates an essential foundation, you must perform an additional manual step to add the rich, location-specific details that will make your business stand out in local search.
How to Add Full LocalBusiness Schema Manually (The Free Method)
This is the solution you've been looking for—a completely free method to add detailed LocalBusiness schema to your WordPress site, working alongside the free Yoast SEO plugin. This process involves generating the schema code with an external tool and then safely adding it to your website. It gives you full control over your information without any cost.
Follow these steps carefully:
- Generate Your Schema Code. You don't need to write code from scratch. Use a free, user-friendly tool to do the heavy lifting. The Localo Schema Generator or Google's own Structured Data Markup Helper are excellent options. Simply enter your business details—name, address, phone number, opening hours, etc.—into the fields, and the tool will create the necessary JSON-LD code for you. Be as specific as possible with your business type (e.g., use `HairSalon` instead of the generic `LocalBusiness`).
- Copy the JSON-LD Code. The generator will produce a block of code that starts with
<script type="application/ld+json">. This is your complete schema snippet. Copy the entire block to your clipboard. - Add the Code to Your WordPress Site. The safest way to add this code is by using a free plugin that manages code snippets. This prevents you from having to directly edit your theme's files, which can be risky and may get overwritten during theme updates. A popular choice is the "WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers" plugin. Install and activate it, then navigate to Code Snippets > Header & Footer and paste your JSON-LD code into the 'Header' section. Save your changes.
Below is a copy-pasteable template you can adapt. Replace the placeholder information with your actual business details. The comments (lines starting with `//`) explain what each property does.
<script type="application/ld+json">{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Restaurant", // Be specific! E.g., "Dentist", "Plumber", "HairSalon"
"name": "Your Business Name",
"image": "https://yourwebsite.com/path/to/your-image.jpg", // A URL to a photo of your business
"@id": "", // Can be your homepage URL
"url": "https://yourwebsite.com/",
"telephone": "+1-XXX-XXX-XXXX",
"priceRange": "$$", // Use $, $$, $$$, or $$$$
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "123 Main Street",
"addressLocality": "Your City",
"addressRegion": "ST",
"postalCode": "12345",
"addressCountry": "US"
},
"geo": {
"@type": "GeoCoordinates",
"latitude": 40.712776,
"longitude": -74.005974
},
"openingHoursSpecification": [
{
"@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
"dayOfWeek": [
"Monday",
"Tuesday",
"Wednesday",
"Thursday",
"Friday"
],
"opens": "09:00",
"closes": "17:00"
},
{
"@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
"dayOfWeek": "Saturday",
"opens": "10:00",
"closes": "15:00"
}
]
}
</script>
How to Test and Validate Your Schema Markup
Implementing your schema code is a huge step, but there's one final, crucial action you must take: validation. You need to verify that search engines can read and understand your new code correctly. Skipping this step is like sending a letter without checking the address—it might never arrive. Authoritative guides from both Yoast and industry experts emphasize that testing is a non-negotiable part of the process.
There are two primary tools for this job, both provided by Google:
- Rich Results Test: This is your most important tool. It specifically checks if your page is eligible for Google's rich results (the enhanced listings you're aiming for). It will show you a preview of how your listing might appear and flag any errors or warnings that would prevent eligibility.
- Schema Markup Validator: This is a more general-purpose tool. It checks for the overall syntax and correctness of your structured data according to Schema.org standards, but it won't tell you if you're eligible for specific Google features. It's great for debugging more complex code.
To test your implementation, go to the Rich Results Test tool, enter the URL of the page where you added the code (usually your homepage or contact page), and run the test. A successful result will show a green checkmark with the message, "Page is eligible for rich results," and will detect your `LocalBusiness` item. If the tool finds errors, it will highlight the exact lines of code that are causing the issue, making troubleshooting much easier.
Be mindful of these common errors during validation:
- Missing Commas: A missing comma between properties is the most frequent syntax error in JSON-LD.
- Incorrect Property Nesting: Ensure properties like `streetAddress` are correctly placed inside the `address` object.
- Mismatched Visible Content: The information in your schema (like opening hours) should match the information visible to users on the page.
Use this final checklist to ensure a successful implementation:
- Test your generated code in the validator before adding it to your site.
- Test the page URL with the Rich Results Test after adding the code and clearing any caches.
- Use Google Search Console to monitor your site for any new schema-related issues over time.
Your Path to Better Local Visibility
You now have a complete, no-cost strategy to enhance your local SEO. While the free Yoast SEO plugin provides a vital starting point with foundational Organization schema, taking the extra step to manually add a detailed LocalBusiness JSON-LD snippet is what truly unlocks your potential in local search results. This manual method gives you precise control over how search engines see your most important business details.
By following the steps to generate, implement, and validate your code, you are providing clear signals to Google that can lead to improved visibility, richer search results, and ultimately, more local customers finding their way to your door. This is a powerful, one-time setup that can pay dividends for years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is Yoast schema free?
Yes, the core schema functionality in the free Yoast SEO plugin is free. It automatically creates a structured data graph for your site, including WebPage, Article, and Organization schema based on your settings. However, for advanced schema types with a dedicated user interface, such as the detailed options for LocalBusiness, Yoast offers a premium add-on.
2. How to add local business schema in WordPress?
The most effective free method is to generate the LocalBusiness schema code as a JSON-LD snippet using a free online tool. Then, copy this code and add it to your WordPress site's header. The safest way to do this is by using a free plugin like 'WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers', which allows you to add the script without directly editing your theme files.
