Looking for your local business type for Schema markup?
Below you will find a list of current local business types. This is the type of business as defined by Schema’s “LocalBusiness” property.
This list was last updated February 2016. To see a current list feel free to visit Schema.org’s LocalBusiness page.
Also please be sure to see my article: What Schema Markup and JSON-LD Means for Local Business in 2016.
- AnimalShelter
- AutomotiveBusiness
- ChildCare
- DryCleaningOrLaundry
- EmergencyService
- EmploymentAgency
- EntertainmentBusiness
- FinancialService
- FoodEstablishment
- GovernmentOffice
- HealthAndBeautyBusiness
- HomeAndConstructionBusiness
- LegalService
- Library
- LodgingBusiness
- MedicalOrganization
- ProfessionalService
- RadioStation
- RealEstateAgent
- RecyclingCenter
- SelfStorage
- ShoppingCenter
- SportsActivityLocation
- Store
- AutoPartsStore
- BikeStore
- BookStore
- ClothingStore
- ComputerStore
- ConvenienceStore
- DepartmentStore
- ElectronicsStore
- Florist
- FurnitureStore
- GardenStore
- GroceryStore
- HardwareStore
- HobbyShop
- HomeGoodsStore
- JewelryStore
- LiquorStore
- MensClothingStore
- MobilePhoneStore
- MovieRentalStore
- MusicStore
- OfficeEquipmentStore
- OutletStore
- PawnShop
- PetStore
- ShoeStore
- SportingGoodsStore
- TireShop
- ToyStore
- WholesaleStore
- TelevisionStation
- TouristInformationCenter
- TravelAgency
What if your business type is not listed in Schema?
There are many cases where a local business does not have a schema value. In cases like this many people use “product types ontology”. To use this you can use “additionalType” in your JSON-LD script.
Example:
Above there is a schema value for lawyer, but not for criminal defense lawyers or personal injury lawyers.
In addition to your JSON-LD’s code of:
"@type": "Attorney",
You would add one of these lines:
Personal injury attorney:
“additionalType”: "http://www.productontology.org/id/Personal_injury_lawyer"
Criminal defense attorney:
“additionalType”: "http://www.productontology.org/id/Criminal_defense_lawyer"
How do you find your Product Type Ontology?
I personally do a site search of www.productontology.org.
Eg: Google this: site:www.productontology.org defense lawyer
You should see in your search results:
http://www.productontology.org/id/Criminal_defense_lawyer
Note: If you click the URL you will be given this URL:
http://www.productontology.org/doc/Criminal_defense_lawyer
which you’ll need to change to:
http://www.productontology.org/id/Criminal_defense_lawyer for your code.
Alternatively, you can locate the wikipedia page for your business type. This can prove difficult, but in the case of criminal defense attorneys the Wikipedia page is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_defense_lawyer
You can take the “Criminal_defense_lawyer” section of this URL and add it to this one:
http://www.productontology.org/id/
to get:
http://www.productontology.org/id/Criminal_defense_lawyer
Phew!
The alternative to Product Type Ontology, “alternateName”
Some SEOs use the “alternateName” value in their JSON-LD script.
In this case, under your “@type” and “name” lines of code you would add
"alternateName": "Criminal Defense Lawyer",
IMO the “best” method remains TBD as of February 2016. I personally use product type ontology.
Other business types not covered by Schema
“Pet store” doesn’t cover all pet stores, you could own a fish store.
Currently, plastic surgeons, cosmetic dentists, ophthalmologists, orthodontists, dermatologists, golf courses, tobacco shops, bankruptcy lawyers, real estate attorneys, surveyors, SEO agencies and many others will need to choose their own LocalBusiness type and come up with their own subcategory using methods described above.
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