What does structured data actually do for a business website?

Mark up what readers can see

A service page should describe the service actually offered. A question page should include the answer in its visible content. Do not add fake reviews, ratings or credentials just because a schema type supports them. The data should help explain the page, rather than make a claim the page cannot support.

Check more than JSON syntax

A script can be valid JSON while naming the wrong business or pointing to a missing entity. Check required properties, stable identifiers and references within the graph. Compare names, URLs and descriptions with the published page. Schema.org defines a vocabulary; search engines separately decide which features they support.

Keep expectations grounded

Google describes eligibility for supported search appearances, not a guaranteed display. Validate after template changes and again after deployment. For a small team, a modest graph that remains accurate is more useful than a large set of speculative properties. The lab only observes whether fetched JSON-LD parses; it does not certify schema compliance.