Basics of Structured Data – Part 2: Product Markup

EVER BE CLOSED AGAIN! INFORM SEARCHERS OF YOUR PRODUCTS, PRICING, AND STOCK LEVELS ALL WITHOUT LEAVING THE SEARCH RESULTS.

This is the second part of our series on structured data, See Part 1 for an introduction to structured data.

What is Structured Data?

As discussed in part 1 of this series – structured data is the categorization of certain fields of data to make it more accessible and easier to read for search engines. Once Google fully understands the structured data found on your website, they may use this information to create rich snippets. These are search results that are extended with special information such as review stars, stock levels, product prices or availability, and much more.

Rich snippets are important as they provide the searcher with extra unique information about your business services, products, etc. These rich snippets give the search result for your business more visibility and they attract more clicks than a standard search result. In this article we will be reviewing Product Markup – what it is, how it works, what rich results you can achieve and give examples of structured data.

Product Schema Markup

WHAT IS PRODUCT SCHEMA MARKUP?

Product schema markup is a particular subset of schema.org categorization of structured data that relates directly to specific products. It is meant to provide specific information about a product directly to Google in a nice, neat format – as opposed to Google having to crawl your page and put together the information itself.

It allows you to provide product specifics including price, stock levels, pictures, and any offer or sale prices. Once provided your products information is eligible to show up in Google search results as well as be featured in Google image search.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

There are a couple of different ways to implement product schema markup on your various webpages. The way structured data is added to a product or page depends on not only the website, but also the type of structured data markup that is being used. As we discussed in the last article, there are two dominant types of structured data – Microdata and JSON-LD.

Implementing JSON-LD is more straightforward than Microdata. All you have to do is create your markup and add it to the header section or to the body of the page in the page code. Please consult your developer or webmaster to implement your product schema. If it is added to page incorrectly, it can cause the product page to display incorrectly. This is not a task that I would recommend for the average person using the WordPress dashboard. JSON-LD scripts do not display on the front-end of the website. This means that, if added correctly, these scripts can be added directly to the body HTML without affecting the page layout.

To add Microdata to your products is substantially more complex as it requires the page’s code to be changed. This means that any changes you make here will be reflected on the front end. Microdata uses in-line markup in a specific order to classify its data. This means if your price is located in one section of the page and the product name and image are somewhere else you will not be able to use Microdata. We suggest using a developer/webmaster to implement your Microdata.

*Please note that adding structured data to your site yourself is not recommended without first consulting your developer and/or webmaster.

RICH SNIPPETS

There are a few types of rich snippets that you can receive when correctly marking up your products. They are as follows:

1. Star Ratings

2. Prices & Stock Levels

3. Limited Time Offers

4. Product Image

MICRODATA

The following is an example of Microdata markup for an Executive Anvil from ACME. The product name, brand name, price, description, image, rating, sale price, condition and stock levels are all specified. Notice how the inline markup spans each item the markup relates to.

JSON-LD

The following is an example of JSON-LD markup for an Executive Anvil from ACME. The product name, brand name, price, description, image, rating, sale price, condition and stock levels are all specified.

Structured data has the ability to increase your presence on the search results significantly and can drive hundreds or thousands of clicks to your website each month. .

**Note: Adding structured data to your products or pages does not automatically give you a rich snippet. It is entirely up to Google and other search engines whether or not they will display the structured data as provided. It simply makes you eligible to receive rich snippets.