You should be using Schema.org

Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal opinion of it’s poster only.

It’s been a little more than three years since Google introduced schema.org , and it’s hugely surprising how few online shopping markets are using the simple new standard to differentiate themselves from their competitors on Google.

Let’s look at an example. I’ll run a Google search for some luggage. How about the IT Luggage Copenhagen 4 Wheeled 3 Piece Luggage Set?

A website without Schema.org Technologies:

A website with Schema.org Technologies:

There’s a very obvious difference. For one, the rating immediately draws the eyes - pulling the gaze of the searcher to the product listing. And then, the searcher immediately knows the price, the rating, and even a category listing to draw the searcher to other parts of the store. Here’s another example:

While this website doesn’t have the rating, it still conveys useful information to the searcher without them ever leaving the search page. Not only do they now know the price, but they know it’s in stock! There’s no hesitation as to whether or not they’ll be able to get this luggage set.

There’s also no reason why you shouldn’t help your customers decide on making a purchase at your storefront. And with claims that rich snippets help improve ecommerce SEO, there’s no good excuse for not taking a small extra step to bring in customers.

Perhaps now you’re wondering how difficult or easy it is to add this schema.org metadata to your instance?

Of course, the first thing you should do perhaps is check for extensions that might solve your problem. There are several that will claim to (though I’ve not been able to test any of them at this point).

But if you have a spare hour and know how to edit HTML, it only takes a little elbow grease when you have Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper. Select “Product” under the data type, enter the URL of one of your pages, and click “Start Tagging” and you’ll get a screen similar to this:

Once you’ve highlighted the relevant details (Name, Image, Description, Offer, Aggregate Rating, etc.) you’ll have the option to “Create HTML.” It selects Microdata by default (which is what you should use) and highlights the additional markup you’ll want to add to your templates.

Once you’ve done that, verify it by running it through Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool and you’re all done!

There is no reason not to be using Schema.org’s rich snippets on your website - so get out there and earn some sales!