As online shopping continues to grow in popularity, making your Shopify store stand out from the competition is more important than ever. In the US alone, it’s projected that there will be 300 million online shoppers in 2023, which is 91% of the country’s current population.
One of the most effective ways to enhance your store’s visibility and improve search engine optimisation (SEO) visibility is by using schema markup.
In this article, I will discuss schema markup, how to implement it in your Shopify site, and how it can benefit your online store. I will provide a step-by-step guide on manually adding schema markup or leveraging a Shopify app for this purpose.
Let’s dive in and learn how to give your Shopify store a competitive edge.
What is Schema Markup in Shopify?
Schema markup is a form of structured data that helps search engines better understand your website’s content. Adding schema markup or structured data to your Shopify store is essential because provides search engines with additional information about your products, images, and videos, ultimately improving your store’s visibility in search engines like Google or Bing.
Shopify Schema Types
There are various schema types available for Shopify, and choosing the right one depends on your specific needs.
The most common schema and structured data types for Shopify online stores include:
- Product schema: Used to provide detailed information about your products, such as price, availability, and ratings.
- Image schema: Enhances image search results by providing additional details about the images on your site.
- Video schema: Offers additional information about videos on your site, such as duration, upload date, and description.
- Organization schema: Represents your business and provides important information like name, address, phone number, and logo.
- CollectionPage / OfferCatalog schema: Helps search engines understand the structure of your store’s collections and catalog pages, showcasing product offerings.
- BreadcrumbList schema: Enhances site navigation by displaying a breadcrumb trail in search results, making it easier for users to navigate your store.
- Article schema: Optimises your blog content and news articles, providing additional information like headline, author, and publication date for better search results.
Generally, I find these to be the best-structured data combinations for each Shopify site section:
- Home Page: Organization, Image or Video (or both)
- Collection Pages: CollectionPage / OfferCatalog, BreadcrumbList, Image
- Product Pages: Product, BreadcrumbList, Image, Video (optional)
- Blog Posts: Article, BreadcrumbList, Image
How To Manually Add Schema Markup To Shopify in 5 Steps
Step 1: Access your Shopify store’s theme files.
You can do that by navigating to Online Store > Themes > Actions > Edit Code.
Step 2: Locate the right .liquid template to add the Schema.
Locate the appropriate Liquid template where you want to add the schema markup. For example, if you want to add product schema, find the product.liquid or product-template.liquid file. If you want to add article schema, look for the article.liquid file.
Step 3: Create schema markup using the JSON-LD format.
For individual pages, you can use schema generators, or schema presets such as Merkle’s Schema Markup Generators to do so.
Step 4: Validate your schema markup.
You can use the official Schema Markup Validator or use Google’s Rich Results Test tool to validate the schema markup snippet and test the rich results. This will help you identify any errors or issues that need to be fixed.
If the page is dynamic, you will need to create a dynamic code. Here is an example of the dynamic code for the Product schema in Shopify:
[code]
[/code]
Step 5: Add the schema into the correct Liquid template.
This involves adding a schema script tag with the “@context” and “@type” attributes, followed by the necessary properties into the right .liquid file, based on the schema type. Some examples include: Product schema into the product.liquid, Organization schema into the header.liquid, Article schema into the article.liquid, or similar. Place it at the top of your chosen .liquid file and don’t forget to save.
And boom, you are done!
Shopify Schema Generators and Schema Presets
Shopify schema generators and schema presets can simplify the process of adding schema markup to your store. These tools automatically generate the necessary JSON-LD code for various schema types, such as product schema, image schema, and video schema. Some popular schema generators include:
- Merkle’s Schema Markup Generator: A versatile tool that supports multiple schema types, including product, article, and organization schema.
- RankRanger’s Schema Generator: Provides a variety of schema types, including local business, video, and breadcrumb schema.
- Hall Analysis JSON-LD Generator: Offers a user-friendly interface for generating schema markup for products, reviews, and events.
To use a schema generator or preset, simply input the required information and copy the generated code to the appropriate Liquid template or snippet file in your Shopify store. This streamlined process makes it easy to integrate schema markup into your website and reap the SEO benefits.
How To Add Schema To Shopify Using a Shopify App
A dedicated Shopify app can also add schema markup to your Shopify store. These apps offer an easy-to-use interface for adding and managing schema markup without manually editing your theme’s code.
Some popular Shopify schema apps include:
To use these schema apps, simply install them from the Shopify App Store, follow the setup instructions, and configure the app’s settings according to your store’s requirements.
How Schema Can Benefit Your Shopify Store
At the beginning of this article, I mentioned how Schema markup can significantly benefit your store by enhancing your online presence and increasing your store’s visibility in search engine results. I also mentioned how by implementing schema markup, you provide search engines with more detailed information about your products, images, videos, and other content.
But why do you need to give more information to search engines?
This additional context is essential because allows search engines to display your content more engaging and informatively, leading to improved click-through rates and a better user experience. Furthermore, schema markup can help search engines understand the relationships between different pieces of content on your site, leading to more accurate and relevant search results.
Ultimately, by investing in schema markup for your Shopify store, you can boost your store’s SEO performance, attract more potential customers, and drive more sales. So, what are you waiting for?
Ready To Add Schema Markup To Your Shopify Site?
Now that you’ve seen how simple it is to manually implement schema markup in your Shopify store or by using a third-party Shopify app, you can add various schema types to your site to enhance the overall user experience.
If you’re looking to learn more about Shopify have a look at my Shopify SEO Review or check out Ultimate Guide to Strategic Shopify SEO to boost your online store visibility in search engines.
And if you need additional assistance from an Shopify SEO specialist like me, don’t hesitate to book a consultation with me today. Let’s explore how we can work together to boost your business!