Magento 2 Structured Data: A Comprehensive Guide
Some websites, especially complex ones, struggle with Google crawling. It might take time to process information and images on a page. To help search engines better understand the page’s content, you can implement structured data.
Magento 2 structured data organizes information so that Google can process it more easily and quickly. Rich snippets, which appear after structuring data, show amazing results in CTR, user experience enhancements, and increased traffic.
Furthermore, Nestlé discovered that pages with rich results have an 82% higher click-through rate than non-rich result pages. So, implementing structured data in your Magento 2 store can significantly improve your search engine visibility and drive more traffic to your website.
What Is Structured Data in Magento 2?
Structured data is a type of code that helps to mark up the content on the website pages. Organizing information is especially helpful for complex product pages, as the search engine crawls through text and images to understand the content.
Structured data utilizes the vocabulary of tags provided by Schema.org. This set of tags allows you to label different types of content, such as products, reviews, organizations, and events. It accurately marks up the content of your page and helps search engines analyze the website faster and more easily.
Structured Data vs Rich Snippets
Many users initially confuse structured data with rich snippets, often thinking the two terms are used interchangeably. However, while they are closely related, there’s a key distinction between them.
Rich snippets are visual enhancements that users see in search results, such as product star rating, price, and others. Structured data, on the other hand, is “behind-the-scenes” code that enables these rich snippets to appear. So, structured data is a tool that helps search engines generate rich snippets by better understanding and displaying your content.
How Structured Data Enhances SEO
Sometimes, structured data isn’t an option – it’s a necessity. Its implementation can bring positive changes to your website, such as SEO improvements, user experience enhancement, and sales boost.
Structured Data Helps Search Engines Better Understand Your Page
Foremost, structured data is a valuable tool for enhancing website SEO. If you have a complex website, it takes time for search engines like Google to go through. While processing page content, engines try to understand what you sell and the value you offer.
With structured information, you can simplify the crawling process and enhance the accuracy of search engine understanding by organizing and labeling your content. Moreover, if Google can easily recognize and analyze your content, it increases the chance of a higher website ranking.
Structured Data Improves User Experience
Using schema markup ensures the displaying of relevant product information directly on the search results page. Rich snippets increase the chance that the shopper will click through to your website and find a desired product.
Such functionality significantly enhances user experience because it provides shoppers with more relevant and informative search results.
Structured Data Leads to Increased Sales
Rich snippets can be a valuable tool for communicating a product’s value. These details, displayed directly on the SERP, capture visitors’ attention and encourage them to click through to the product page.
In essence, rich snippets make your product stand out in search results, helping users find a desired product more quickly and end up with the purchase.
What Magento 2 Structured Data is Provided by Default
In Magento 2, there are no built-in settings specifically for structured data. The types of structured data that will be displayed on your site largely depend on the theme you have installed.
For instance, the default Luma theme automatically includes structured data types such as Product and AggregateRating. If you want to implement other types of structured data, you should do it either manually or by installing the Rich Snippets extension.
What Structured Data Types to Use in Magento 2
As mentioned above, structured data is a tool that helps search engines understand your web page and the accurate implementation results in rich snippets. There are several structured data types that can enhance the website’s visibility and magnetize traffic. However, they are pretty different, so it’s crucial to know when and how to use them.
Product Schema
The product schema describes product-related details and is necessary for ecommerce stores to display product information in SERP and attract visitors. It typically includes information like:
- Product name
- Price
- Availability
- Brand
- Images
- Ratings and reviews
By default, some Magento 2 themes include a basic product schema, but usually, this isn’t enough for an informative product description. So, utilizing enhanced ways of its implementation is more effective.
Review and Rating Schema
A review and rating schema is another essential structured data type for Magento 2 stores. It displays the average star rating and number of product reviews directly on the search results page.
Moreover, among other schema types, ratings and reviews are the most popular and necessary for users. This is proved by the statistics showing that the rating snippet appears the most frequently in SERP, followed by price and faq.
With this schema, you can boost trust and loyalty, as users tend to rely on the experiences of others and follow them. So, utilizing reviews and ratings structured data can be a valuable and beneficial functionality of your store.
Organization Schema
This type of schema is beneficial for organizations and visitors as well. The organization schema shows all necessary information about the company in the Knowledge Panel block, which appears on the right side of search results. This is an effective way to present essential information about a company, ultimately enhancing its online visibility and user experience.
Here are details that you can see:
- Basic information (company name, URL, logo, social media links)
- Contact information (address, email, phone number)
- Additional details (description, reviews)
If a company has a Wikipedia page, search engines might use that information along with rich snippet data in the Knowledge Panel. Here’s what this combination looks like in the Coca-Cola example:
FAQ schema
This type of structured data is presented as short answers to a number of common questions. Since it provides useful details without requiring users to enter the website, the FAQ schema remains a helpful tool for enhancing the click-through rate of your website and saving users’ time.
Please note that Google has significantly reduced the visibility of FAQ schema snippets in search results since August 2023. These rich results, which used to appear frequently for various websites, are now mostly reserved for authoritative government and health websites.
Breadcrumb Schema
With breadcrumb schema, the search engine easily understands the hierarchical relationship between pages on a website. Instead of a direct URL, this schema shows a logical path from the homepage to the current page, improving user experience and boosting visibility.
How to Implement Structured Data for Magento 2
Manual Implementation
Manual structured data implementation secures complete control over structured data markup. This option is tailored specifically to your needs and SEO goals. Applying structured information manually is usually time-consuming because of the complexity of the custom modules, but this method is cost-saving and provides flexibility to the process.
Steps for Manual Implementation:
- Determine the schema types you need (product, review, etc.).
- Create the markup: Generate the structured data using formats like JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa. JSON-LD is typically preferred as it’s easier to implement and maintain.
- Place the markup: Put the created code into the relevant templates (homepage, category, product, etc.).
- Test and validate: To verify the markup, use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool.
Automating with Magento 2 Rich Snippets Extension
Magento 2 Rich Snippets extension automates the process of implementing structured data, accelerating the website workflow and bringing traffic to your website.
The extension offers a seamless and effective way to add structured data markup to your online store. You only need to go to the admin panel and enable the structured data types you need. No more manual coding! The extension is helpful for those who don’t have technical background knowledge because it requires minimal configuration.
Additionally, using this extension eliminates the need for ongoing maintenance of your structured data code, reducing the risk of potential issues. Embrace the power of rich snippets and simplify your optimization efforts with this efficient solution!
Steps to Implement Rich Snippets in Magento 2:
- Install the Magento 2 Rich Snippets Extension.
- Go to Plumocket -> Rich Snippets -> Configuration, and enable the required structured data types.
- Test the markup using the Rich Results Test tool.
- Monitor marked-up pages for performance in GSC. Sometimes, it takes Google several weeks to crawl and index this new data.
Conclusion
Structured data is a crucial part of every well-optimized website, which strives to enhance user experience, improve SEO, and drive sales. It works as a translator for search engines, improving their comprehension of your items and information.
When using Magento 2 Google structured data appropriately, you can unlock rich snippets, which are extremely effective for both visitors and merchants. They represent structured data by visuals, including breadcrumbs, pricing, and star ratings, to significantly improve click-through rates.
Leveraging extensions or customized implementations can extend the possibility of Magento on your ecommerce store to achieve the best results. These enable you to present thorough product details, customer feedback, business details, and even enhance website navigation directly from search results. Stand out your store in a competitive market of ecommerce with the help of structured data!
Need help in implementing rich snippets in Magento 2? Contact us and our expert team will be happy to help!
