What is Structured Data?
Structured data is like a special markup language that helps search engines, like Google, understand the content on your webpage. When Google crawls your page, it sees the content, but it might not fully understand what that content is about. By adding structured data, you’re essentially giving Google extra context, like saying, “Hey, this is a recipe” or “This is a product with a price and reviews”. This allows Google to better interpret your page and display rich snippets—those enhanced search results with extra details that make your content stand out.
For example, if you add structured data to a product page on Shopify, it can tell Google details like the product's price, customer reviews, and whether it’s in stock. This information can then appear directly in the search results, making your product listing more appealing to shoppers.
Here you can see how we implemented the reviews schema on our website. The stars are displayed in the search results, helping our service page grab more attention and build trust with potential customers.
How Does Structured Data Work?
Structured data uses Schema.org, a collaborative framework created by major search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex to standardise structured data on the web. It provides a shared vocabulary that helps webmasters define specific types of information, such as reviews, events, products, or recipes, in a way that search engines can easily understand. When you add schema markup to your Shopify website, it helps search engines find important details about your store, products, blog, and more.
When someone searches for terms related to your Shopify store, search engines use this structured data to show rich snippets or enhanced features like FAQ sections or Knowledge Panels in the search results.
Types of Structured Data
There are many types of structured data that can help improve your website's visibility and CTR in search results. Here are a few examples that can give you the most advantages:
Recipe Markup: If your website focuses on food and cooking, recipe structured data is a must. It helps search engines show useful details like ingredients, cooking times, and ratings right in the search results. This makes your recipes more appealing and easier for users to find.
FAQ Markup: FAQ structured data highlights common questions and answers. When you use this, search engines can display your FAQs in a dropdown format directly in search results. It’s a great way to address customer questions, improve engagement, and drive traffic to your site.
Event Markup: Event structured data is perfect for showcasing events like concerts, webinars, or workshops. It lets search engines display important event details—such as dates, times, locations, and ticket prices—clearly in the search results. Using it properly ensures your events are easy to find and stand out.
Product Markup: It lets search engines show key information like prices, availability, and reviews right in the search results. This makes your products more visible and attractive to potential customers, especially compared to competitors.
Video Markup: Video structured data is ideal for websites with video content. It helps search engines display video thumbnails, descriptions, and durations directly in search results. This can increase visibility, improve click-through rates, and make your site more engaging for users.
Structured Data Formats
Shopify supports three main types of structured data formats to help improve your site's search engine visibility:
JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data): This is the most popular format and is also preferred by Google for structured data. It’s easy to use, simple to work with, and often the go-to choice for Shopify sites. JSON-LD can be placed anywhere on a webpage, making it highly flexible and convenient.
Microdata: This format uses special HTML tags placed directly within your website's content. While it works, it can be harder to manage and more prone to errors, especially during edits, as even small mistakes in the HTML structure or syntax can break the code and make the data unreadable by search engines.
RDFa (Resource Description Framework in Attributes): An HTML5 extension that adds metadata to your website’s HTML tags. While less widely used than JSON-LD, it’s less intrusive than the microdata method as it integrates seamlessly into your site's existing HTML structure.
Which Pages on Shopify Need Structured Data?
Not every page on your Shopify site needs structured data, but adding it to the right pages can boost SEO and improve user experience.
Product Pages: Include important details like the price, stock availability, and customer reviews to help products stand out.
Collection Pages: Use structured data to group products together and make them more relevant in search results.
Homepage: Add key business information like your name, logo, and contact details to make your site more recognisable.
Blog Pages: Highlight articles by including details like the author and publication date to help blogs appear in search results.
FAQ and About Pages: Use structured data to explain the information on these pages, so search engines can feature them in rich results, like FAQ snippets.
How to Add Structured Data to a Shopify Store?
Most Shopify themes include basic structured data, like Organization or Product schema. This means details like your business name, logo, and product info might already be set up. However, it’s important to check and update this data to make sure it’s accurate and works best for your store, as the default setup may not fit your specific needs.
Manual Implementation (Editing Shopify Theme Code)
Log in to your Shopify admin.
Go to Online Store > Themes.
Click Actions and then select Edit Code.
This will open the theme file editor, where you can see and change the liquid files that make up your store's layout.
Choose the type of structured data you want to add, such as product, collection, or organisation information. Copy the JSON-LD code snippet for the type you need and paste it into the appropriate liquid file. You can add it inside the <head> or <script> tags, depending on the file you're working on.
Shopify Apps
If you're not comfortable editing code, Shopify apps make it much easier to implement structured data. Apps like JSON-LD for SEO, Smart SEO, or Schema Plus can automatically generate and add schema markup to your store.
All you need to do is install the app, configure the settings, and let it handle the rest. This is a beginner-friendly way to ensure your store is SEO-optimised with minimal effort.
Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is another effective way to add structured data to your Shopify store, especially if you want flexibility without editing your theme.
Set up Google Tag Manager on your Shopify store by adding the GTM container code to your theme’s
<head>section.In GTM, create a new tag and select the tag type as "Custom HTML."
Paste your JSON-LD structured data into the tag and configure it to fire on specific pages (e.g., product pages, homepage, etc.).
Save and publish your tag.
Test your structured data using Google’s Rich Results Test tool to ensure proper implementation.
Using GTM allows you to manage and update structured data tags without making changes directly to your Shopify theme.
Now, let's see how each type of schema markup works.
Shopify Product Schema Markup
Shopify product structured data ensures that detailed product information like price, stock availability, and reviews appear in Google Search results. It should be added to your product.liquid file.
Example JSON-LD Code for Product Schema
```
{
"@context": "https://schema.org/",
"@type": "Product",
"name": "{{ product.title }}",
"image": "{{ product.featured_image | img_url }}",
"description": "{{ product.description }}",
"brand": "{{ product.vendor }}",
"sku": "{{ product.sku }}",
"offers": {
"@type": "Offer",
"priceCurrency": "{{ shop.currency }}",
"price": "{{ product.price }}"
}
}
```
Shopify Collection Schema Markup
For Shopify collection structured data, you'll focus on product categories. This improves visibility for your collection pages and adds keyword relevance. Place this JSON-LD code in your collection.liquid file.
The code defines an ItemList schema, listing each product in the collection as a ListItem. It dynamically generates the list by looping through all the products in the collection, assigning each one a position number and URL.
Example JSON-LD Code for Collection Schema
```
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "ItemList",
"itemListElement": [
{% for product in collection.products %}
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": {{ forloop.index }},
"url": "{{ product.url }}"
}{% unless forloop.last %},{% endunless %}
{% endfor %}
]
}
```
Shopify Organization Schema Markup
Highlight your business's general details with homepage structured data, often referred to as Organization schema. Add this JSON-LD snippet to your theme.liquid file. Don’t forget to include links to your social media profiles! Mentioning your social media helps search engines better understand your online presence.
Example JSON-LD for Homepage Schema
```
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "{{ shop.name }}",
"url": "{{ shop.url }}",
"logo": "{{ shop.logo | img_url }}",
"sameAs": [
"{{ shop.facebook }}",
"{{ shop.twitter }}",
"{{ shop.instagram }}",
"{{ shop.linkedin }}"
]
}
```
Shopify Blog Pages Schema Markup
Structured data on blog pages helps showcase your articles with features like rich snippets in search results. Place this markup in your article.liquid file.
Example JSON-LD for Blog Schema
```
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BlogPosting",
"headline": "{{ article.title }}",
"author": "{{ article.author }}",
"datePublished": "{{ article.published_at }}",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "{{ shop.url }}"
}
}
```
Shopify BreadcrumbList Schema Markup
Breadcrumbs help search engines understand the hierarchy and structure of your website, improving navigation and SEO. Use the following JSON-LD code to add BreadcrumbList schema markup to your Shopify store, ideally in your theme's header.liquid file or a relevant section.
Example JSON-LD for BreadcrumbList Schema
```
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BreadcrumbList",
"itemListElement": [
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 1,
"name": "Home",
"item": "{{ shop.url }}"
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 2,
"name": "{{ collection.title }}",
"item": "{{ collection.url }}"
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 3,
"name": "{{ product.title }}",
"item": "{{ product.url }}"
}
]
}
```
Structured Data Benefits for Shopify Stores
Adding structured data to your Shopify store can bring many benefits to help your store perform better online and improve customer experience.
Better visibility in search results: Structured data allows rich snippets to appear in search results, showing extra details like star ratings, product prices, and availability. This makes your store stand out and catches more attention compared to regular search listings.
Higher CTR: With more useful information displayed in search results, users are more likely to click on your store, bringing more visitors to your site.
Improved local SEO: If your Shopify store has a physical location, adding business and location data can help your store show up in "near me" searches and improve its visibility for local customers.
Increased user engagement: Rich snippets give users key product details, reviews, and other information upfront, helping them make better decisions before visiting your site. This targeted approach can lead to higher engagement and sales.
Faster search engine indexing: Structured data helps search engines understand your content better, leading to quicker and more accurate indexing of your pages.
How to Test Your Structured Data Markup?
Use Google's Rich Results Testing Tool to check if your structured data is set up correctly and follows best practices. This tool helps you find mistakes or warnings in your schema markup, so your content has a better chance of qualifying for rich results on search engines. To use it, just paste your Shopify page URL into the tool. It will show you any problems and give you tips to fix them, helping improve your page's visibility and performance in search results.
Another helpful tool is the Schema Markup Validator from Schema.org. This tool checks your structured data to make sure it follows the standards set by Schema.org. While the Rich Results Testing Tool focuses on making your page eligible for special search features, the Schema Markup Validator ensures your data meets global standards and is accurate.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing Structured Data
Adding Data Manually to Every Page: Rather than adding schema markup to each page manually, use a global solution that automatically adds schema based on the page's URL, title, description, and image. This method keeps your schema consistent and accurate while saving a lot of time as your website grows. Automating the process also minimises errors and eliminates the need for time-consuming updates later. You can use tools or custom scripts to create the right schema for every page, making it simpler to manage structured data across your entire site.
Using Outdated Schema Types: Using old schema types can hurt your website's SEO. Search engines update their requirements often, so stick to the latest schema.org guidelines to improve your rankings and visibility.
Incorrectly Formatted JSON-LD: Errors in your JSON-LD code, like missing brackets or wrong property names, can stop search engines from understanding your data. Use Google's Structured Data Testing Tool to check and fix your code.
Duplicating Schema Markup: Adding multiple schema for the same page can confuse search engines and weaken your data's impact. Double-check your markup to avoid duplicates and keep it clear.
Missing Essential Properties: Leaving out key details like price, availability, or reviews in your schema can stop your data from showing rich results. Always include all required and recommended details for better visibility.
By now, you should have a solid understanding of how to add structured data to Shopify. Implementing structured data not only boosts your search visibility but also helps you communicate better with search engines, resulting in a higher-performing store.
