Introduction
In this article you will find out how to qualify for organic stars, stand out in Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), and increase your Click-through Rate (CTR) by adding schema mark-up to your website. Schema mark-up is a tool that allows you to enhance the appearance of your search results with rich snippets, including star ratings and other valuable information. In this article, we will discuss the essential schema mark-up needed, common issues, and resources to optimize your website for rich snippets.
Here's an example of a search result having Organic Stars.
What Schema So I Need?
To display gold star ratings in search results, you must use correctly marked up Product schema. Within Product schema, the 'AggregateRating' is responsible for rating rich snippets in SERPs. If you collect product reviews through Feefo's on-page integration, you don't need to worry about schema mark-up as we automatically insert it into your code. However, if you choose custom integration, you can use Feefo API to pull the data into your code.
"I collect Product reviews through Feefo on-page integration, but I do not have gold star rating rich snippets in the SERP."
This can happen in the following instances:
- More than one Product schema is on the page
- Feefo JavaScript is not firing correctly (or no Product Schema is Inserted)
- The page speed is too slow (Googlebot is not fetching the mark-up)
Let us have a look at each example.
Multiple Schema Issue
Run the page through the Rich Result Test Tool. If you see more than one Product schema set, you need to merge these - We advise merging only two of the Product schema codes. If you have more than one which you (or any 3rd party app/plugin) insert on your page, you will need to decide which one you are leaving and which one will be removed. At this moment, Feefo schema insertion happens automatically on the product pages where on-page integration is used - In future product updates, you may have an option for switching this off.
Therefore you will need to merge Feefo schema with any other set of schema that is present on the page via @id markup. Please add the @id mark-up to your Product schema as per the below code and the two schema sets will be merged. This will allow Googlebot to pick up and 'crawl' both Product schema sets and render them into a nice rich snippet in the SERP. Feefo schema is using the below @id mark-up for all merchants:
"@id": "uri #Product",
Example: "@id": "/products/inokim-quick-3-electric-scooter#Product",
Feefo JavaScript
Ensure that Feefo JS fires correctly on your pages. Use the Search Console to check if there are any obstructions causing issues with the script. Correct any potential conflicts to ensure smooth functioning.
Press Test Live
- Click more info
- Click the hamburger menu
- Check the script
Slow Page Speed
If the desired gold star ratings still don't appear, check if your product qualifies for rich snippets, as certain product categories do not qualify for the rich snippets like guns, cigarettes, and products of an adult nature; but if you do qualify and they're still not appearing, we recommend that you check your site speed. This is probably the most complex issue that deserves an article of its own, but the bottom line is that if your site is very heavy on the resources it needs to load, with a lot of 3rd party apps and plugins, Googlebot is not making a full crawl of your resources and indexes it with a partial fetch. This is particularly important as Google announced mobile-first indexing for the whole Web meaning that it is crawling the web with its smartphone mobile bot. This means that your design and SEO optimization now must be done for smart mobile devices.
There are a few resources where you can see how you place on the site/page speed, but we strongly recommend that you start optimizing your mobile speed now, as it will have a positive effect not only on your rich snippets but also on your overall SEO and potentially rankings too. Unfortunately, we will not be able to assist you with your site speed optimization project but there are quite a few agencies out there that can help you to identify and solve this problem.
Site Speed Resources
Use resources like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and MOZ to evaluate your site's speed and implement optimizations for mobile devices.
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
https://moz.com/learn/seo/page-speed
Where Can I Find More on Product Schema Mark-up?
Explore various resources, including Google's official documentation, SchemaApp, structured data generators, and industry blogs, to gain insights into Product schema mark-up best practices.
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/product
https://rich-snippets.io/structured-data-generator/
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-structured-data
Schema Guidelines
Follow these guidelines when implementing schema mark-up:
- Always run your page through the testing tool after implementation. If you have errors and warnings (only if AggregateRaring is missing), these could prevent your stars from displaying. In the instance of Errors, your mark-up is wrong and will not be read by Google!
- Only add Product schema Schema to individual Product Pages.
- Do not mark-up with individual Product schema on your category pages (multiple Product mark-up is OK). Product category pages should not carry rich snippets in SERP as this is against Google’s guidelines.
Conclusion
By implementing the correct schema mark-up, you can enhance your search results with gold star ratings and other valuable information. Avoid common issues such as multiple schema sets and JavaScript conflicts, and optimise your site speed for better rich snippet visibility and overall SEO. Following the schema guidelines will ensure your search results stand out in SERPs and drive higher CTR to your website. If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to our support team for expert guidance on schema mark-up and rich snippets.