Schema:
The database schema of a database system is its structure described in a formal language supported by the database management system. The term "schema" refers to the organization of data as a blueprint of how the database is constructed.
You can learn more about schema, how it works, and the different types at schema.org
When it comes to the reviews that you collect through Shopper Approved, we have schema attached to your Merchant Review Widget that you place on a dedicated Reviews Page. This is what helps generates organic stars on a Google search.
Why there should be no schema placed on your category pages:
There are two reasons why schema from your Merchant Review Widget should not implemented on your category pages:
It can dilute the unique nature of the code. By placing this code on your category pages, it takes away the uniqueness of each and every individual product you have on your site, especially being that your products specifically exists in one place on the internet.
This is not Google’s purpose. Google wants the most direct results possible to gather results for the products you sell. Their goals is to direct your customers to a designated place for individualized items. If customers are looking for a single item, but are then directed to a page with multiple items, it can result to option fatigue and drive your customers away. This can be very detrimental to your SEO.
Best practices:
In your Dashboard you have different codes that are designated for different areas of your website:
Category Code - The Category code Is located under the "All Services" menu in the upper left corner within the "Product Reviews Code" link under the "Integrate" section. From there you will click into the "Category Code" tab. Install the Category Code on pages where you want to display stars for multiple products on one page. For example, product listing pages or similar item carousels. You can find out more information on how to implement this code through our Integration Whitepaper and under the Integration tab of your Product Reviews Tool.
Product Page Code - The Product Page code Is located under the "All Services" menu in the upper left corner within the "Product Reviews Code" link under the "Integrate" section. Install the Product Page code to show reviews on individual product pages. You will need to use your shopping cart templating engine to replace [PRODUCT ID] on each page that this code is placed on. This ID needs to match the product ID in the feed you provided in Step 1.
Product Page Code is the code that is injected with schema that will help stars show in your Product Listing Ads. In Step 2, you will want to ensure that the setting "Inject JSON-LD schema into product page using the product widget" is turned on.
Merchant Review Page Widget - The Merchant Review Page Widget is located under the "All Services" menu in the upper left corner within the "Review Page Widget" link under the "Seals & Widgets" section. Again, this code is something that should be implemented on a page that is dedicated for your Merchant reviews only.
Need help?
If you ever need help to understand how all of these codes work and what their purposes are, please reach out to our support team at [email protected]