Intro to GS1 SmartSearch Schema Markup
What is Schema.org?
As explained by Moz, schema.org is a “semantic vocabulary of tags (or microdata) that you can add to your HTML to improve the way search engines read and represent your pages in SERPs.”
Related: What is a SERP
It was created by Google, Bing, Facebook, and Yahoo to help search engines enhance their results pages with what are called “rich snippets.” This may be something like a star rating on a product, a menu for a restaurant, event information, and more.
Example:
Here is a breakdown of the schema types which can be used to create a rich snippet:
- Address
- Article
- Courses
- Events
- Products
- Recipes
- Reviews and Ratings
- Software Apps
- Videos
- Organizations and Businesses
- Name and Logo
- Business Contacts
- Local Businesses
Structured Data Markup can be validated with the Structured Data Testing Tool and monitored in Google Search Console.
Related: What is Structured Data?
Schema.org Product Markup
Traditional product markup for schema uses JSON-LD and includes the following variables:
- General Information
- Product Name
- Product Image
- Product Description
- Logo
- Brand
- Model
- MPN (Manufacturer Part Number)
- SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
- Product ID (ISBN)
- Value Information
- Price (or Price Range)
- Currency (USD, GBP, EUR)
- Product Attributes
- Condition (New, Used)
- Availability (In Stock, Out of Stock, Pre Order)
- Release Date
- Color
- Dimensions (Width x Height x Depth)
- Seller Information
- Seller Name
- Ratings & Reviews
- Aggregate Rating
- Rating Value
- Rating Count
- Review Body
- Review Rating (Star Rating)
For example, this electric skateboard has a star rating appearing in search results:
Here is the product page, as you can see it shows pricing information, star ratings with the number of reviews, material information, etc.
Further down the page, we find the reviews:
Here is an example of the schema markup for the page:
<script type=”application/ld+json”>
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@id”: “https://www.haloboard.com/products/haloboard”,
“@type”: “Product”,
“brand”: {
“@type”: “Brand”,
“name”: “Halo Board”
},
“sku”: “hlbd3”,
“description”: “n Free Shipping: Orders by 7pm (EST) ship out same dayn Based in the USAnnnnSpecial FeaturesnSpecsnnnnn Deck Material: 100% Japanese T700 Carbon Fibern Motor: 3000 Watt Dual Motor Design n Speed: Up to 22 mphn Range: Up to 12 Milesn Hill Grade: Up to 25%n Weight: 14 lbsn Charger: UL Certified Charger Includedn Warranty: 6 Months Guaranteednnn Deck Length: 36 in / 91 cmn Wheels: 83 mm Halo Street Wheels – 78an Wheelbase: 27 in / 68.5 cmn Trucks: Aluminum 9.25 inch widthn Remote: Ergonomic Bluetooth Halo Remoten Weight Limit: 286 lbsn Charge Time: 3 hoursn Safe Battery: 7Ah Certified FireSafe LG Lithium Ion Batteryn For Ages: 10 and upnnn Special Featuresnn Deck Material: 100% Japanese T700 Carbon Fibern Motor: 3000 Watt Dual Motor Design n Speed: Up to 22 mphn Range: Up to 12 Milesn Hill Grade: Up to 25%n Weight: 14 lbsn Charger: UL Certified Charger Includedn Warranty: 6 Months GuaranteednnSpecsnn Deck Length: 36 in / 91 cmn Wheels: 83 mm Halo Street Wheels – 78an Wheelbase: 27 in / 68.5 cmn Trucks: Aluminum 9.25 inch widthn Remote: Ergonomic Bluetooth Halo Remoten Weight Limit: 286 lbsn Charge Time: 3 hoursn Safe Battery: 7Ah Certified FireSafe LG Lithium Ion Batteryn For Ages: 10 and upnn”,
“url”: “https://www.haloboard.com/products/haloboard”,
“name”: “Halo Board 2 – Carbon Fiber Electric Skateboard”,”image”: “https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1142/0746/products/01-halo-board-electric-skateboard-2017-side-4_grande.jpg?v=1527751279″,”offers”: {
“@type”: “Offer”,
“priceCurrency”: “USD”,
“price”: “947.00”,
“itemCondition”: “https://schema.org/NewCondition”,
“availability”: “http://schema.org/PreOrder”,
“url”: “https://www.haloboard.com/products/haloboard”,
“sku”: null,
“seller”: {
“@type”: “Organization”,
“name”: “Halo Board”},
“aggregateRating”: {
“@type”: “AggregateRating”,
“ratingValue”: 4.8,
“ratingCount”: 222
}
}
}
</script>
This results in the following validation:
What is GS1 Smart Search
GS1 SmartSearch expands the ways in which webmasters can markup products by using the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) to identify more robust product information. It was announced in 2016 that the advanced markup will now be applicable the same way as traditional schema.org.
The following video from GS1 Global explains further:
GS1’s website also explains:
“GS1’s SmartSearch initiative has been working with the schema.org community (at W3C and Github), creating a Web-based structured data vocabulary that extends schema.org to support richer product data description. Unlike our hosted extensions (e.g. bib.schema.org, auto.schema.org) that are reviewed, versioned and published as part of schema.org itself, external extensions to schema.org such as GS1’s are fully independent and have their own workflows, review processes and infrastructure.”
This is supposed to ensure that those using their format will benefit in the following ways:
- Better search results for consumers to find the products and information they need.
- Greater visibility of their products in online searches.
- Improved, accurate online product information.
- Shared product information via consumer-facing mobile devices and websites, which ultimately drive sales.
Related: 6 Mobile SEO Tools to Help You Optimize Your Site
GS1 markup is very similar to the example shown above for the electric skateboards. However, in contrast to traditional product schema, GS1 uses more robust variables such as GTIN, more specific product attributes (i.e. ingredients, materials, allergens, instructions, etc.).
The following list breaks down some common information included in the markup. Note that the product attributes list does not include all possibilities, just a few that are often associated with specific product types.
- General Information
- Product Name
- Product Image URL
- GTIN13
- SKU
- Product Description
- Value Information
- Price Currency
- Price
- Product Attributes
- Consumable Products (Foods, Drinks, Tobacco Products)
- Ingredients
- Source Animal
- Preparation Information
- Nutrition
- Wearable Products (Clothing, Shoes)
- Waterproof
- Seasonal Use
- Size (Specific to Product)
- Target Consumer Information
- General Products
- Size
- Weight
- Product Awards
- Consumable Products (Foods, Drinks, Tobacco Products)
Here is an example of this code markup for a wearable product:
<script type=”application/ld+json”>[
{
“@context”:”http://schema.org”,
“@type”:”Corporation”,
“url”:”https://www.website.com/”,
“contactPoint”:
[
{
“@type”:”ContactPoint”,
“telephone”:”+1 800 867 5309″,
“areaServed”:”US”,
“contactType”:”customer service”,
“availableLanguage”:”English”,
“contactOption”:”TollFree”
}
]
},
{
“@context”:”http://schema.org”,
“@type”:”WebSite”,
“url”:”https://www.website.com/”,
“name”:”Business Name”
},
{
“@context”:”http://schema.org/”,
“name”:”Product Name Wearable Clothing”,
“@type”:”Product”,”image”:
[
“https://www.website.com/product.jpg”
],
“gtin13″:”18008675309”,
“sku”:”18008675309″,
“description”:”Product description.”,
“offers”:
{
“@type”:”Offer”,
“priceCurrency”:”USD”,
“price”:10,
“itemCondition”:”http://schema.org/NewCondition”,
“availability”:”http://schema.org/InStock”,
“seller”:
{
“@context”:”http://schema.org”,
“@type”:”Corporation”,
“url”:”https://www.website.com/”,
“contactPoint”:
[
{
“@type”:”ContactPoint”,
“telephone”:”+1 800 867 5309″,
“areaServed”:”US”,
“contactType”:”customer service”,
“availableLanguage”:”English”,
“contactOption”:”TollFree”
}
]
}
},
“brand”:
{
“@type”:”Corporation”,
“name”:”NAME”
}
},
{
“@context”:
{
“gs1″:”http://gs1.org/voc/”,
“schema”:”http://schema.org/”,
“xsd”:”http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#”,
“@vocab”:”http://gs1.org/voc/”,
“Product”:”gs1:Product”,
“gtin”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:gtin”,
“@type”:”xsd:string”
},
“productName”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:productName”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“priceCurrency”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:priceCurrency”,
“@type”:”xsd:string”
},
“productDescription”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:productDescription”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“productMarketingMessage”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:productMarketingMessage”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“marketingMessage”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:marketingMessage”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“preparationConsumptionPrecautions”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:preparationConsumptionPrecautions”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“warningCopyDescription”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:warningCopyDescription”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“ingredientStatement”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:ingredientStatement”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“preparationInstructions”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:preparationInstructions”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“countryOfOriginStatement”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:countryOfOriginStatement”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“consumerStorageInstructions”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:consumerStorageInstructions”,
“@language”:”en”
},
“consumerUsageInstructions”:
{
“@id”:”gs1:consumerUsageInstructions”,
“@language”:”en”
}
},
“@type”:”gs1:product”,
“gs1:gtin”:”#########”,
“gs1:productID”:”##########”,
“productName”:”Product Name”,
“gs1:image”:”https://www.website.com/product.jpg”,
“productDescription”:”Product description.”,
“priceSpecification”:
{
“@type”:”gs1:PriceSpecification”,
“price”:10,
“priceCurrency”:”USD”
},
“gs1:netContent”:”1″,
“marketingMessage”:”Marketing message. “
} ]
}
]</script>
Here is the validation within the Structured Data Testing Tool:
Please review our example code markup for ecommerce sites. A full guide for all formatted information can be found here.
Once you complete creating the code, you should be able to validate it within the structured data testing tool the same as any other schema.org markup.
