Schema.org has recently been announced by Google. It’s an innitiative by Google, Bing and Yahoo to create one microdata standard for structuring web content. Basically it’s the good old Google Rich Snippets, but followed by all three major search engines and it also brought a lot of new markup.
eCommerce related microdata markup
Schema.org brings several interesting opportunities to structure eCommerce data. Here are some that would be very useful in a Magento store:
Schema.org Product markup – example:
<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Product">
<span itemprop="name">Kenmore White 17" Microwave</span>
<img src="kenmore-microwave-17in.jpg" />
<div itemprop="aggregateRating"
itemscope itemprop="http://schema.org/AggregateRating">
Rated <span itemprop="ratingValue">3.5</span>/5
based on <span itemprop="reviewCount">11</span> customer reviews
</div>
<div itemprop="offers" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Offer">
<span itemprop="price">$55.00</span>
<link itemprop="availability" href="http://schema.org/InStock" />In stock
</div>
Product description:
<span itemprop="description">0.7 cubic feet countertop microwave.
Has six preset cooking categories and convenience features like
Add-A-Minute and Child Lock.</span>
Customer reviews:
<div itemprop="reviews" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Review">
<span itemprop="name">Not a happy camper</span> -
by <span itemprop="author">Ellie</span>,
<time itemprop="publishDate" datetime="2011-04-01">April 1, 2011</time>
<div itemprop="reviewRating" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Rating">
<meta itemprop="worstRating" content = "1">
<span itemprop="ratingValue">1</span>/
<span itemprop="bestRating">5</span>stars
</meta></div>
<span itemprop="description">The lamp burned out and now I have to replace it.
<div itemprop="reviews" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Review">
<span itemprop="name">Value purchase</span> -
by <span itemprop="author">Lucas</span>,
<time itemprop="publishDate" datetime="2011-03-25">March 25, 2011</time>
<div itemprop="reviewRating" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Rating">
<meta itemprop="worstRating" content = "1"/>
<span itemprop="ratingValue">4</span>/
<span itemprop="bestRating">5</span>stars
</div>
<span itemprop="description">Great microwave for the price. It is
small and fits in my apartment.</span>
</div>
...
</span></div></div>Schema.org Review markup – example:
<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Product">
<span itemprop="name">Kenmore White 17" Microwave</span>
<img src="kenmore-microwave-17in.jpg" />
<div itemprop="aggregateRating"
itemscope itemprop="http://schema.org/AggregateRating">
Rated <span itemprop="ratingValue">3.5</span>/5
based on <span itemprop="reviewCount">11</span> customer reviews
</div>
<div itemprop="offers" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Offer">
<span itemprop="price">$55.00</span>
<link itemprop="availability" href="http://schema.org/InStock" />In stock
</div>
Product description:
<span itemprop="description">0.7 cubic feet countertop microwave.
Has six preset cooking categories and convenience features like
Add-A-Minute and Child Lock.</span>
Customer reviews:
<div itemprop="reviews" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Review">
<span itemprop="name">Not a happy camper</span> -
by <span itemprop="author">Ellie</span>,
<time itemprop="publishDate" datetime="2011-04-01">April 1, 2011</time>
<div itemprop="reviewRating" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Rating">
<meta itemprop="worstRating" content = "1">
<span itemprop="ratingValue">1</span>/
<span itemprop="bestRating">5</span>stars
</div>
<span itemprop="description">The lamp burned out and now I have to replace it.
<div itemprop="reviews" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Review">
<span itemprop="name">Value purchase</span> -
by <span itemprop="author">Lucas</span>,
<time itemprop="publishDate" datetime="2011-03-25">March 25, 2011</time>
<div itemprop="reviewRating" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Rating">
<meta itemprop="worstRating" content = "1"/>
<span itemprop="ratingValue">4</span>/
<span itemprop="bestRating">5</span>stars
</div>
<span itemprop="description">Great microwave for the price. It is
small and fits in my apartment.</span>
</div>
...
</div>Schema.org Aggregate Rating markup – example:
<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Restaurant">
<span itemprop="name">GreatFood</span>
<div itemprop="aggregateRating" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/AggregateRating">
<span itemprop="ratingValue">4</span> stars -
based on <span itemprop="reviewCount">250</span> reviews
</div>
<div itemprop="address" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/PostalAddress">
<span itemprop="streetAddress">1901 Lemur Ave</span>
<span itemprop="addressLocality">Sunnyvale</span>,
<span itemprop="addressRegion">CA</span> <span itemprop="postalCode">94086</span>
</div>
<span itemprop="telephone">(408) 714-1489</span>
<a itemprop="url" href="http://www.dishdash.com">www.greatfood.com</a>
Hours:
<time itemprop="openingHours" datetime="Mo-Sa 11:00-14:30">Mon-Sat 11am - 2:30pm</time>
<time itemprop="openingHours" datetime="Mo-Th 17:00-21:30">Mon-Thu 5pm - 9:30pm</time>
<time itemprop="openingHours" datetime="Fr-Sa 17:00-22:00">Fri-Sat 5pm - 10:00pm</time>
Categories:
<span itemprop="servesCuisine">
Middle Eastern
</span>,
<span itemprop="servesCuisine">
Mediterranean
</span>
Price Range: <span itemprop="priceRange">$$</span>
Takes Reservations: Yes
</div>What if I already implemented Google Rich Snippets?
We have a tutorial on how to do that. For now, we’re sure Google will support the good old GRS format in the foreseeable future, but if you’re doing some major upgrade on your website or you’re starting out from the scratch, I’d switch to schema.org markup.
