Technical SEO

Google Introduces Certification Markup in Product Structured Data: Key Updates and Implementation Guidance

Photo of SEO SEO Send an email October 13, 2024
0 4 2 minutes read

Google has announced an update to its Search Central documentation, introducing support for certification markup in product structured data. This change will take full effect in April and aims to provide more comprehensive and globally relevant product information.

New Certification Markup For Merchant Listings

Google has added Certification markup support for merchant listings in its product structured data documentation. This addition allows retailers and ecommerce sites to include detailed certification information about their products.

Transition From EnergyConsumptionDetails to Certification Type

A key aspect of this update is replacing the EnergyConsumptionDetails type with the more versatile Certification type. The new type can support a wider range of countries and broader certifications. Google recommends websites using EnergyConsumptionDetails in their structured data to switch to the Certification type before April. This will ensure product pages remain optimized for Google’s merchant listing experiences.

Expanded Capabilities & Global Relevance

The move to the Certification type represents an expansion in the types of product certifications that can be communicated through structured data. While energy efficiency ratings were a primary focus of the EnergyConsumptionDetails type, the new Certification markup can encompass a much wider array of product certifications and standards. This change is relevant for businesses operating in multiple countries, as it allows for more nuanced and locally applicable certification information to be included.

Implementation Guidelines

Google has provided examples in its updated documentation to guide webmasters in implementing the new Certification markup. These examples include specifying certifications such as CO2 emission classes for vehicles and energy efficiency labels for electronics. The structured data should be added to product pages using JSON-LD format, with the Certification type nested within the product’s structured data. Review the full documentation to ensure proper implementation. Including certification information in structured data could lead to more informative product listings, potentially influencing user click-through rates and purchase decisions. For consumers, this update means access to more detailed and standardized product information directly in search results, particularly regarding certifications and compliance with various standards.

Related: Google recommends including Product markup in initial HTML for best results.

Next Steps

Website owners and SEO professionals should take the following steps:

  1. Review current use of EnergyConsumptionDetails in product structured data.
  2. Plan for the transition to the Certification type before April.
  3. Implement the new Certification markup on product pages, following Google’s guidelines.
  4. Test the implementation using Google’s Rich Results Test tool.

As with any significant change to structured data implementation, it is advisable to monitor search performance and rich result appearances after making these updates.

Featured Image: lilik ferri yanto/Shutterstock

Photo of SEO SEO Send an email October 13, 2024
0 4 2 minutes read
Photo of SEO

SEO

Related Articles

Google Search Advocate John Mueller Asserts Core Web Vitals Aren’t Major Ranking Factors Amid Industry Debate His statements address the growing discussion about the impact of site performance on search visibility. Mueller’s View: Mueller shared on LinkedIn, “We’ve been pretty clear that Core Web Vitals are not giant factors in ranking, and I doubt you’d see a big drop just because of that.” The primary benefit of enhancing website performance is improving user experience. A poor experience may naturally deter traffic by discouraging repeat visits, regardless of how users initially find the site. Mueller continues, “Having a website that provides a good experience for users is worthwhile. If users are so annoyed that they don’t want to come back, you’re just wasting the first-time visitors to your site, regardless of where they come from.” Small Sites’ Competitive Advantage: Mueller believes smaller sites have a unique edge in implementing SEO changes. Reflecting on his experience with large companies, he explains, “Smaller sites have a gigantic advantage when it comes to being able to take advantage of changes – they can be so much more nimble.” Mueller noted that larger organizations may require extensive processes for simple changes, while smaller sites can update things like robots.txt in just 30 minutes. He adds, “None of this is easy. You still need to figure out what to change to adapt to a dynamic ecosystem online, but I bet if you want to change your site’s robots.txt (for example), it’s a matter of 30 minutes at most.” Context: Mueller’s response came after Andrew Mcleod presented research revealing consistent patterns across multiple websites showing rapid ranking changes after performance modifications. In one case, a site with over 50,000 monthly visitors experienced a traffic drop within 72 hours of implementing advertisements. Mcleod’s analysis, including five controlled experiments over three months, showed traffic drops of up to 20% within 48 hours of enabling ads, with recovery periods of 1-2 weeks after removing ads. Consistent patterns were seen across test cases. Previous Statements: This guidance aligns with Mueller’s previous statements on Core Web Vitals. In a March podcast, Mueller confirmed that Core Web Vitals are used in ranking systems, but emphasized that perfect scores won’t notably affect search results. Mueller’s message remains consistent: while Core Web Vitals matter for user experience and are part of Google’s ranking systems, prioritizing content quality over metrics is crucial. Looking Forward: Core Web Vitals don’t directly affect rankings, per Mueller. Google’s stance on ranking factors remains unchanged, yet technical performance and user experience collectively influence traffic. Featured Image: Ye Liew/Shutterstock

October 23, 2024

Google Announces the Retirement of Sitelinks Search Box Feature

Google has announced the retirement of the sitelinks search box feature, effective November 21, 2024. This marks the end of a tool that has been part of Google Search for over a decade. Despite the removal, search rankings and other sitelinks remain unaffected. Websites can retain the existing markup, though it will no longer be utilized by Google. The sitelinks search box launched in 2014 to facilitate site-specific searches but its usage has declined. Although this change doesn’t impact search rankings, Google will update related tools like the Search Console rich results report and the Rich Results Test. While the structured data for the sitelinks search box can be removed, doing so isn’t necessary. Other structured data types, such as ‘WebSite,’ will remain supported. Website owners and SEO professionals should be informed, although no immediate action is needed.

October 21, 2024

Google Updates Structured Data Guidance for Vacation Rentals

October 15, 2024

The Power of Schema Markup: Building a Reusable Content Knowledge Graph for Your Organization

October 14, 2024
Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button