What structured data is
Structured data is information about a page written in a format machines understand. Instead of guessing that “€59.90” is a price, the search engine reads it in a tag that states price, currency and availability.
Google’s recommended format is JSON-LD, a block of code on the page, using the schema.org vocabulary. Platforms such as Shopify or PrestaShop include some of it natively or through the theme, but it is usually incomplete.
What it is for
The most visible effect is rich results: price, availability and stars in the Google result, or breadcrumbs instead of the URL. That improves visibility and click-through rate.
The second effect is less visible but increasingly important: search engines and AI assistants use this data to understand what a brand sells, at what price and with what ratings. It is clean, reliable information for GEO and for agentic commerce.
What to mark up in an online store
You don’t need to mark up everything schema.org allows. These are the types that add the most value in an online store.
- Product on every product page: name, image, description, brand, GTIN or SKU, and an offer with price, currency and availability.
- AggregateRating and Review, when there are real customer ratings on the page.
- Shipping and return policies within the offer.
- Organization on the home page: name, logo, contact details and social profiles.
- BreadcrumbList on category and product pages.
- FAQPage on pages with visible FAQs.
- Article on the blog, with author and date.
Common mistakes
The most serious mistake is marking up information that isn’t on the page or doesn’t match it: a different price, ratings that aren’t shown or stock that isn’t real. Google may ignore the markup or apply a manual action.
Other common mistakes are having two different product markups on the same page (one from the theme and another from an app), variants without their own price or availability, and markup that breaks after a theme update without anyone noticing.
How to validate and monitor it
Every change is checked with Google’s Rich Results Test and the schema.org validator. After that, the enhancements reports in Search Console show errors and warnings by markup type across the whole site.
In the SEO audits we carry out at Webimpacto, we review the markup on a sample of pages from each template. If a template fails, every page that uses it fails, so you fix it once and thousands of pages are corrected.
Frequently asked questions
Does structured data improve rankings?
It is not a direct ranking factor, but it enables rich results that improve clicks and helps search engines and AI understand the page.
Which structured data format does Google recommend?
JSON-LD, with the schema.org vocabulary. It also accepts microdata and RDFa, but JSON-LD is the easiest to maintain.
Does Shopify include structured data?
Shopify themes include basic product markup, but information such as GTIN, shipping and return policies or ratings is often missing. It is worth reviewing and completing.
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CMO at Webimpacto. She leads the Growth area: SEO, GEO, paid media, CRO and analytics for brands that sell online.