How to set up structured data in BigCommerce?

@ervin.williamson 

Setting up structured data in BigCommerce can enhance your store's visibility in search engine results by providing additional context to search engines. Structured data, often implemented as JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data), helps search engines understand the information on your web pages better. Here’s how you can set up structured data in BigCommerce:

1. Understand the Types of Structured Data Needed

• Product: For individual product pages to showcase product details like name, price, availability, etc.
• Organization: Represents the entire business or organization.
• Breadcrumb: Helps search engines understand the page hierarchy on your site.
• Local Business: Important if you have a physical store location.
• Review: To showcase product reviews and ratings.

2. Access Your BigCommerce Store Theme Files

• Go to your BigCommerce dashboard.
• Navigate to Storefront > My Themes.
• Click on Advanced > Edit Theme Files.

3. Add JSON-LD Script to Your Store

• Look for the specific template files where you want to add structured data. For product pages, this is typically the product.html or product-view.html.
• Add JSON-LD scripts in the section of these files. Here is an example for a product:

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<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "http://schema.org/",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Product Name",
  "image": "https://example.com/product-image.jpg",
  "description": "Product description here.",
  "sku": "ProductSKU",
  "brand": {
    "@type": "Brand",
    "name": "Brand Name"
  },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "url": "https://example.com/product-url",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "price": "Product Price",
    "itemCondition": "http://schema.org/NewCondition",
    "availability": "http://schema.org/InStock"
  }
}
</script>

4. Customize Structured Data for Each Product

• Dynamically pull product-specific data using Handlebars, BigCommerce’s templating language.
• Replace placeholders in the JSON-LD script (like Product Name, ProductSKU) with appropriate template variables.

5. Validate Your Structured Data

• Use Google’s Rich Results Test to ensure that your structured data is correctly implemented. This tool can help identify any issues before they become problems.
• Copy the URL of a product page and paste it into the tool to see if there are any errors or warnings.

6. Test Across Different Pages

• Besides individual product pages, ensure you apply structured data to other relevant pages like the homepage or category pages if applicable.

7. Continuous Monitoring

• Structured data formats and recommendations change over time. Regularly review and update your structured data markup to align with current best practices.

Setting up structured data requires a bit of technical know-how, but it can significantly impact your SEO strategy by improving search visibility and click-through rates. If you're not comfortable editing code, consider hiring a developer familiar with BigCommerce and SEO best practices.