Class 25 - Product & Video Schema + Schema Implementation |
FREE Advanced SEO Course Note
Watch the Full Video : Google Search Console Part 2
Introduction
This class completes the Schema Data topic. It covers Product schema, Video schema, and how to implement schema on a website — with a plugin and without a plugin. Schema implementation via Google Tag Manager will be covered separately in the GTM section.
Product Schema
Why Product Schema Matters
Product schema tells Google the details of a product page — name, image, brand, price, stock status, and reviews. This helps Google show rich results like price, availability, and star ratings directly in search
Basic Product Fields
| Field | Notes |
| name | Full product name (no word limit, but keep it reasonable — very long names throw a warning) |
| image | Image of the actual product (not the brand/company logo) |
| brand | Name of the brand |
| description | Product description, usually same as on the product page |
| sku | Unique identifier set by the manufacturer, not by SEO. If SKU is unavailable, use another identifier like GTIN or MPN |
Offer / Aggregate Offer (Required)
You must add one of: Offer, Aggregate Offer, or None. Selecting “None” causes a validation warning (no offer/review/rating found).
Offer fields:
- url — URL of the product page
- priceCurrency — e.g., USD
- price — e.g., 27
- priceValidUntil — how long this price is valid
- availability — In stock / Out of stock
- itemCondition — New / Used / Refurbished / Damaged (must match reality — never mark wrongly)
Aggregate Rating
Represents the overall rating of a product based on multiple reviews.
- ratingValue — average rating (e.g., 4.3)
- reviewCount — total number of ratings (e.g., 3600)
- bestRating — maximum possible rating (usually 5)
- worstRating — minimum possible rating (usually 1, since 0 stars typically can’t be submitted)
Review Schema (Nested Inside Product)
- author — the person credited with writing the review
- reviewBody — the review text
- reviewRating — star rating given in that specific review
- datePublished — date the review was posted
- publisher — where the review came from (e.g., Google Maps, Amazon, Blinkit)
Reviewer vs Author — Key Difference
- Reviewer = the person who actually experienced the product/service.
- Author = the person who wrote/posted the review text.
These are usually the same person, but not always. Example: a person takes their father to the dentist. The father is the reviewer (he received treatment), but the son may be the one writing the review on his behalf — making the son the author.
Using Reviews From Other Platforms
Many products sell only on third-party platforms (Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit, Myntra) and don’t get reviews on the brand’s own website. You are allowed to pull reviews from these platforms and add them to your own website’s schema, as long as you correctly credit the publisher (source) of that review. Google does not penalize this.
Video Schema
Why Video Schema Matters
Video schema gives Google structured information about a video so it can be indexed and shown properly in search results (e.g., video thumbnails, video carousels). Adding schema for a YouTube video on your own website does not benefit YouTube directly — it strengthens the connection between your website and the video, helping both perform better.
Basic Video Fields
| Field | Notes |
| name | Title of the video |
| description | Video description |
| uploadDate | Date the video was published |
| duration | Length of video in minutes and seconds |
| thumbnailUrl | Compulsory. Without it, Google will discard the entire video schema |
| contentUrl | The direct URL of the video |
| embedUrl | The embeddable version of the video URL |
Getting the Thumbnail URL
- For YouTube videos: use a “YouTube Thumbnail Downloader” tool, paste the video URL, then copy the generated thumbnail image address.
- For self-hosted videos: your video hosting platform will always provide a thumbnail URL since no video can be uploaded without one.
Handling Thumbnails at Scale
If a website has thousands of videos, hosting all thumbnails directly can slow the site down. Two solutions:
- Host thumbnails on a CDN and pull the URL from there.
- Use a single common branded thumbnail across many videos (only recommended for very large sites where individual thumbnails aren’t practical).
Content URL vs Embed URL
- Content URL = the normal watch URL of the video.
- Embed URL = same video but formatted for embedding (for YouTube, replace “watch” pattern with “embed” — get this via Share → Embed).
- For non-YouTube/self-hosted videos, get both URLs from your video hosting platform or developer.
Implementing Schema on a Website
Method 1: Custom-Coded Website
- Always test your schema first (using Google’s Rich Results Test) before adding it to the site.
- Open the website’s HTML source code — it has two main sections: <head> and <body>.
- Paste the schema code just before the closing </head> tag. It does not need to be the very first thing — page rendering and styles should load first.
- Give this instruction to your developer: “Paste this schema code right before the </head> tag.”
- Save the file — schema implementation is done.
Method 2: CMS Website (e.g., WordPress) — Using a Plugin
- Install a schema plugin (example used: Schema and Structured Data for WP & AMP).
- In the plugin settings, you can configure:
- Website-type schema and Sitelinks Search Box
- Author/Person schema (auto-applies to author pages)
- Breadcrumb schema — set the homepage title as simply “Home” (no brand name)
- Breadcrumb reminder: Technically, the homepage should not appear as an item in breadcrumb schema. Most plugins still include it by default — Google does not penalize this, but it’s not best practice.
- To add schema to an individual page/post: go to that page’s editor → find the “Schema and Structured Data” section below the content → click Custom Schema Data → paste your tested schema code → Publish/Update.
- Verify using the Rich Results Test tool by entering the live page URL.
Common Issue: Cache
If newly added schema isn’t showing up in the Rich Results Test, the site’s caching plugin is likely serving an old version. Purge the cache (Purge All / Purge CSS / Purge HTML) and test again.
Multiple Schema Types on One Page
A single page can have more than one schema type set up in different ways at once (e.g., one added via plugin settings like Breadcrumb, and another added manually via Custom Schema). If both are configured for the same schema type, only one takes effect based on setup order — always verify with the Rich Results Test.
Summary
- Product schema needs core fields (name, image, brand, sku) plus Offer (or Aggregate Offer) and, when available, Aggregate Rating and Review details.
- Never mark item condition incorrectly, and always signal correct stock status to avoid Google mistakenly treating a page as invalid.
- Understand the difference between reviewer (who experienced it) and author (who wrote it) — they can be the same or different people.
- Reviews from third-party platforms (Amazon, Blinkit, etc.) can legally be reused on your own site if the publisher is credited.
- Video schema requires a compulsory thumbnailUrl, plus contentUrl and embedUrl.
- Schema can be implemented two ways: manually in the <head> tag (custom-coded sites) or via a plugin’s custom schema field (CMS sites like WordPress).
- Always test schema with Google’s Rich Results Test before and after publishing, and purge cache if changes don’t appear.
Next Class Preview
Schema Data implementation using Google Tag Manager (GTM) — covered in the GTM section of the course.