Posted on No Comments on Video JSON LD (structured data) is now supported for product

Video JSON LD (structured data) is now supported for product

By May 2021, Google recommends adding video JSON LD to pages containing video contents. Video JSON LD (structured data) can help Google to generate rich video results and better parse all videos on your store. For example, Google can generate key moments using videos. It can significantly improve the click-through rate.

If your store includes videos, they can serve as shortcuts to rank higher on the search results.

A sample rich result of video on Google
A sample rich result of video on Google

Today, we have added support for video JSON LD for your product pages. If you’re using the latest version of code snippet (version: 31072021), you can test with the Google Rich Result Test.

If you’re using the older version, you can visit the SPO dashboard. SPO will upload the latest code snippet to your theme automatically.

For more information, please read our help article: What is JSON-LD? Why is it important?

Posted on No Comments on A revamp of the SPO interface is under planning

A revamp of the SPO interface is under planning

Since Google is going to phase out 3rd party cookies to match with the latest privacy requirements, the current embedded app model is not going to work.

There are mainly 2 directions for our considerations:

  1. Shopify suggests implementing a new authentication called Session Token Authentication with the new Shopify App Bridge. SPO will implement this new auth and continue living in the Shopify admin portal.
  2. Turn SPO from an embedded app to a standalone app. A new tab will be opened when you open it from the app list. In other words, SPO will live on a new website.

Now the interface is a bit outdated and we’re considering a revamp for the interface. It’s becoming difficult to make a code change as well.

For the 1st way, it will cause a huge effort to change every part of the app. Also, it’s more technically challenging. Therefore, I’m more inclined to the 2nd way.

There is a timeline to remove a library (EASDK) we used by 1st Jan 2022. Therefore, the plan is actively undergoing. If you have any feedback, please leave a comment here or email me. I’ll definitely consolidate your opinion!

p.s. I’m writing the post so you don’t feel surprised when everything is changed suddenly

Posted on No Comments on Get Early Access to our new Shopify bundle app, BYOB! ?

Get Early Access to our new Shopify bundle app, BYOB! ?

Product bundling has always been difficult in Shopify. This is because Shopify doesn’t provide composite products out of the box. If a merchant is looking for build-your-own-bundle (for example like Nintendo Switch), it’s almost impossible even using a Shopify app in the AppStore. There are numerous restrictions given by Shopify, e.g line items script is only offered to Shopify Plus customers, you cannot set up any “product group” even with Shopify API, etc

Build-your-own-bundle (BYOB) is proven to be an effective way to increase average order value (AOV) while delighting the customers.

If you’re running a small & medium store, does it mean you have to give in?

What are we offering?

If you want to offer bundles like

  • Buy any 1 item in collection A, any 1 item in collection B, any 1 item in collection C => get 15% off or at a discounted price of $100
  • Buy any 3 items in collection A => for at a discounted price of $100

The purpose is to help you to succeed, to sell more bundle products. You can try a demo page here: Shoe Sales, Winter Bundle.

Case Study

How a beauty company offer Buy-10-Get-1 free with BYOB: https://blog.ilovebyob.com/case-study-how-a-beauty-company-offer-buy-10-get-1-free-with-byob/

How a members-only shop use BYOB to drive sales with BOGO: https://blog.ilovebyob.com/case-study-how-shopify-store-set-up-bogo-bundle/

How a smoothie bowl company uses BYOB to sell n-pack bundles: https://blog.ilovebyob.com/case-study-how-a-smoothie-company-uses-byob-to-use-bundle/

Want to try BYOB?

BYOB has launched on the AppStore: https://apps.shopify.com/byob-build-your-own-bundle . Try it for Free!

Posted on No Comments on SPO v2.0 update – support structured data with JSON LD

SPO v2.0 update – support structured data with JSON LD

Hi SPO users, ?

After the last update, I’ve been working on stability and performance improvement. In the meantime, JSON LD (structured data / rich snippets) has been added to generated rich results on Google. We mainly support organization and product schema now.

New

  1. JSON LD has been supported by our latest liquid file. For existing paid users, please enter the product listing page once and SPO will automatically update the liquid file to the latest version
  2. JSON LD will support social media profile links. Your rich search result on Google will include these links
  3. Bulk edit supports editing products under a collection
  4. Added Google PageSpeed testing in Setting

Fixed

  1. Stability and loading speed has been improved in the listing page
  2.  In Setting tab, you can click “Submit Now” button next to Sitemap Submission to notify Google to re-scrape your sitemap. Google will update its index after that.

If you want to give us feedback, please email us via support[at]seo-product-optimizer.com. We’d love to hear from you! ?

Reference:
JSON LD format for Product: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/product

Posted on No Comments on Show your products for free on the Google Shopping tab (US only)

Show your products for free on the Google Shopping tab (US only)

On 21st April 2020, Google announced its plan to make it free to sell on Google. Search results on the Google Shopping tab will consist primarily of free listings.

For Shopify Stores, it means that your products can be shown to more consumers even you don’t pay for Google ads. You can get free exposure. Initially, the plan will be opened to the US before the end of April. And it will gradually expand to more countries before the end of 2020.

If you are an existing user of Merchant Center and Shopping ads, you’ve already opted into the program. There is no further step for you. For new users, please continue the reading.

According to the requirement, merchants must submit a feed through Google Merchant Center and meet the additional eligibility requirements for enhanced listings to appear in these results. 

Luckily, Shopify has made the process simple. With Shopify’s Google Shopify App, it will help you to sync, submit, and optimize your products to the free listings.

Install Google Shopping App to your store: https://apps.shopify.com/google-shopping?itcat=blog&itterm=384225345570

Shopify’s official announcement: https://www.shopify.com/blog/google-shopping-listings

Posted on No Comments on Share your story to boost SEO for free!

Share your story to boost SEO for free!

Since Dec 2016, SPO has been helping niche sellers to improve organic traffics and social presence. Nowadays, the world is in a serious crisis that everyone has to change our daily lives and many of us even lose our life. The logistics are down. You can’t ship the product from your supplier. There are fewer buyers to shop online. I know that it’s a tough time for all of you. As an indie maker, I’ve been thinking about how I can assist more online stores to survive during lockdowns, border closures, etc. Though we are small companies here, it doesn’t that we cannot help other people who are suffering from the CoronaVirus now.

Read more Share your story to boost SEO for free!
Posted on No Comments on How is the Coronavirus affecting your Shopify business?

How is the Coronavirus affecting your Shopify business?

Since Jan till now, there are more than 100K confirmed cases of Coronavirus all over the world. How many of you have Coronavirus business contingency plans? Feel free to leave a comment below.

In my home town Hong Kong, everyone is wearing a mask as a precautious measure. The business is really hard here. Luckily, there are not many cases here, just 170 (with 7.5 million population) at the moment of writing. Obviously, the global economy is severely impacted by the virus. If you are in Europe / US, I am afraid you’re having a hard time now.

During the downturn, I hope all of you stay safe and keep your faith in the hard time. According to my SARS experience (17 years ago), Ecom will be boosted temporarily since everyone cannot go out. So just think of it as an opportunity. As a tech guy, I work all day in front of a computer. TBH it doesn’t affect me very much. For me, I will take a sabbatical to think about my next move. Probably just listen to podcasts, hack something cool and stay open-mind about new opportunities. As a maker, I hope I can build lifeboats for the people who lose their jobs. Though I don’t have any concrete idea now.

Just remember:

What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger!

Posted on No Comments on SPO v1.9 update – Introducing Bulk Edit Product Link Preview

SPO v1.9 update – Introducing Bulk Edit Product Link Preview

Hi SPO users,

Since some users are requesting bulk edit regularly, I’ve been secretly working on this feature for a month. With bulk edit, you can

  1. input your title and description with a template
  2. select the product image to be used as the link preview image

For more details, please refer to a new tab “Bulk Edit” in SPO.

At the moment, this feature is pretty simple. We are trying to roll out to stores with less than 300 products. If the experiment is successful, we may consider supporting stores with more products. As the feature keeps our server occupied for a long time, it will only be reserved for our paid users under the Basic plan. Otherwise, our server will collapse very soon. If you are interested in more options under bulk edit, feel free to submit a feature request. We’ll consider implementing the most popular options in our future releases.

Just leave your comments here or email me. We’d be happy to hear from you!

New

  1. Bulk edit product link preview

Fixed

  1. Cannot accept Chinese for title & description in the store tab
    .
  2. Link previews not updated with custom templates for pages including collection in the name
    .
  3. When there are less than or equal to 10 products, tab view in the dashboard will be broken

 

Posted on No Comments on SPO v1.8 update – Responsiveness Improved

SPO v1.8 update – Responsiveness Improved

Hi SPO users,

Happy to see you in the new year! Since my last blog post, I’ve been upgrading SPO to make it more stable and responsive. As usual, here is the summary of the changes:

New

  1. Support Page (in-app and via admin link)
  2. TinyMCE html editor has been upgraded. It can support <script> tag. Other shopify apps may put some codes into your product / page content. Our editor can be compatible now.

Improved 

  1. App responsiveness in the listing page. Faster paging.

Fixed 

  1. Keyword search volume may not be able to display occasionally
  2. Review pop up cannot be disabled
  3. Admin link to edit collections & pages. You can directly “jump” from your product, collection, page & blog post detail page to SPO 

New Planning

Currently, we are planning for new done-for-you service packages or features:

  1. Keyword research and product content optimization
  2. Customized blog posts writing to boost SEO and good for social sharing
  3. bulk edit feature for SPO, probably editing link previews (requested by some users)

Please feel free to leave your comments here or email me. We’d be happy to hear from you!