Not too far back, the Google team sent a nice present to all data analytics lovers. Starting from November 2019, Google Search Console became equipped with a report dedicated solely to product results.
Yet, many eCommerce marketers and Magento store owners often neglect the Console. And that’s a big overlook! You can obtain a lot of insightful data from its reports.
On this page, we’ll introduce you to the product-rich results, explain why online stores should aim at performance optimization, and expand the product pages to fit the product-rich result standards. Plus, we will go over which practical information can be obtained from Google’s Product Results report and how to use it to the site’s benefit. Let’s dive in!
Introducing Product-Rich Results & the Report
Numerous Magento eCommerce sites struggle to get their store’s SEO positions up. Constant optimization works are simply inevitable, that’s why many retailers are getting Magento progressive web apps. Yet, if you don’t back up the changes with analytics, this can lead to an irrational investment of resources.
Store owners can make more precise decisions regarding which parts of the pages to tweak by analyzing the needed data. This especially concerns the optimization of product pages.
Hence, the primary aim of the Search Console Performance report is to provide the search statistics for those pages that are available in Google Search among the “product-rich” results.
What Are Product-rich Results?
These are the product pages that we often see towards the top of the SERP. As a rule, such results feature product information that a buyer might find handy.
This product data comes in an easy-to-comprehend, compact format. Apart from the item name, the product-rich results usually display information like:
- the star rating;
- the number of customer reviews;
- the price;
- whether the item is available or out of stock;
- a short product description;
- other valuable details worth noting.
Why should online store owners care about this?
Product-rich data makes for a significant boost in a potential customer’s decision-making process. This happens because the short info urges users to click on the search result link and open the page.
Just take a look at the following screenshot. As you can see, the Tory Burch Ella Tote Bag product page appears with product-rich search result data. In addition, it has a very-to-the-point abstract that briefly introduces the product.
It’ll take a prospect just a single glance at this product page abstract to capture a lot of useful information. They can make conclusions about the item: whether other buyers who already have the item think it’s good or not or whether the item suits their budget. Plus, some rich results even feature information on if the product is sold out or in stock and\or the key info on the shipping and return terms.
What does this mean for those who have Magento eCommerce stores?
Primarily, that product-rich results can be very effective leverage on prospects, especially those who are “just browsing”.
By optimizing pages properly and reaching product-rich standards, an online store can greatly increase its organic traffic from search engines and boost sales. And effective SEO is excellent news!
The Product Results Report
The performance report in the Google Search Console delivers the owners of Magento eCommerce stores valuable insights on vital metrics. These, for instance, include:
- impressions;
- information on clicks (which can be further tweaked and segmented by location, used device, etc.).
The report is a perfect assistant for comprehending where a store’s positions stand in terms of performance and product-rich results. It allows us to understand customers and find out numerous vital things that are important to them. For instance, you may analyze which part of the product-rich snippet brought more traffic: how much the item costs or its star rating.
Given such information, those responsible for enhancing the store’s performance receive a great hand with data analytics. They can, thus, make more precise decisions regarding what to update or optimize on the product pages in order for the eCommerce site to grow within the search. Maybe a page needs a better customer feedback section with ratings. Or maybe the shipping terms are worth highlighting. The options here are endless.
Where can you find the Product Results report?
You can find the report on your Magento store via this path:
Google Console > Performance > Search Appearance.
On the screenshot below, you may take a sneak peek at what it looks like.
Keep the following in mind:
Go to the Google Search Console. Open the “Performance” tab that is located to the left. If you don’t see “Product Results” in the available “Search Appearance” list (it can be easily found just below the main chart), this means you need to manually create product results on your Magento store.
Three Reasons Why It’s Cool for Magento Stores
So why should you care, you might ask, right? This report offers a unique insight into data that was previously tricky to segregate. Thanks to it, Magento store owners can see a lot more.
1. See impressions and clicks for products with product results only
This is important because you see how much site traffic goes through product results when customers know the price, availability, and product rating beforehand.
Previously, product results were hard to segregate from the bulk of user engagement statistics. It was difficult to assess how users engage with this type of content.
One of the reasons many believe why Google introduced the feature is to convince stores that, ultimately, it’s in their best interest to apply the advanced data format to all store products.
2. Compare how traditional search results stack up to product results
The report also allows us to measure the store’s respective CTRs (click-through rate). This is handy for making informed decisions on whether it’s worth it to convert all search results into product results or not.
Most of the time, such product results offer better user engagement and convert into bigger sales numbers. But it’s not always the case. The metric offers a better understanding of how your users interact with different types of products on Google.
3. Get an insight into how product results change over time
Furthermore, the report gives a chance to monitor the timeline closely. This way, you can quickly catch new trends in shoppers’ interest, including exact product queries.
The timeline is a powerful feature for all Magento store owners since it gives them the ability to understand current trends and make informed decisions on what to expect in the near future. As shoppers get more accustomed to product results, though, we are sure to see better engagement and growing customer satisfaction.
Let’s Get Technical. How Does It Work?
Most of the time, product search results don’t appear on their own (which is kind of expected). There’s a certain development effort you need to invest to make them appear.
To be fair, Google can show more data on your product on its own, even if you don’t have your pages adapted for product results. But in case you want to get total control over how your products appear on Google SERP, you’ll need to create product feeds yourself.
To do that, you can either use JSON-LD, RDFa, or Microdata markup. Their application should be restricted to single products and won’t work for categories or product grids. However, you can create markup schemes for multiple individual products in their product category.
Adopting product results into your Magento store is a good idea anyway since Google will expand on how it shows products on its search page even further. The Google team has already taken steps towards how Google sees search-enabled online shopping.
Google Search Console Is More Useful for Magento Than You Think
Most Magento store owners don’t really pay attention to Google Search Console. In most cases, they are more concerned with Google Analytics stats, neglecting the possibilities that the Search Console offers.
We think that if more marketers and online store owners pay due attention to this feature, they’ll see the value. Looking closely into the Console, you can learn more about your customers and how they shop in the ever-changing online landscape. Without a doubt, there can be steady traffic growth with proper changes, site optimization, and one eye on the trends.
To say the least, moving toward improvements like the support of visual image search, voice search, and changes to suit Core Web Vitals standards can also influence the overall outcome.
