A sledgehammer vs a can opener

One over-arching theme I've seen since Google's latest structured data update has been the value of having your store's structured data handled by a specialized Shopify app.

Sure you could hope you find a theme with that data built-in. Or use an app that includes it as a bullet point in their feature chart. Or even code it yourself.

But there are problems with all three of those:

They aren't actively watching out for you.

For example, there are still some apps out there that use a format of structured data that was discontinued in 2011.

Some themes too, especially if you haven't updated your theme in a long time.

(And you're probably aware of how painful and disruptive a theme upgrade in Shopify is)

In the past I've seen some of the larger, more generic SEO apps have broken structured data for several months before they got around to fixing their bugs. That's several months your store would be without Rich Results and would end up resetting Google's algorithm requiring another 2-3 months to recover from (or worse).

On the other hand, a dedicated app like JSON-LD for SEO is always getting updates and tweaks to improve its data. Not just the big ones like Google's update but the little ones like adding a field to support Pinterest's Rich Pins or a tweak to make voice based recipe search a bit better.

There are times when you want the tool with every single option under the sun.

And then there are times when that tool is inadequate and you need a specialized tool that does one thing amazingly.

Like a can opener.

Isn't it time to install JSON-LD for SEO and finally get these benefits for your store?

I think so.

Eric Davis

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Topics: Seo Shopify apps

Would you like a daily tip about Shopify?

Each tip includes a way to improve your store: customer analysis, analytics, customer acquisition, CRO... plus plenty of puns and amazing alliterations.