Do schema review numbers have to be manually updated?

[19958]

Hi!

I've had success with review schema rendering in SERPs but have had to manually code the numbers and update those numbers as more reviews come in (which is a bit time-consuming). Is there a way to use auto-generated numbers that will still render schema or do those numbers have to be manually added?

I've looked at the schema for sites like IMDB, and their schema numbers seem to be manually added, which seems like a huge lift.

Advice/input is appreciated!

[Ray-pp]

Your numbers do not need to be manually updated, but they do need to be wrapped in the correct schema in order to be read and updated by Google.

Your site's theme should include the schema markup and whenever a new review is entered the theme would take care of the code behind the scenes.

If you're adding markup manually now, then your theme probably doesn't have the markup built into its code/functionality. In that case, you'd need to adjust your site's theme to include the markup automatically or add a plugin to do so. You can also use Google Webmaster Tools' Data Highlighter to try and have it update automatically (works well if your site is clearly structured).

[19958]

Thanks! Can you explain a bit more?

Do you mean that I should still have the usual markup (price, review count, product name, etc.) in the usual spots, and just have number-generating code to get the actual numbers? (And that will still be recognized by search engines?)

The site that I work for doesn't have a uniform placement of price, product, etc. on its various pages, so I'm concerned that adding markup to the theme wouldn't work properly.

[Ray-pp]

Are you using a WordPress theme or a custom site theme?

Let's use this flow as an example:

User comes to your site and views a product

User submits a review to the product

Manager approves the reviews through the CMS

The review shows up on the product page

When the review shows up on the product page, your site probably generates that once the review is approved by a manager. The site generates some HTML and sticks in the review. That HTML generated should include the schema markup for the review.

Same with your products, if you push a new product into the site it generates a product page. Within that page's template should be the markup auto-generated (if it is built into the theme).

Does that help? You can PM me your site and I will take a look to be more specific.