If your a Shopify merchant looking to integrate product questions and answers into your product page, Answerbase provides a robust solution to accomplish that goal and can scale as you scale your business. This article communicates the steps that you should take for a successful integration.
Before we get to the integration, we encourage you to watch an update on what Google is doing with ecommerce-related search...and a quick overview of the Answerbase paltform and how we increase conversion rates while simultaneously creating the necessary "People-First Helpful Content" that Google wants.
Helpful product Q&A content is important for both conversions and SEO, and if you want any other information or need help in integration we encouarge you to Schedule a Demo and we'll make sure you're taken care of.
The first step is to get the app installed, so please see the instruction below to get that set up or you can request an install from our team if you prefer (most we work to manage the install for free as long as there is no special considerations). If you'd like to manage the install and set up yourself, see the below instruction.
1) Install the Answerbase Product Q&A Shopify App
Find the Answerbase Product Q&A Shopify App and click the "Add App" button in order to manage the install. All Answerbase accounts come with a 30 day trial, so you won't have to pay until that trial period is over, but you'll need to select your plan during the process so Shopify knows what plan you'd like to select if you choose to move forward. You can cancel your subscription and uninstall at any time. Install the app and at the end of he process, choose to "Activate" the app as your last step and then you will be led to your administration dashboard.
Once you are within the administration dashboard, you can review some other configuration preferences by clicking "Shopify App Configuration > Installation Instructions" as seen here:
From there, you'll see a number of configuration options available for you to choose from. View the Shopify App Configuration Guide for some more details about what each fo the fields means and controls.
2) Connect Your Google Search Console Account
When you are within your Answerbase administration dashboard, you'll see an option to connect your Google account as seen here:
Follow the steps to connect your Google Search Console account so we can show you what questions are being asked on Google about the products you're selling. Once you connect, we'll be communicating with Google in the background and those recommendations will be provided to you on a weekly basis.
3) Integrate the Product Q&A App
If you're on Shopify's default theme, or a commonly supported theme that Answerbase recognizes, the app may be automatically installed on your product page when you activate it. Please view our Shopify App Store Configuration Guide for details on what all of the configuration options control.
If you're using a custom template or Answerbase doesn't recognize what area the app should be inserted into on your product page, we can help install your app for you. You can fill our our installation request form (click here) and our team will be in touch with you to assist.
If you'd like to integrate the widget yourself, you'll see settings and instructions on how to do that under "Shopify App Configuration > Installation Instructions" when within your Answerbase dashboard. The most simple installation is to simply identify where you'd like the Answerbase widget placed within your page which you can define a CSS Selector in the "Product Page Insert After" field and the widget will automatically position underneath that element you've defined. Look at our Shopify App Store Configuration Guide under the "Product Page Insert After" area....and you'll see more details around what should be defined there.
Again, if there are any questions or if you need any help, fill our our installation request form (click here) and our team will assist with the integration to make sure you're 100%.
4) Enable Shopify Proxy
Your Answerbase knowledge base is creating landing pages for each Q&A thread...just like Amazon and other populat Q&A sites as you can see an example here:
Those pages are important so as you create quality answers to product questions, they are indexed by Google and have performed well to drive more traffic and conversions to your site. Most customers prefer those landing pages be shown within a subdirectory of their site. If you'd like to enable it so that is the case for your Shopify site, within your Administration Dashboard go to "Customization > Domain Name" and you'll see an option to enable your Shopify Proxy. That will ensure that your Q&A content will build up under a subdirectory on your site.
5) Add Your Q&A Sitemap to Google Search Console
We need to let Google know where the sitemap is for your Q&A content, so it will successfully index the content and you can see reports back about how many impressions and visitors it is sending to your site. This also helps Answerbase identify additional content creation and optimizations opportunities and present them to you as they're available. You can find your sitemap under "System Settings > SEO > Sitemap & Verification (tab)" within your Answerbase Administration portal. Add that sitemap to your Google Search Console for your property.
6) Test Your Integration
After you're done integrating, we recommend that you go to a product page on your storefront and submit a test question. Submit the test question with an email that is not the same email as your administration user, so that Answerbase can recognize it as if it were a customer asking the question. This will ensure that your integration was successful and your customers are able to post questions successfully on your site. If you have any questions or issues with this process, Contact Answerbase Customer Support and we'll make sure you're 100%.
7) How Billing is Managed for your Answerbase Product Q&A App on Shopify
If you've installed the app through the Shopify app store, no billing is necessary....your bill for Answerbase product Q&A will be automatically added to your monthly Shopify Bill...and then Shopify manages the payment to Answerbase for supporting the app.
