Fixing Google Search Console warnings

Receiving warnings in Google Search Console about your e-commerce site? Don't panic. These are just recommendations from Google on how to optimize your site. While addressing them can improve your SEO, your site is still being indexed and will show up in Google search results even if you get warnings.

This article explains common Google Search Console errors for Big Cartel shops and how to resolve them. We'll cover missing product schema fields and other warnings tailored specifically to sites using Big Cartel.

Missing field “description”

If a product in your shop doesn't have a description, the "missing field description" warning will appear in Search Console. While not required, we highly recommend filling out the description field for all products. This will help them show up better in Google search results.

Missing field “priceValidUntil”

The "missing field priceValidUntil" warning means your products don't have an expiration date for the listed price. Big Cartel doesn't support setting price valid dates, so you can safely ignore this warning. Google does not require this optional field for indexing or ranking purposes.

Missing field “brand” and No global identifier provided (e.g., gtin, mpn, isbn)

The missing brand and global identifier warnings mean you haven't specified a brand name or global ID like GTIN, MPN, or ISBN for products. Currently, Big Cartel does not let you add brand or global ID details. However, the good news is these optional fields are not required by Google. Your products can still be indexed and appear in search without them.

Missing field “review” and Missing field “aggregateRating”

The missing review and aggregateRating warnings indicate your products don't have customer reviews or star ratings. Big Cartel does not have built-in support for reviews at this time. Like the other errors in this article, these optional fields are not required for indexing or ranking.

Missing field “hasMerchantReturnPolicy” and Missing field “shippingDetails”

The missing field “hasMerchantReturnPolicy” and missing field “shippingDetails” warnings imply that you don’t have a return policy or information about shipping. Even if you have this mentioned in your product descriptions or in custom pages, Big Cartel does not automatically add this to the underlying structured data that Google is scanning for. However, any warnings from Google about missing policies will not hurt your indexing or search visibility.