As an online Shopify store owner, you’re always looking for improved traffic as it presents an opportunity for a sale. After all, you’re here to make money! You’ve probably considered and may even already have your products listed on comparison shopping engines (CSE’s) like PriceCheck, Shop Zilla or even Google Shopping.
CSE’s essentially are sites where thousands of retailers pay to list their products at a cost-per-click. They collect product information and prices from several retailers and display it on one page in response to a shoppers search queries. Shoppers can compare products side by side in terms of product descriptions, images, reviews, ratings, and prices.
CSE’s are attractive because they have a low barrier to entry, an established infrastructure and an audience you can readily tap into. Unlike marketplaces (like Amazon), click-throughs are also highly valuable as the consumer will receive all relevant product information before entering your online Shopify store.
In short, CSEs allow you to interrupts shoppers during their research phase. They are a powerful means to increase traffic, build brand awareness and brand visibility and ultimately contribute towards your bottom line.
Fully tapping into the benefits of a CSE though requires you to correctly optimize your online store. This includes conducting a store health overview, reviewing store policies, optimizing your pages, reviewing coupon/discount codes and optimizing your product pages or product listings. This last aspect is arguably the most important. This is what we will be looking at.
How to Ensure Your Product Listings Are Correctly Optimized
Your product listings need to be optimized, not only for Google but also for your visitors. You need to ensure that all the information in your data feeds (usually takes the form of CSV files) is accurate and complete. Just to recap, the majority of CSE’s require a data feed that typically looks like this, although it may differ from CSE to CSE:
1. Title
2. Descriptions
3. Category
4. Product Image
5. URL
6. SKU
7. Weight
8. Dimensions
9. Stock Information
10. Price
Now let’s look at what you can do to optimize your listings.
1. Make sure your titles and descriptions are clear
It’s imperative that your choice of keywords is relevant to your product. And yes, make sure you have the obvious keywords listed, but also one’s that are totally outside the box e.g. for sandals, think shoe slipper or even clogs.
It’s also essential that your brand name is placed at the beginning. The noun needs to be at the end e.g. Nokia Lumia 650 cellphone. Make the necessary changes to your listing if this isn’t the case by following this format:
Brand > Product Name > Color > Style > Material > Size > Important Features
Additional considerations include NOT using capital letters throughout, excluding related accessories not included in the price and words that consumers are unlikely to search for, such as adjectives like beautiful. In analyzing your listing, ask yourself these questions and if you answer no, consider making the necessary revisions.
1. How original are my product listings?
2. Have my product listings been copied?
3. Are all the relevant information and technical details there to help shoppers make an informed purchase decision?
4. Does my product description evoke interest to actually encourage a purchase?
2. Tweak your product categories through A/B testing
Have a look at your choice of categories for your product. Are they specific? Many CSE’s don’t allow multiple categories and you’re torn between selecting two. The best course of action is to engage in A/B testing where you take two similar products, choose two different categories, one for each and see which one performs better.
3. Ensure all your product images are of the highest quality
The product images are what attracts the shopper’s attention. High-quality images, that focus on important details are essential for visibility as well as conversion. They’re even more important if you consider that consumers cannot physically touch or feel the product before purchase – they rely on visuals.
Consider taking multiple images from different angles. The white background will always be your best friend and remember to avoid text that detracts from your image. Have a look at your current image and ask yourself: Does this attract my attention? Would I click on it?
4. Ensure your product listing URL is Text; be wary of broken links
Avoid having any numbers in your product listing URL and ensure the keywords chosen earlier are included. Further be cautious when changing the URL of your products.
If someone has bookmarked the product and you change it an hour later this will result in a broken link. If you’re changing the URL for improved SEO make sure you redirect visitors to the new URL.
4. Check that your account budget is up to date (daily)
If you run out of budget you run the risk of decreased visibility through your listings being pulled down. Keep your product listing up to date. Deposit ad-spend to manage your bid. Go have a look at your account right now.
5. Regularly (daily) update the data feed.
As with your account budget, you also need to regularly update your data feed.
You don’t want shoppers clicking on a product only to find that you’re out of stock. This happened to me the other day when I was searching for a laptop. Very annoying.
CSE’s really do offer you an enormous amount of value and the opportunity to put your products in front of new shoppers. And the benefits are plenty, from increased visibility and brand awareness, opportunities to upsell, to boosting traffic and ultimately bumping up your bottom-line.
However, to realize these benefits, you need to correctly optimize your product listings, which as highlighted is arguably the most important aspect. Ensure titles and descriptions are clear, tweak your product categories through A/B testing, choose multiple high-quality images, check your URL for broken links and regularly update your account budget and your data feed. Do this and you’re well on your way to making a lot more money.