The popularity of search engine marketing has grown tremendously over the last few years as businesses have found that it’s one of the most reliable, cost-effective ways to promote themselves online. For businesses that sell merchandise online, another form of search engine marketing, known as product search, is taking the process a step further. Product search directories, also known as comparison shopping sites, are giant online catalogs of products. Shoppers search for products by entering keywords, which take them to a page that lists the same product from multiple merchants with pictures, prices, and links to the sellers' web sites. Online shoppers are using these sites more and more because it’s easy to quickly find the products they’re looking for. Online merchants are using comparison sites more and more because they help sellers control marketing costs and simplify the online sales process. These sites, such as Yahoo! Shopping, BizRate.com, and Shopping.com, provide businesses with easy sign-up processes and allow you to quickly get your products on the market. Most of the sites have a link at the top of the page that says something like “Sell on Our Site” or “Click Here to Join.” After you click on the link, the registration forms will ask for information about your business, credit card information (so the site can bill you), etc. How It Works Comparison shopping sites make it easy for customers to quickly find specific products. When shoppers enter a keyword of what they’re looking for—appliances, for instance, or jewelry — the product search site scans its database and displays the products on a results page. Your product placement and results page ranking are determined by matching the keyword to your product title, description, and other information that you included when you submitted your product to the site. The products are categorized or grouped into specific product categories like apparel, sporting goods, toys, etc., in different ways. Some of the comparison shopping sites, such as Yahoo! Shopping, automatically categorize the products when they’re entered in the system. You also can manually categorize the products you submit yourself when you sign up, but that may delay getting your product listed on the site because all manual submissions are reviewed by Yahoo!. How They Charge Most comparison shopping sites charge fees starting at around :text,.10 per click for each product. Most charge for inclusion in one of two ways: - Pay-Per-Click Fixed Fees. You pay a set per-click charge for each category in which you enter a product, and you’re only charged when someone clicks through to your site. Although you won’t have total control over how high you’re placed on a results page, it’s easy to determine your costs with this type of listing.
- Pay-Per-Click Bidding. With bidding systems, you have more control over how high your product is displayed on a page. The higher your bid, the higher your product appears on a results page. While you can generate better results with this type of system, it’s usually more expensive than fixed-fee placement, especially if you enter your products in popular categories. Again, you’re only charged when someone actually clicks on a link to your product pages.
What Are the Benefits?
Listing your products on comparison shopping sites is a great way to sell more of your products and boost your online presence. Some of the benefits are: - Customers are already looking for a specific product, predisposing them to buy.
- You’re only charged if someone visits your site. It’s easy to control your marketing costs because you only pay if it works.
- Enables minimal-click online shopping. The fewer clicks it takes for a customer to find your product, the more likely they’ll be to buy it.
- Merchant ratings. Shoppers can see what other customers have said about the seller. They see whether you’ve provided fast delivery, an easy transaction process, and great customer service in the past.
- Product ratings. Shoppers can see if others found value in the product, making it easier for them to make an informed decision.
Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Shopping Site
Before you decide which comparison shopping site to list your products with, ask the following questions: - What are the fees?
- Do I have to maintain a minimum number of transactions in order to continue being a merchant on the site?
- How does the site handle the transactions? What type of merchant account setup do I need?
- Does the site have a standard shipping policy that merchants need to follow?
- How do I submit product information?
- Does the site offer any type of reporting?
You may want to sign up with multiple comparison shopping sites when you first start out and see how each one meets your goals. Some sites may bring you more customers than others, and it may be more beneficial to you to spend your advertising dollars on those sites instead of those that don’t bring you any customers. It’s important to evaluate the results of product searches the same way you would any other marketing campaign – determine which comparison shopping sites are giving you the most return on your investment, and expand your efforts with those sites
Before you decide which comparison shopping site to list your products with, ask the following questions: sign up with multiple comparison shopping sites when you first start out and see how each one meets your goals. Some sites may bring you more customers than others, and it may be more beneficial to you to spend your advertising dollars on those sites instead of those that don’t bring you any customers. It’s important to evaluate the results of product searches the same way you would any other marketing campaign – determine which comparison shopping sites are giving you the most return on your investment, and expand your efforts with those sites
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