The shopping season starts soon. Christmas is only three months away.Can you believe it?Are you ready? Do you (or does someone you know) sell products on theInternet? If so, part of being ready should include shopping searchengines. What are they? The most popular ones are BizRate,Shopping.com, Froogle, and Yahoo Shopping. You have probably seen orused them already to research a product you were interested in, tofind the best price, or to read opinions.But are you using them effectively for your products? If not, whyshould you now?Here are five top reasons:
1. Their Popularity Is Growing Fast Ask anyone you know about Yahoo Shopping, BizRate, Shopping.com, NexTag or other similar sites. They will probably say the samething... "Oh yeah! I just recently used a site like that to buy my___." I have heard that from almost everyone I know.To support this, Hitwise (a leading online measurement company)recently reported that these sites are seeing an increasing number ofvisits. Interestingly, they are also seeing a corresponding decreasein clickthroughs from search engines. Why? It seems as if oncepeople use these sites, they come directly to them the next time.If people are using these sites more and more, shouldn't you want yourproducts there?
2. They Advertise For YouLet me put this another way. Are you tired of handing your wallet toOverture and Google AdWords? Let the shopping search engines do itfor you.Try this. Go to Google or Yahoo today and type in camera, digitalcamera, fabrics, or any other product name. Many times, BizRate,Shopping.com, or some other shopping search site will show up in thetop paid-listing spots. And you know those terms aren't cheap!
3. Lower PPC Costs This is basically a continuation of the previous point. PPC costs on Overture and Google AdWords are increasing constantly. How much doesa click cost from Froogle? Nothing! What about Shopping.com,BizRate, NexTag, and others? Although it varies, it is frequently less than 15 cents and seldom over 50 cents.
4. More Qualified LeadsWhen someone is looking at Google and they click your ad, do theyreally want to buy what you are offering? Perhaps.On the other hand, if someone is on Shopping.com and they click onyour ad, what do you think they are doing? Shopping maybe? The sameholds true for Yahoo Shopping, and the many other similarly namedshopping sites.
5. Start Now To Beat the Competition
Remember the "good ole days" when you could list on Overture for 5cents for most of your terms? You probably didn't even check yourReturn On Investment. You got plenty of clicks for a great price.
What happened? Your competition, that's what.
Now you have to pay more and work harder. Shopping Search Engines isthis year what Pay Per Click was a few years ago. The opportunity isripe to get started now and the price is right.
So now you want to list your products. Where do you start?
Begin by doing some searches in the major shopping search engines. Isanyone else listing the products you offer? If so, how does yourpricing compare? After all, these sites are not calledcomparison-shopping sites for nothing. Many people are looking forthe best price.
But price is not everything. In fact, shoppers are more frequentlylooking for reputable sites. So, does your site look reputable? Doesit have good navigation? Also, be sure to sign up for BizRate'sCustomer Certified Ratings Program. If you start now, you can getsome positive comments on your site within the next couple of months.Many will choose to pay a little more if the merchant is more reputable.
To get listed, you will need to sign up with each site. Then followthe instructions. The process usually includes creating a spreadsheetin a certain format and then submitting it via FTP to the appropriateserver.
Corey CreedShopping Search Info http://www.ShoppingSearchInfo.com
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