May 15, 2013 at 9:00am ET by Rick Backus

Google Shopping scored best in class in our latest rankings of comparison shopping engines. How can you get more revenue out of it? Read on for our five tips to increasing the conversion rate of your Product Listing Ads. 1. Please The Feed Your Google Shopping product data feed is the most important element of a healthy PLA campaign. It tells Google what information to use for your product ads and helps Google determine where your ads should appear in search results. It's better to err on the side of providing too much relevant information than not providing enough. Give Google as many cl [...]

How to Double Your Revenue With SEO

May 9, 2013 at 9:45am ET by Trond Lyngbø

In 2012, I was privileged to handle SEO for some of the biggest Norwegian e-commerce sites. This is the story about how I doubled (and even tripled) revenue for them by following a simple, easy, yet unconventional approach that anyone -- even you -- can implement starting today. At the heart of this accomplishment lie two things which are related to one another: A focus on uncovering user intent, and then filling that need The ability (and budget) to do all that's necessary This may sound easy, but when you consult with a business that is stratified and compartmentalized into water [...]

Why Vertical Search Is Threatening Google’s Reign

May 8, 2013 at 9:36am ET by James Green

Until recently, Google has dominated search. It has been the main stomping ground for consumers looking to buy products, visit sites, or conduct research. However, the nature of search is changing, especially on mobile devices. My own search behavior is a prime example. As a frequent traveler, I go straight to Kayak.com to search for flights. When I'm looking to buy a consumer product, I often sidestep Google entirely and go right to Amazon, eBay or PriceGrabber. Recent research proves that I'm not alone in this and that consumer search behavior is evolving. According to comSco [...]

Study: PLAs Buck Post-Holiday Trends For Google Shopping, Traffic Nearly Doubles in Q1

May 3, 2013 at 10:42am ET by Ginny Marvin

The momentum of Google's PLA program didn't slow after the holidays. After seeing Google Product Listing Ad traffic jump 82% in Q1 over Q4, CPC Strategy followed up its latest quarterly review of top CSEs with a closer look. The agency hadn't been surprised to see the 87% increase in PLA traffic in Q4 over Q3 as Google's pay-to-play program ramped during the holiday season. However, the huge traffic spike from Product Listing Ads that occurred after the holiday shopping rush did catch them by surprise. Bucking the typical trend of CSEs (and e-commerce in general), paid Google Shopping traf [...]

Google Shopping Tops Amazon Product Ads: 32.7% More Cost Effective

Feb 20, 2013 at 2:11pm ET by Ginny Marvin

A new report from CPC Strategy looks at how Google Shopping fared against its rival, Amazon Product Ads, after making the switch to a commercial model in Q3 last year. The analysis finds its performance changed significantly compared to Amazon Product Ads, and provides further evidence that the move bolstered Google Shopping. Surge In Traffic & Lower CPCs In the second half of last year, Google Shopping sent 120% more traffic to merchants than Amazon Product Ads. In fact, Google Shopping more than doubled the amount of traffic it sent to merchants compared to 2011. At $0.31, Google Sh [...]

Google Tests B2B Market With Google Shopping For Suppliers

Jan 30, 2013 at 1:10pm ET by Ginny Marvin

Google is entering the B2B shopping segment with Google Shopping for Suppliers. CPC Strategy reported yesterday on the quiet roll-out, noting that the beta is open only to electrical and electronics industries at this time. The beta started about two weeks ago and is showing in the US only. Google has built Google Shopping for Suppliers to accommodate the unique aspects of B2B selling that has limited supplier participation on Google Shopping. Recognizing that B2B transactions often involve negotiations on shipping costs and volume discounts, many Google Shopping policies on Pricing and [...]

Advertisers Increased PLA Budgets By 600% In Q4; Trend Likely To Continue

Jan 29, 2013 at 9:07am ET by Ginny Marvin

The Google Shopping gamble paid off – for both Google and e-commerce advertisers who ran product listing ad campaigns last quarter. A report from Adobe and a study by RKG each highlighted consumer interest and advertiser opportunity in Google product listing ads. Today, Marin Software released findings showing that, after the transition of Google Shopping to an entirely paid model in October, advertisers increased their share of search budgets directed toward product listing ads by nearly 600%. Those advertisers were rewarded with higher click through rates and lower cost per click than [...]

eBay Offers A Mobile Search Shortcut For Online Stores

Dec 31, 2012 at 11:52am ET by Sherwood Stranieri

Last month, I touched on several ways that businesses could use apps as an alternate channel to reach mobile searchers. Online retailers have a couple opportunities to use apps in this way, by tapping into the eBay and Amazon marketplaces. Let's take a closer look at eBay, and some strategies for using it to extend the reach of your existing catalog. Starting At The Desktop Before mobile was part of the equation, there was a well-established practice for leveraging eBay for online retail. Of course, it goes without saying that many retailers use eBay as their sole storefront, taking advantag [...]

Paid Search Drives $6 In Local Sales For Every $1 In Online Sales — Study

Dec 10, 2011 at 9:52am ET by Greg Sterling

Annual US retail spending is roughly $4 trillion according to the US Commerce Department. And while e-commerce is growing very rapidly, it remains less than 5 percent of total retail sales. Historically, most search marketers have focused almost exclusively on e-commerce sales. But a new study finds that the real impact of paid search is offline. Six-to-One Impact in Offline Stores Based on two years of research conducted by retail marketing firm RevTrax, the study discovered that "for every $1 of e-commerce revenue generated from paid search, marketers can expect to see approximately anothe [...]

Tips For Optimizing Content In Mobile Commerce SEO

Dec 5, 2011 at 12:08pm ET by Sherwood Stranieri

This month, a lot of mobile commerce sites are being put to the test for the first time. Mcommerce sites are expected to cross the 10% mark in their contribution to online retail sales, and retailers will be collecting usage data to figure out what users like and dislike. In my own shopping experiences, both through mobile sites and mobile apps, I'm finding a consistent theme running through the product pages I see: retailers are unsure how to handle product descriptions. It's a fact of life that mobile screens are small, and I've recently looked at how that impacts decisions about SEO a [...]

Infographic: Tips To Avoid Shopping Cart Abandonment

Nov 21, 2011 at 1:46pm ET by Search Engine Land Infographics

With the holiday shopping season about to begin -- "Black Friday" this week and "Cyber Monday" next week -- it's a good time for online merchants to ensure they're not going to suffer from the dreaded abandoned shopping cart syndrome. The cure for that disease? The folks at testing service Monetate have created an infographic full of tips: Want the infographic for yourself? You'll find it here: Shopping Cart Abandonment and Tips To Avoid It. Related Stories Holiday Season Countdown Kickoffs For Online Marketers 5 Holiday Shopping Tips For Search Marketers Data Shows Retaile [...]

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Recap: Search Ads Drove Big Retail Gains

Dec 6, 2010 at 10:05am ET by Matt McGee

The dust seems to have finally settled on the long holiday weekend, and according to several reports both formal and informal, that dust is largely colored green. Green, as in money: transactions, average order size, revenue, and other metrics are widely reported as being up this year compared to 2009. Here's a recap of several reports related to paid search ads, online holiday shopping, and so forth. Kenshoo: Budgets, Transactions, Revenues Up Kenshoo, a provider of digital marketing software that's used by five of the top 10 US retailers, says search advertising boomed during the month [...]

Vurve Advances Trend Toward Online Marketing Automation For SMBs

Nov 11, 2010 at 9:51am ET by Greg Sterling

This past Monday Vurve launched. The CEO is Amit Kumar, who built SearchMonkey at Yahoo and then was at Dapper, which was recently acquired by Yahoo. The company's tagline is "advertising on autopilot for your online store." Vurve is targeting small businesses (SMBs) with e-commerce stores that spend up to $10,000 per month. The minimum monthly spend is $200. Traditional "offline" SMBs (service businesses) aren't part of the program right now. The company says it can entirely automate online advertising across a range of media types including search. The platforms and media types Vurve a [...]

Search Dominates Social Media When Shopping Online: Study

Jul 28, 2010 at 12:40am ET by Matt McGee

A new study about the buying habits of computer and consumer electronics shoppers shows the importance of search to the online shopping process. Search engines, in particular, are relied on much more heavily than social media -- but the study also speaks to the importance of on-site search boxes. The report -- which can be downloaded via this contact form -- was conducted by comScore and sponsored by Searchandise Commerce and iProspect. It involved more than 1,000 shoppers who took part in online focus groups in April of this year. When asked to describe the steps they took to begin the sho [...]

Black Friday 2009: Bing Cashback Bumps, Users Searching For Deals

Nov 25, 2009 at 2:18pm ET by Elisabeth Osmeloski

It could be that the general state of the 2009 economy is fueling the increase in early search queries for "Black Friday" related terms, or it it could be that the retail industry as a whole have embraced the annual event as part of a clever marketing strategy to boost overall holiday sales. As you can see from the Google Trends data below, the increase in usage since the advent of "Black Friday" has grown exponentially. In 2009, consumers began flocking to the Web earlier than ever to search for Black Friday deals, although it's difficult to see in the graph below, the uptick does begin sligh [...]

Forget Black Friday! Are You Ready For Holiday Season’s Cyber Mondays?

Nov 19, 2007 at 3:24pm ET by Chris Silver Smith

"Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping day of the year for U.S. brick-and-mortar retailers. But, for each Monday after Black Friday, consumer searches spike up on the internet and online retail websites enjoy their highest traffic and associated sales of the year. Search engine use is directly impacting businesses during this period, and companies which haven't optimized their internet presence stand to lose out on some of the sales they could be getting if consumers could find them. This is true for online businesses as well as for brick-and-mortar stores. While [...]

Free Webcast Next Thursday: Successful Feed-Based Search Marketing

May 3, 2007 at 3:06pm ET by Chris Sherman

Most search marketers focus their efforts on organic search optimization or sponsored search listings. But there's another channel that offers unique opportunities to reach additional viewers and potentially drive conversions that might otherwise never be realized. On Thursday, May 10, I'll be presenting the webcast Successful Feed-Based Search Marketing: Shopping Engines, Paid Inclusion & More through our sister site, Search Marketing Now. In this webcast, I'll describe the multiple types of feeds that can be used to extend a search marketing campaign, and will talk about some of the benefi [...]

Free Whitepaper: Search Strategies For Retailers

Jan 30, 2007 at 2:50pm ET by Chris Sherman

Marchex and its TrafficLeader subsidiary have published the 2007 Search Marketing Insights for Retailers, a 19 page whitepaper that offers strategies for online merchants to improve search visibility in the major shopping search engines. There's also some interesting data about traffic to each of these services, and a useful table that compares the data feed requirements for each service. The whitepaper is free, but you'll need to provide your name and email address to get to the download page. [...]

Get Our News, Everywhere!

Follow @sengineland

Got a tip? Tell us here!

Most Likes
Most Tweets
Comments

Our Stories Being Liked on Facebook

Search Engine Land Sponsors

Advertise With Us

Free Daily Search News Recap!

SearchCap is a once-per-day newsletter update - sign up below and get the news delivered to you!

Click to watch SMX conference video

Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

North America

SMX Advanced - June 11-12, 2013
SMX East - Oct. 1-3, 2013
SMX Social Media Marketing - Nov. 20-21, 2013
SMX West - March 11-13, 2014

EMEA

SMX Paris - June 6-7, 2013
SMX Stockholm - Oct. 14-15, 2013
SMX Milan - Nov. 7-8, 2013
SMX Israel - Jan. 2014
SMX Munich - March 25-26, 2014
SMX London - May 2014

APAC

SMX Sydney - April 2014

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.