Become Shopping

I asked shopping comparison engines to submit the ONE data feed optimization tip they’d give merchants right now for the holiday shopping season and then explain why it matters. Here’s what Colin Murphy of Become.com had to say…

Data feed optimization for the comparison shopping engines hasn’t yet reached the level of ubiquity that SEM optimization has. Tons of large SEM firms are waiting to take over your search campaign and manage it down to every single letter of your creative, cent of your bid and color of your landing page. In the world of comparison engines, however, there are only a handful of third party feed management companies and, dare I say, their tactics are not yet at the level of sophistication required to do it right. There are throngs of self-proclaimed experts on SEM who are willing to offer up advice, whether in online forums, the office, or at tradeshows, but that community doesn’t quite exist yet for the shopping engines. At this stage, the person with the best insight into how to manage and optimize your data feed is probably right there at the shopping engine: your account manager! We know how our site works better than anyone else and are probably your most valuable resource when it comes to optimizing your campaign. Plus, it’s our job! For this reason, my one recommendation for optimizing your data feed this holiday season (and beyond) would be to pick up the phone and call your account manager.

Disclaimer: All optimization strategies are suggestions and do not guarantee success. These are data feed optimization tactics I have used or others have suggested which I think everyone should at least think about, if not test.