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 Jonathan Margolis of PriceGrabber had to say…

The best tip for merchants this holiday season is to add as much information as possible to their data feeds. First, make sure to have clear and concise product titles using popular keywords. For example, if you’re selling a Wreath, make sure your product title contains the words “Christmas Wreath.” This will insure that your product will show up when someone searches for “Christmas.”

Second, make sure to add Manufacturer Part Numbers/UPC’s/ISBN’s to your feed. If you’re wondering why competitors show up on the same page and you are left out, it’s probably because of an absent or incorrect SKU number.

Third, make sure sales tax and shipping costs are calculated into the total price (It’s best to include a separate shipping field in the feed). Conversion rates suffer when customers show up at your website and find the shipping cost is more than they’d hoped for.

Fourth, make sure your availability column is updated. If a product is out of stock, either take it out of your feed or let the shopper know before clicking through. If all of this information is included in the feed and your landing page has an above the fold, prominent “add to cart” link, you should see an increase in conversion.

Finally, CSE’s offer a dependable sales channel, so if you don’t have a feed, create one. Some shopping sites may offer a crawling option, but crawling can’t reliably provide the shopper with the type of detail that’s in a feed you have created yourself.

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.