XML and Data Feeds - Standardisation and Implementation for Success (Jason Hall)

XML and Data Feeds

Standardisation and Implementation for Success

28 April 2009

Jason Hall

Senior Director – Search Intelligence

XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009


2

Overview

• How does Shopzilla use product data feeds?

• Basics of good feed building

• Common errors and best practices

• 8 top tips for building good product feeds


3

Shopzilla as a content publisher

What is Shopzilla?

How does Shopzilla use product feeds?


Company launches Shopzilla site in United States, United Kingdom, and France and changes corporate name

Company launches Shopzilla site in United States, United Kingdom, and France and changes corporate name

Company founded

Company founded

1996 1997 1999 2001 20021998 2000 2004 20052003

Consumer site and retail customer satisfaction survey business launched

Consumer site and retail customer satisfaction survey business launched

BizRate Smiley

Scale launched

BizRate Smiley

Scale launched

Shopzilla acquired by The E.W. Scripps Company and German site launched

Shopzilla acquired by The E.W. Scripps Company and German site launched

2006 2007

Shopzilla solidifies dominant position as #1 CSE in US

Shopzilla solidifies dominant position as #1 CSE in US

2008

First Shopping Marketplace Launches

First Shopping Marketplace Launches

Shopzilla establishes position as leading CSE in Europe

Shopzilla establishes position as leading CSE in Europe

Shopzilla History


5

Connecting merchants and shoppers

Efficiently connecting shoppers and merchants

6.3 million unique shoppers

~30 million products More Than 20,000 merchants

Source: ComScore Media Metrix, Mar 2009

Product ratings and reviews

Find any product sold online

Product specifications – larger images and video tours

Compare prices including shipping & handling and taxes

Merchant ratings and reviews

Deep links to product page on merchant site


6

Shopzilla as a content publisher

• The challenge:

– Align retail products into an intuitive category structure

– No single standard for category structure

– No single standard for product titles

Example:

• Skechers “Strand North Beach” lace-up shoes – Shopzilla

• Skechers Mens Sport Strand Illustrate - Amazon

• Skecher’s Strand North Beach - Schuh

Example: Skechers shoes


7

How do we integrate product feeds?

Index updated several times per day


8

Basics of good feed building

Examples of what can go wrong

Basic product feed structure

Tip: follow the guidelines from your publishers!


9

What happens when you get it wrong?

• Example: good product offer:

• What is this product?


10

And my personal favourite

• Can you guess what it is?

A. A pharaoh’s gold-plated sarcophagus

B. A light therapy device

C. A 3D home design software

D. A waterproof lamp for divers


11

Answer:

• C: light therapy device

– Of course!


12

How does the data flow?


13

Follow the publisher guidelines!

• For best results, go through the technical feed specifications!

• Shopping engines tend to be quite flexible

– Accept a variety of formats

– Can manipulate a lot of the data (but not everything)

• Very important:

– Once you set up a feed, keep the format consistent


14

Common errors and best practices

Perspective

Product feed file format

Content


15

Consider how your content is used

• Two main perspectives to consider

1. How will the Consumer reach & react to the content?

2. How will the Publisher use the content?

• Consumers use your content to research and decide what to buy

• Publishers use your content to organise and retrieve your products


16

Search – how consumers navigate

• 80%+ activity on a comparison engine starts with a keyword search

– Upstream via a general search engine

– Product refinement on the comparison engine itself

• Product retrieval - matching products with user’s keywords

• Use popular keywords in your product titles and descriptions!• Stay away from industry jargon

• You probably know this from your SEO and PPC already

• Example: “pen drive” vs. “flash drive” vs. “compact flash”


17

File format details

• Header row – very important to include it

– Many publishers can manipulate some of the data (re-map it)

• File types:

– XML format is great

– Also accept delimited files

• <tab> or | delimited work the best


18

Common errors in feed file format

• Proper formatting ensures that your feed can be handled by the publisher’s systems

• Do:

– Make sure that each line contains the exact same number of delimiters.

• If leaving data for a field blank, be sure to include the delimiter as a placeholder.

– Make sure that there is exactly one product on every line.

– Contact your publishers before making any changes!!

• Don’t:

– Do not submit a file in .xls (Excel) format.

– Do not choose a filename that will change over time.

– Do not include any date or version related information in the filename.

– Do not change the number of columns


19

Content: best practices

• Detailed product attributes (title, brand, description, price, etc)

– Descriptive titles are extremely important

• Images – generally the bigger, the better

– Don’t oversell your images either

• Product URL – deep link to the product

– Or suffer poor conversions if you link to categories

• EAN & SKU – common retail industry standard

– Invaluable in properly organising your product data


20

Tips for good product titles

• Title should explicitly include the product name and basic identifiers

• Example – product name:

– Bad: “Newark Solid Oak”

– Good: “Newark Solid Oak Nest of Tables”

• Example – basic identifiers:

– Bad: “Swimsuit”

– Good: “Girl’s Blue or Pink Swimsuit”


21

Other tips for good content

• Make sure your description is descriptive – No superlatives! (just like AdSense copy…)

• Don’t use a promotional code in the product description section

– Promo codes have their own column in the product feed

• While stock on hand is not mandatory, it can make or break your performance

– Shopzilla assumes that <empty> stock information means NOT IN STOCK

– Your products may be relevant but get pushed to the bottom

• Include shipping information

– Less browsers, more buyers


22

Top tips for building product feeds

The 8 most important tips for building product feeds

= MORE VISIBILITY + BETTER EFFICIENCY


23

Top tips for successful feeds

1. Ensure that all your offer titles contain all the relevant information.

– By providing the type of product, brand, manufacturer, model number (if applicable) etc. you increase the number of possible matches between your offers and a user’s search query.

2. Consider to whom the product is marketed.

– If it is for a child include “child’s” in the title. If it is a “watch for a man” include “men’s” in the title.

3. Do not include advertising/marketing text or extraneous information in offer titles.

– Terms such as “Free Shipping” or “10% Discount” will just decrease the relevancy of your offers. Use the columns provided for special offers etc.


24

Top tips for successful feeds

4. Include stock level information in the stock column.

5. Provide shipping information.

6. Enter European Article Numbers (EANs) into the EAN column.

7. Provide a picture for each of your offers.

8. Descriptions should be descriptive and not just advertising copy.


25

Bottom line: good feeds worth the effort

• Taking the time to optimise your product feeds is worth the effort

• There IS a business to spend time on it

– Generally you can apply changes to all your product feeds

• Small changes can have a big impact!

• Shopzilla can help:

– drop me a business card and we’ll audit your product feed


26

The Shopzilla Publisher affiliate program

• Launching FR & DE this quarter

• XML Product feed available

• £10 sign-up bonus for A4UExpo attendees

Jason Hall

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: hall_jason

mailto:[email protected]

XML and Data Feeds - Standardisation and Implementation for Success (Jason Hall)

Technology

Transcript of XML and Data Feeds - Standardisation and Implementation for Success (Jason Hall)