Ebay Is Sold Structured Data
January 19, 2016
PayPal and eBay split in 2015 and many people thought it was a poor mistake on eBay’s part. However, eBay has recouped any potential loses by record profits and more than 159 million sellers. Channel Advisor explains that one of the reasons eBay has grown so much is due to its incorporation of structured data and its importance for organic search in the article, “eBay Moves Towards Structured Data-And Why It Matters.”
As an avid eBay buyer and seller, I have been impressed with the new changes in eBay’s demand for structured data. In the past, if you wanted to find anything on eBay you had to go directly to the Web site and dig through results. Sometimes you could find results on Google or another search engine, but these were usually cached auctions. Since the switchover, eBay listings are prominent within Google’s search results. What is even better is how accurate they are!
EBay has turned to structured data as a way to compete with Amazon. While this is beneficial in the long run, it forces sellers to refocus their strategies. The article gives some great tips on how to improve your listings for the best organic search effectiveness. What eBay is demanding now is item specifics so items are placed in the right categories and also helps buyers make more informed decisions. Product identifiers are now very important and mandatory in many categories. These include item specifics such as UPCs, ISBNs, MPNs, GTINs, and more. The goal with all this extra information is to increase visibility in Google and eBay search results.
“In addition to the above benefits, adding identifiers will give you:
- The ability to match your item with a product from the more robust eBay catalogue
- More accurate pricing guidance when you list your items
- Trending price alerts — when your listings are priced lower than the trending price
EBay suggests adding identifiers even if they’re not yet required for your category – doing so will earn you an early competitive edge.”
EBay used to be the one-stop shopping destination online, but Amazon has quickly stolen that title from them. With more detailed listings and visibility in Google, eBay is sure to win back customers.
Whitney Grace, January 19, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
The Sad eCommerce Search Realities
September 9, 2015
We love it when articles make pop cultures references as a way to get their point across. Over at Easy Ask, an articled entitled “ ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ – The Realities of eCommerce Search” references the Keith Richards and Mick Jagger song explaining how a Web site loses a customer. The potential customer searches for an product, fails to find using the search feature, so the person moves onto a new destination.
What happens is that a Web site search function might not understand all the query terms or it might return results that fail to meet the shopper’s need. The worst option any eCommerce shop could show a shopper is a “no results found” page. It might be a seem like simple feature to overcome, but search algorithms need to be fine tuned like any other coding. The good news that decent eCommerce searches have already been designed.
“How can you avoid these misunderstandings? One approach is to employ search software that understands the words in the search and how they relate to each other and the site’s catalog. These search engines are called ‘Contextual Search’ and employ ‘Natural Language Processing’ software. Remember diagramming sentences in elementary school and identifying the nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Knowing the role of a word in a website search helps find the right products.”
Contextual search that uses natural language processing treats queries based on a user’s true intentions, rather than giving each term the same weight. Contextual search is more intuitive and yields more accurate results. The article finishes by saying the customers “get what they need.” Ah, what a wise use of The Rolling Stones.
Whitney Grace, September 9, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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