Introduction
Just over a decade ago, a majority of people from around the world hesitated in buying products online. The whole concept of online shopping was such a taboo that nobody was willing to do it. Added to that was the fear of getting mugged by scammers who kept lurking around the web to fool people into giving out their personal information.
Fast forwarding to today, where almost everyone you meet has recently purchased an item from their preferred online store. What led to such a drastic change? We’re not sure, maybe it’s the young generation that was more flexible and open to trying out this service available on the web, or maybe it’s the trust that was built by the ‘cash-on-delivery’ option for purchasing products online.What we do know, however, is that online shopping is only going to go up in the coming years, and small businesses can make the best use of it today.
Ever wondered how products are ranked on these marketplace websites and apps? There’s an algorithm going on at the back-end that decides the ranking of different products in a certain keyword listing. All you need to do is follow the rules of Marketplace Optimization and you can ensure a better listing of your products in generalized searches.
So, what these tricks and hacks? Well, for starters, they can’t be called tricks, per se. This is because there is no short cut for obtaining good rankings on online marketplace platforms. The key to success here is to be more and more attentive to these online stores, and the results will start to show pretty soon. So, without further delays, let’s discuss these easy tips that you can follow to generate more leads online!
1. Content Optimization
Anyone who is familiar with search engine optimization is already familiar with the importance of content to ensure results. The same applies in the case of MPO. All the content that you tag along with your listing has to be fully optimized to include all the necessary keywords in it. Remember, the search algorithm can only get the description of your product through the content. If it faces difficulty due to an ambiguous or thin content, it will naturally feel unsure in ranking you higher.
2. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Another content-related technique that has shown very positive results in terms of MPO is the inclusion of FAQs in your listing. Try to resolve as many queries as possible and your rank will start to rise up in no time.
However, it’s important that you don’t answer any questions that are unrelated to the products specifications. Wasting your time answering questions about negotiations, contact details or anything else that has nothing to do with the product is not going to give any fruitful results. Just stick to the questions that matter and that are related to the search queries.
3. Pricing
Pricing is the ultimate gamechanger when it comes to marketplace optimization. All online shopping platforms are aware of the fact that a user coming to buy a product online only cares about the price at which it is available. While other listings are also available once you open the product, let’s be honest, which user in his right mind would pay more for the same product?
Now, this doesn’t mean you should reduce the prices of all the products that you want to sell in order to gain ranking on marketplace platforms. Instead, what you should do is analyze the market thoroughly and compare the best price that you can offer with the prices that your competitors are offering. This way, based on your personal costing, you can find out which products you can sell at the lowest prices. Shift your focus entirely on these products and you’ll have an optimum strategy to sell your products online.
4. Featured Listing
If you’re new to an online marketplace platform, the best way to generate quick leads is to feature your listing. This way, your products will automatically appear on the top of your desired search query and you can expect a lot of conversions for your listed products.
If you don’t want to spend too much money on your featured listing and want to see your products at the top organically, then follow all the remaining steps mentioned in this list of tips during the promotion period. In short, be more and more active with your listings. This, combined with increased sales during the featured listing, will certainly make you a favorite of the search algorithm, and it will be happy to rank you hire organically.
5. Real-time Images
One key mistake that people make when their business is listed online is they add heavy edited images of their products. Sure, as long as the images meet all the guidelines of the marketplace platform, they will be successfully added to your listing.
However, that’s not the issue here. The problem is not with the technicality but with the user behavior. In simple words, users are not a big fan of fabricated images that have been artificially enhanced to make the product look better. Instead, they would rather prefer to check out authentic pictures of it to clarify what they can expect from the product. In terms of MPO, more users checking out your listing corroborates to higher rankings on search results. After all, these marketplaces are designed to suit the users in the first place.
