Product Search: Datafeeds
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Shopping comparison sites are a great way to get your products in front of customers. They’re cost-effective for you, the seller, and they make it easy for shoppers to view products, compare prices, and quickly make a selection.

Submitting a data file, or datafeed, to the shopping comparison sites is one of the first steps in the process. Data files contain all of the pertinent information about your products, such as names, prices, etc., and are used by the sites to determine category grouping and results placement. Most shopping comparison sites will require you to submit a datafeed (or pay them to create one for you) before you sign up, and it’s worth the time to do so because this allow you to upload hundreds of products into a directory at one time.

The shopping site uploads the file into its database, and the file provides the information that the site needs to appropriately group and display your products on a search results page.

Understanding Datafeeds
Most companies receive the best results by optimizing their datafeeds prior to submission. The optimization process usually includes writing product titles and descriptions as well as adding keywords for each product in your web site database. For instance, if you sell memory cards, you may want to include keywords such as “cameras,” “MP3,” or “digital storage devices” in your file. Be as specific as possible — the goal should always be to make sure that you cover all the bases so that your product is included whenever a consumer searches for anything related to your product.

Creating a Datafeed File
The easiest way to create a datafeed is with a spreadsheet program, like Microsoft Excel, even though most shopping comparison sites require you to submit a text file. With a program like Excel, it’s easy to convert the file to text once you’ve entered all of the information.

Each shopping comparison site accepts datafeeds in a slightly different manner — both in format and transmission method — which only stresses the importance of reading each site’s requirements before sending a datafeed. Some sites will allow you to fill out online forms that will transmit the required information by field. Here are some of the standard fields you’ll need to fill out:

  • Product URL — A link to the product page on your web site.
  • Product name
  • Descriptions — What does the product do? What does it look like?
  • Price
  • Image URL — A link to the image file that contains a picture of the product.
  • Category — Which products do you want it placed with?

If you’re sending a text file, the first line in each file should contain the header with each field name separated by a tab, unless otherwise specified by the shopping site. Each subsequent line should contain information about a single product, and the last line of the file should provide a marker to denote its completion, such as the word END. In most cases, you should avoid including HTML tags, tabs within fields, or carriage returns. Furthermore, while most sites require that datafeeds come in as plain text files, it will be easier for you to maintain and update your records if you use a spreadsheet program and simply save it as a text file before sending.

Stay Up to Date
Information is only as good as its latest update, so it is very important to submit fresh data files on a regular basis. Many sites require a monthly datafeed update to ensure they don’t post outdated information

When listing with shopping comparison sites, submitting a datafeed can save web site owners lot of time in the product submittal stage. Once they have all of the information listed in the file, they only have to upload it once, which allows them up upload hundreds of products at one time as opposed to listing each product individually. The file also makes it easier for the site to list your products appropriately, increasing your chances of getting them in front of the right customers.