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“I’m just browsing.”
We’ve programmed that response into our Human Shopping Auto responder, haven’t we?
Funny how often I found myself using that line when I was doing a small
amount of Dirt World Retail Christmas Shopping this year (Most of it was
done without leaving my home, thanks to my drop shippers and the
internet. Ahh, there’s nothing like Christmas shopping at wholesale
prices).
But when I’m in the mall, I always seem to get cornered.
“May I Help You?”, “ Are You Looking for Any thing Specific?”, “Can I
Help You Find Any thing?”
You know what I’m talking about….
The Store Clerks don’t know what you’re looking for unless you tell
them. Only then are they of any use to us…
We’ll the good news is it’s a little different here in cyber-space.
E-commerce shoppers hit the Internet with specific products in mind. To
find them, they use search engines and the Yahoo! Shopping Network.
That’s why we need to make absolutely sure we know what Keywords they’re
using to find the products they’re searching for…
…So we can name our products the right way.
Naming Your Products – How to make sure Shoppers know you’re selling
what they want!
Internet Shoppers tend to be focused people. They know that good value
and huge selection are the meat and potatoes of e-commerce. As they
become more accustomed to shopping on-line, they too learn to maximize
their shopping by being efficient when they search for their products.
The most common habit of an effective Internet shopper is using very
specific keywords to find the product that they’re looking for. Instead
of searching for “Teddy Bear”, they narrow their searches by using
highly targeted keywords, like “Santa Boyds Teddy Bear”.
The shopper has learned that this sort of specific keyword phrase search
returns the products they’re looking for faster, with less Search Engine
Clutter.
That’s why it’s important for us to name the products in our store with
the same focus that our shoppers are using to find them.
Okay.
Let’s say your store is selling Seat Covers:
The first question that you need to ask yourself is,
“If I was looking for some Seat Covers online, what words would I use to
find it?”
Now, the targeted shopper has a distinct tendency to use 3 or 4 word
search-phrases when they are Yahoo! Shopping. Instead of using the
Search Term “Seat Cover”, they use keyword phrases like:
“Car Seat Cover”
“Auto Seat Cover”
“Leather Seat Cover”
“Hawaiian Seat Cover”
etc.
In your store, you may have some very keen seat covers to offer to your
shoppers. But in order for them to find what they’re looking for, you
need to make sure the names of your products are going to be seen.
How do you do this? By creating each one of your product names as if you
wanted it to be ranked #1 in a search engine for whatever keyword your
shopper is looking for.
For example.
Not only do you sell Seat Covers, you sell “Leather Seat Covers for Ford
Trucks”
Notice how specific that Product Name is? It’s super-focused AND it
contains the General Keywords in your product Category.
“Leather” for the type of Material
“Ford Trucks” for the type of application
and “Seat Covers” for the general product category.
You kill two bird with one stone here. When a shopper is “just kinda
browsin” for “Seat Covers”, you have a better chance of ranking well in
the search engines.
But…
If a shopper is looking for a “Leather Seat Cover for a Ford Truck”, and
your product name is “Leather Seat Cover for Ford Trucks”, your chances
of ranking well increase exponentially!
Let’s take an example of Medieval Weapons from A Squared Armory.
We have a huge selection of Medieval Shields. They range from
“Heraldic”, “Roman”, “Battle Ready”, “Painted”. “Powder Coated”, and on
and on.
Now, we know what keywords folks are using when they are searching for
shields. How?
Overture.
Using the Overture Term Suggestion Tool, we found that most of the
searches for specific shields ALSO contained the General Keywords
“Medieval”, “Knight”, and “Armor”.
So, we fine-tuned the names of our Shield Product Listings to not only
include the specifics of that particular Shield, but also some general
search Keywords.
Here’s an example of one of our Shield Listings:
Product Name “Medieval Knight Armor Shield – Barbossa”
You see how we included every general keyword in the listing AND the
specific model of that shield?
Then, we made sure to have those keywords AGAIN in the first line of our
product listing.
Product Description: “This is a true to life replica of the shield used
by the cunning knight and warrior Frederick Barbossa in the Medieval
era.”
This should remind you of the Search Engine Techniques we show in Yahoo!
Store Profits.
Essentially, you need to make sure that your product names and
descriptions contain the same sort of specific keywords that Overture
and Word Tracker tell you shoppers are searching with.
More Examples with Both Specific and General Keywords:
“Glass Chess Set from X-Men Movie”
“Garmin GPS”
“Retired Polar Bear Bennie Baby”
“Portable DVD Player for Car – Sony”
“Doc Martin Work Boots with Steel Toe”
“Plain Paper Fax Machine with Digital Answering Machine – Panasonic”
“Radio Controlled Model Air Plane – F-16”
“Novelty Chattering Wind-Up Teeth”
"Lord
of the Rings Sword"
“Retractable Tonneau Truck Bed Cover for Chevy Pick Up – A.R.E.”
“Stained Glass Replica – Renaissance Era”
“ABS Plastic PDA Cover – Palm Pilot”
“Non-stick Calaphlon Cooking Wok”
“Velvet Elvis Painting with Gold Gilded Frame - Certificate of
Authenticity and Two Tickets to Graceland to meet Priscilla”
Opps… Sorry.
Hey - whatever floats your boat!
Remember, don’t leave anything to chance. Make sure your customers know
EXACTLY what you’re selling. Tell them in no uncertain terms.
Treat each one of your Product Names like it’s a headline in a Newspaper
Article.
Stop them in their tracks! Make them think “AhHa! That’s exactly what I
was looking for!”
And for the Internet Shoppers who are just “Browsing”, your product gets
a chance to be seen and get their attention.
Next time, we’ll talk about creating your product listings.
Specifically, How to use the
“Feature – Advantage – Benefit Benefit Benefit” technique to engage your
shoppers so they understand how your product meets their need.
Just some thoughts -- When you’re writing your product description, put
yourself in your customer’s shoes and ask “What’s in it for me?”
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