Price Buy 

Typically, this approach saves shoppers both time and money while also providing e-store owners with an effective way to produce sales. In fact, in recent years, shopping comparison sites have advanced so much and become so popular that some Web shop owners profit solely from using these channels.

Getting listed on shopping-comparison sites can generate lots of revenue. Research from various sources consistently shows that conversions are higher with these sites than with pay-per-click and other forms of advertising. People are also more inclined to spend more money because they found your e-store through a trusted shopping portal, and that trust transfers to your brand. The questions, then, are how does an e-store get listed and how much does it cost?

Cost-per-action generally means a pay-per-click model in which you will be required to pay your determined bid price whenever somebody clicks a link from the comparison site to a page on your site. CPA is considered to be among the best forms of comparative site advertising because it ensures that you don't have to pay a cent unless the site nets you traffic. (Other models exist, such as cost per sale and cost per thousand visitors but are less commonly used.) Generally, you can expect to pay around 15 to 20 cents for most merchandise in a shopping site PPC-based set up, with items such as jewelry or computers costing around 50 cents to $1 per click.

When shopping sites first debuted 12 years ago, most operated on a subscription fee basis. The Internet has come a long way since then, though, and a lot of advertising has moved away from this payment model. It is not a transparent method and some outlay is required without any kind of guarantee of results.

Finally, free services do exist and are typically provided by the larger search engines and search portals as a value-added service. While free advertising is usually a good thing, it will mean competing with a huge number of other e-stores to win potentially only a very small number of interested visitors.

Product Data Feeds and Formats keywords page

Regardless of the option you choose, you will need to submit a product data feed. Data feeds have become very popular. They are essentially files that contain information pertaining to one or more products from your online catalog. The more information they include the better, but this should never be at the expense of engaging and clear content.

There are a couple of ways to create an RSS file. You can use an editor designed for the purpose or you can create a file using a simple text editor. An editor or third-party application will do most of the work for you, while the latter will require you to learn some XML coding.

An RSS file looks just like an HTML file except it has different tags and the files end in .rss or .xml rather than .html. If tab-delimited text, it ends in .txt. The file is made up of header information and item information with the item information containing the actual content.

Getting From Here to There

Most shopping sites have an area in which you can find all the details for submitting feeds, for instance, to list on Yahoo Shopping, you can use the company's Product Submit and find all the information you need at a dedicated FAQ section. (Yahoo Merchant Solutions and Yahoo Store customers, however, do not need to create a feed — products are pulled directly from your catalog each time its published.) After you sign up for Yahoo Product Submit, you create your files according to their specifications and upload them using the company's Web-based tool.

Compelling Content Converts

In regard to creating content for your feeds, always try to include as much information as possible. Of particular importance is the inclusion of product identifiers. Product name, manufacturer name, manufacturer code and other identifiers should definitely be included to ensure that you are included in searches for any of these terms. The product description is your main sales pitch. It is possible, in most cases, to include a short and a long description so take advantage of this wherever possible. Both should contain all the relevant information about the product to help the browser make any potential buying decisions. A link to the product page and the product image should also be provided. Unique ID, price, category and any other information you have regarding the product should be included. If you provide too much information, then the surplus will be ignored. However, if you dot not provide enough information, then all of the information you do provide will be ignored.

Look at the major search engines first. Google offers two potential avenues for data feeds, Froogle and Google Base. In addition to Yahoo Shopping, AOL also has a feed submission site. Shopping.com, PriceRunner.com and Kelkoo.com are three large shopping comparison sites that you might consider, too.

Beyond these types of sites consider those that you would use yourself when looking for the products you sell, as well as so-called next-generation sites such as Like.com and TheFind.com.

In regard to strategy, industry watchers echo the advice for setting up an e-store, it's best to start small, study what works and grow from there, with some recommending beginning with just 15 or so products.

In its April newsletter, MerchantAdvantage offered the following advice for listing on shopping sites, saying that the first approach allows you to get a larger piece of a smaller pie, and the second gets you a smaller piece of a larger pie.

Strategy 1: Get your products categorized where there are fewer items of the same type. Research the shopping comparison sites (yes, one at a time) where the least saturation of products occurs within your target category. Then, see how you can fit your product into the least saturated category. Finally, convert your product category to the category structure where you want your product to appear and feed. For example, CD players might show up in Personal Audio Product, or Audio Devices et al. By categorizing your CD players as which ever category has the fewest CD players you will get a larger percentage of the shoppers looking for CD players within that category.
Strategy 2: Get your products seen where there are shoppers already going. Research the shopping comparison sites where the most saturation of products occurs on the category level. This is also typically where most of the consumers will go for this product. Then see how you can fit your product into the most saturated category. Remember to use keywords or "stand-out" information that separates your store from the rest of the online stores appearing at the shopping comparison site.

In addition to being sure you meet the site's feed specs in regard to format and content, be sure to elaborate with compelling descriptions and images. The more information you provide beyond the basics, the greater your chances of success. Providing promotions, such as coupons, is also a great way to get shoppers to choose your site for their purchase.

Also, make sure your feeds are up to date. Any items that you no longer have in stock should be removed while new items should be added. Customers that click through to your site are already well advanced within the purchasing process and you are almost certain to lose them if they arrive there only to find that the product you were advertising is out of stock.

Bottom Line: Shopping Site Success
Comparison shopping sites are thriving and offer you a great tool for connecting with motivated shoppers. Taking advantage of these sales channels is a wise move. For a successful foray into comparison-shopping sites, be sure to start with ones that best match your particular business, create compelling, up-to-date feeds in the correct format and then track what's working and what isn't.

Matt Jackson is a regular contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com and writes Web content for WebWiseWords.com.