Why Your Merchandising Team’s Effort is Lost on Your SEM Team, Part 1: Leveraging Your Product Catalog

Retail search marketers have for years longed to capitalize on "long-tail keywords." Unlike "head terms" that are short and have high query volume (e.g., "basketball shoes"), long-tail terms are highly specific and have much lower query volume (e.g., "black Nike Air Jordans"). Not only are long-tail keywords cheaper than their shorter, more competitive head term counterparts, they're more qualified and therefore lead to significantly higher conversion rates. In theory, lower costs and higher conversions should lead to higher return on investment for retailers. Unfortunately, capitalizing on long-tail keywords has proven to be much easier said than done.