Search Engine Optimization

While leveraging big data by using software, apps and point-of-sale technology can help retailers handle everything from holiday hiring to inventory management in the days leading up to and following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, one of the most useful applications for big data technology this holiday season is in countering showrooming, a phenomenon that's been on every brick-and-mortar retailer's mind as they make preparations for their busiest season of the year.

The time is here for the online shopping onslaught — Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the whole run up to Christmas. The promotions have been prepared, the email campaigns set up, so just one questions remains: Is your website ready to handle the volume? The issues around website performance have never been as prominent in the news. So let's review the top tips for making sure your websites — and remember this is now across desktop, tablet and smartphone devices — are ready for showtime.

Product listing ads (PLAs) are search ads that include concise product information such as product image, price and merchant name without relying solely on text ads to entice online shoppers. PLAs are proving that a picture is truly worth a thousand (key) words, as they're consistently driving increased clickthrough rates and conversions. Given that the holiday season is quickly approaching, it's now more important than ever for merchants to understand how to maximize PLAs. Here are some tips on how to most effectively use PLAs this holiday season.

Chances are you're spending a lot of time, money and effort driving traffic to your online store. More and more, online retailers are realizing that the way to stand out from the crowd, and increase the return on investment of their reach and acquisition initiatives, is to optimize their site so that they're giving visitors exactly the experience they're looking for.

With search moving away from desktops for a mobile alternative, Google became aware of the need need for a new web design layout that could help better monetize search results across all devices.

The key to getting shoppers to notice your online videos is to get as much mileage out of them as possible. That means thinking beyond product pages. Sure, they're the logical place for your videos, but there are many more ways to place videos in front of consumers’ eyeballs — at the beginning of the shopping process, in the middle and after browsers become buyers.

Bing unveiled changes on Tuesday designed to make the search engine experience even better, but what will it mean, if anything, for online sellers trying to attract shoppers to their listings? The changes to the Bing search engine include an overall site design (to "better align Bing with the Microsoft suite of products") and a redesigned search experience. The new layout adapts to how people search, what they're looking for and what device they're using, "giving people the information they need more quickly and simply."

Being found on the web is a whole different problem from being found physically. A physical storefront depends on things like curb appeal and location. But what happens when your location is the amorphous web, and being found means manipulating several variables that all have to work together so prospects can find you? Online retailers have to be experts in far more than just the merchandise they're selling. They need to be connoisseurs of search engine optimization, application programming interfaces, marketing and website performance monitoring. So what does it mean to get "on the map" in cyberspace, and how do you stay there?

Up until a few years ago, conversion rate optimization (CRO) was a niche skill set. By and large, designers were worried about a website's aesthetics; search experts were concerned about information architecture and keyword targeting; IT was preoccupied with site speed and availability; and chief marketing officers were concerned about the overall brand experience. And then this happened:

The most profitable retargeting efforts focus on consumers who have either viewed products but haven't yet made a purchase or who did make a purchase and are likely to buy another related product. In either case, the overall strategy is to attract the consumer at the right time for the right cost. Once identified as suitable to receive a retargeting message, there are five concepts that must be employed to achieve success: