Alternative Product Search Engines Overview:

In the past, most average merchant sellers have had to rely solely on main stream search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, in order to get the kind of high-end exposure needed to drive large amounts of targeted traffic to an eCommerce enabled site. The recent buzz and overwhelming success surrounding eCommerce and selling online has led to many new merchant faces within major online niches and continues to grow with each passing day. The amount of small to mid-sized eTailers has tripled compared to past years and industry analysts don’t expect to see a change in that trend any time soon. Many of the larger, fortune 500 sellers will not be affected as much as the mom and pop sellers since the fortune 500’s tend to rely more on brand recognition and existing customers to continue growing their companies.

The extreme saturation within traditional search engines has made it difficult for many eCommerce start-ups to compete fairly within a given niche. These results are evident, especially if you are one of those merchants who are finding it more difficult to increase sales now than in past years, despite making few changes within your marketing strategy. This continuous growth contributes to an already over saturated, highly competitive marketplace to list the products you hope to be found by potential buyers who shop using traditional search engines. The chances that large amounts of buyers will find new eCommerce stores right away in saturated search results is slim and that’s why merchants shouldn’t rely solely on listing their stores in traditional search engines, expecting that one tactic to propel their business to the next level (although it can and I have seen it happen on many different occasions, just don’t count on it right away). Instead, post your catalog on alternative product search engines such as Google Product Search, Yahoo Shopping, Pricegrabber, Shopping.com, Shopzilla and many more.

Do I expect you to stop using traditional search engines all together? Of course not. I am simply stating that to keep up with trends, and in order to overcome potentially loosing sales to new competitors, you will need to research alternative methods for driving customers to your online store. The alternative locations you choose to list your products in will greatly depend on what you sell and who you are targeting as buyers, but may include places like comparison shopping portals, special deal or bargain finding sites or sharing items through social shopping networks, wikis and buyer guides.

Main Differences Between Search Engines & Alternative Product Portals:

Did you know that shopping engines aren’t the only places, other than search engines, available for merchants to list their store items? Many of todays eCommerce marketing firms will stress how important it is to get listed within comparison shopping engines, but forget about all the other places currently available for online sellers to gain additional exposure for the products in their catalogs. Not only are there many more options today compared to the past, but each one has it’s own individual benefits and is capable of catering to certain smaller niches within larger online marketplaces. These smaller niche portals are less competitive, less saturated and can even send more referral traffic than some of the traditional search engines (I get more traffic from social shopping sites than I get from Yahoo and MSN combined for two of my sites).

Main differences can include, but are not limited to the following:

• Less merchants selling in your niche or selling the same types of items
• Less items related to yours so you don’t get buried deep within results
• Visitors are more likely to buy coming from a shopping site
• Allows you to get more exposure at a cheaper end cost to you
• Helps increase link popularity if listing on sites with indexable pages
• More targeted audience that is already looking for the items you sell
• Increases brand awareness and helps to establish your name as an authority
• Capable of sending more traffic than traditional search engines like Google

Below I have outlined 5 main types of product and shopping portals that can be used as alternative places to list merchant catalogs and gain additional visitors and sales. In addition, I have provided examples for each of the different classifications that should help introduce you to a whole new world of product price comparison, bargain deal and social shopping sites.

Product, Price, Brand & Seller Comparison Shopping Engines:

Example: Google Product Search - Search for Stuff to Buy (More example CSE’s…)

These sites are considered the most popular out of the different classifications. Examples include places like Google Product Search, Yahoo Shopping and Shopping.com. Most eCommerce marketing companies and merchants use comparison shopping engines within their marketing and optimization campaigns. Features include product comparison and ability to sort by price, brand, seller and even by seller rating or review score. The majority of these shopping sites allow merchants to upload products via data feeds for easy implementation, especially for sellers who offer many products within their catalog. Whether you are just starting your first online store or you have been selling for years, it is good idea to include use these portals and comparison engines as part of your online marketing plan. At the very least, try to pick the most popular or free sites to get started with and expand as your budget allows.

Deal Finders, Bargain Hunter & Discounted Shopping Engines:

Example: SortPrice - Compare Lowest Prices (More example deal finders…)

These types of sites are good sources of traffic, especially if you sell many sale or discounted items as part of your eBusiness. Examples include places like SortPrice and DealBundle. Many merchants are not aware of sites like these and are potentially missing out on a great source of traffic and links. Bargain finders are visited heavily by many users each day and it is no secret that savvy shoppers search online for the best prices instead of buying from the first store they encounter. Features include price comparison, seller comparison, hottest buys, store sales, new items, shopping trends and much more depending on which one you are using. If you are currently not using deal and bargain portals within your strategy you should seriously consider trying one out. There are many benefits to listing in these places, but the two that come to mind are targeted traffic and links.

Social Shopping, Product Sharing & Recommendation Engines:

Example: ThisNext - Recommend, Share & Discover Great Products (More example social networks…)

These sites have been popping up over the past couple of years, but as social media and sites like MySpace and YouTube began to get popular so have the smaller niche social networks. Online shopping is one of the biggest marketplaces, so obviously developers and entrepreneurs saw a need for social shopping networks. Examples include places like StyleHive, ThisNext and Crowdstorm. Recently we have seen a huge increase in the amount of users who visit product recommendation and sharing engines. Features include the ability to list, share, rate, review, recommend and showcase your favorite products. Many of the sites allow you to uniquely share and collaborate with other users who have similar item taste and interests. There are a variety of ways to interact depending on the sites you use, however popular methods include being able to post widgets and favorite items on your blog or site. If you haven’t explored the ways to leverage these sites into your marketing strategies I urge you to register and participate. These portals are a great way to increase visibility, links, traffic and product awareness. It’s a great way to boost brand recognition and get the word out about featured items, new products or special deals.

Shopping Wikis, Buyers Reporting & Shopping Guide Engines:

Example: ShopWiki - Smart Shopping Starts with Wiki Buying Guides (More example shopping wikis…)

Wikis are a popular software chosen for sites that need to make it easy for many users to collaborate and edit pages with information about topics of interest. Wikis are rather new to eCommerce and the shopping community, however there are a few that are currently revolutionizing the product wiki and buying guide marketplace in a big way. Examples include places like ShopWiki and ProductWiki. Shopping wikis make it easy for merchants to list items or post information about a particular product or category. Many merchants aren’t aware of sites like these, but hopefully with the increased popularity of Wikipedia, they will become a bigger part of merchant marketing campaigns in the future. Now is a good time to begin using shopping wikis since they are typically less saturated, send targeted traffic and provide a good link back to your store. Popular features include the ability to post products, create buying guides, edit other users’ shopping guides and participate in what others think about the types of product you sell. I urge you to experiment with creating buyers guides and using wikis as part of your marketing efforts.

Consumer Reviews, Product Ratings & Consumer Guide Engines:

Example: ePinions - Read Product Reviews, Ratings & Opinions (More example review sites…)

These types of sites help shoppers during the buying process and can help determine what they think about the items before they buy. Examples include places like ePinions, PriceTool, Consumer Search and more. Users typically post an item and add a review or they can review products that are already posted. Features include the ability to compare reviews, share reviews, rate or score products and much more. Many of these site feed reviews from consumers to popular comparison shopping engines like Shopping.com. Many merchant sellers are not aware how much reviews affect their brand and store sales. At the very least, it is a good idea to monitor any reviews for products you sell. Consider adding the ability for your customers to review your products or optionally you can research adding third-party reviews via data feeds.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

Finding alternatives to the major comparison shopping engines is important if you expect to gain the kind of exposure, visitors and sales that have led to the success of past eTailers. The general rule is, put your products in as many places as possible that your customers are and your competitors are not. By listing your items in these places you will get more exposure, more links and it helps make your brand more recognizable among users looking to buy what you sell. It is a good idea to know the differences between the shopping and product listing sites available to submit your products to. Try to find as many as possible that fit well with the products you sell. Start with the major comparison shopping engines and then begin adding your products to all the other alternative product engines including deal finders, bargain deal, social shopping, product sharing, shopping wikis, buyers guides and consumer reviews or rating portals. Be sure not to add any items to sites that don’t fall within their guidelines and never spam the product engines. Good luck, hopefully you increase sales, traffic and links to your store.