How to Create an Effective Listing on a Marketplace that Will Increase Our Online Sales?

What you are going to read about in our article on the creation of a listing on a marketplace:

1. What Is a Marketplace Listing? What Elements It Contains?
2. How to Build an Effective Listing on a Marketplace?
3. How Does a Product Description Affect our Listing’s Organic Positioning?
4. What is Cross-Selling and Why Should We Introduce It?

 

What Is a Marketplace Listing and What Elements It Contains?

  Marketplace listing is also known as a product card in an online store. Its main goal is to attract the customer’s attention, get them interested in our product, and then make them buy it. Thanks to the product card, we can achieve tangible benefits, such as conversions (the customer making a purchase). Listing on a marketplace is the equivalent to the presentation of the product on the shelf in a brick-and-mortar store. However, in the shop, it is the salesperson who answers all possible questions of the buyers, dispels their doubts, and ultimately convinces them to buy. For an online shop listing, we have to anticipate in advance what questions and objections our potential customer may have.  This is why it is so important to carefully plan out all the elements of our product card in advance. We need to be sure that they complement each other. The main purpose of the listing is to provide the customer with all the information necessary to make a purchase. Above all, we need to effectively communicate all the benefits that the consumer will get by choosing the particular offer. A listing on a marketplace usually contains the following elements:

• title,
• product description,
• graphic and audiovisual materials: product images, infographics, videos, banners, tables, etc.
• categories, tags, search terms,
• technical specifications,
• the necessary information for the conclusion of the transaction and the execution of the order, including the price, shipping, method of payment, etc,
• customer reviews,
• Call To Action, e.g. the Buy Now button.

 

How to Build an Effective Listing on a Marketplace?

  Below are a few guidelines for preparing a successful and well-converting product card.  

1. Prepare an exhaustive and accessible product description.

 

Title

  Firstly, we must attract the attention of the potential customer with the title. You should pick the target audience you intend to reach and consequently the right keywords. Moreover, focus on the unique features of our proposition that might encourage the customer to click on our offer. The title should strike a balance between containing keywords for the algorithm and providing information that would encourage the customer to click on our offer among all those displayed in the search engine’s results.  

Contents

  Please keep in mind that the product description is also a sales tool. The consumer will not analyse the offer for more than approx. 2 minutes. It’s important to use the language of benefits while keeping things precise. The most significant element of an effective sales description is to identify the benefits that the product offers to its users. It is around these that we need to plan the entire content of the offer. Amazon makes it easy for us to do this by including bullet points in its listings just under the title (desktop version). However, nothing prevents us from including the most significant product features/benefits in the bullet points even if the marketplace in question does not designate space for them itself. A good description should answer all the questions a customer might have about the product. It should do so in an accessible, short form, including visuals. Therefore, it is advisable to use a well-thought-out structure, paragraph division, appropriate fonts, bold, etc. Our text must also be correct in both language and style. If we publish our offers on foreign language markets, it is worth investing in professional translators and copywriters. They will not only translate the text correctly, but also adjust the offer to the specific market, e.g. by using appropriate keywords.  

2. Add high-quality photos, graphic, and multimedia materials

  It is important to have high-quality images when preparing a listing for a marketplace. Customers in brick-and-mortar shops can see the product from all sides, touch, smell, and so on.  When we are selling electronically, we have to try to use one sense – sight – to convey all of these sensations. This is why it is worth investing in a professional photographer, who can prepare the so-called pack-shots. These are high-quality zoomable images of the product on a white background. Each marketplace has very specific requirements concerning the appearance of the photos and descriptions. These criteria are consistent for the vast majority of platforms, with the most important being:

•       the main image should have a clean, white background,
•       all product features must be clearly visible in the image,
•       images should be 1000 pixels or more in height or width,
•       a ban on adding text and logos to the main images,
•       the product must occupy at least 85% of the frame on the longest side dimension,
•       images must not show other colour or size options available.

An image taken according to the above guidelines looks like this:   In addition, Amazon has developed a list of so-called prohibited content and images. These include, for example, images of an erotic nature or depicting children in lingerie/bathing suits. The full list can be found here.

Is it worthwhile to enhance our marketplace listing with multimedia content?

  Investing in good images is a bare minimum when it comes to the visual side of a listing. Try enhancing the card’s appeal with infographics, other graphic materials (e.g. Amazon A+ Content), or short videos. We can use materials of this kind to effectively communicate the product’s key features or benefits. Bear in mind that marketplaces always have certain character limits when it comes to descriptions. As such, it is worth using e.g. infographics to convey part of the intended message in this way. Furthermore, consider presenting information such as technical specifications or figures in a graphic form. In this way, it becomes more appealing and easily understandable by an average reader than in text form. We can use graphics, tables, and videos to explain more difficult product-related issues (e.g. assembly), or to present things that are impossible to convey in written form (e.g. the consistency of a cream). Nevertheless, it is important to consider the specific needs of the audience when crafting multimedia content.  If this is generation Z, it is essential to find out what trends reign among its representatives.  They will surely differ from the ones that are popular among Boomers. Remember that each marketplace specifies how many product images, videos, and infographics can be added to the listing. Furthermore, an overloaded product card gives the impression of a complicated listing and discourages the buyers.  

3. Complete all the parameters of the product card

  It is vital to fill in all the fields suggested to us by the marketplace, such as product dimensions, directions for use, information on hazardous substances, shipping data, prices, etc. Some marketplaces, such as Amazon, permit us to include information on all available product variants in a listing, even if each child has its own separate listing. We should also remember to include all the necessary categories, tags (including images), visible keywords, i.e. search terms (if the platform offers this option), and invisible keywords, i.e. backend keywords.  

4. Adjusting the marketplace listing to all devices

  When planning our listing, we must consider that shoppers now use different devices to search for products. Product cards are displayed differently on a computer and on a mobile app.  It should be noted that the number of people browsing offers exclusively on their phone is growing rapidly. We can discuss this issue by using Amazon as an example. On the desktop, bullet points are displayed under the title of the offer. While in the case of the app, the product description is displayed in this place. Desktop users see up to 200 characters of the title, while smartphone users see a maximum of 80 characters.  

5. Adding customer reviews / Ensuring good customer reviews

  We can build more customer trust in our brand by including customer reviews in our listing. If we do not have enough positive reviews on hand, we can encourage customers to do so after they have finalised their purchase. Please note: Amazon only allows reviews from authorities in the field to be included in listings. However, you may wish to utilize the Amazon Vine programme to collect positive feedback under the listing. A review page on Amazon can be seen in the graphic below:  

6. Carefully review the specific terms and conditions of the marketplace in question.

  Marketplaces impose restrictions that owners of internet shops do not need to follow. These include character limits and internal rules. Some of them may come as surprising to a new seller. For example, Amazon’s terms and conditions prohibit the use of terms relating to ecology (e.g. biodegradable) without this being backed up by the relevant certification. The same applies to the mention of guarantees provided by the seller.  We must also be wary of any suggestion that our product will cure a particular illness, especially when it comes to supplements. Furthermore, we should refrain from using exaggerated or superlative adjectives, such as ‘bestseller,’ to describe our product. The popular persuasion technique of offering a time-limited opportunity is also against Amazon’s terms and conditions. The issue of product card content can have dire consequences if you ignore the platform’s guidelines and even lead to account getting locked, i.e. loss of potential profits. Is your Amazon account being locked? Contact us by filling in the form.  

How Does a Product Description Affect our Offer’s Organic Positioning?

  To begin with, we need to answer the question of what exactly organic positioning is and why it is so important. Organic positioning is the ranking position of a product in organic search results. Those are displayed to the user when they type in a search term in a marketplace’s search engine. It does not include sponsored products, the high positioning of which we have to pay for separately as part of ad campaigns. Organic positioning is achieved without the need for additional expenditure or advertising. Each marketplace employs a unique algorithm that determines the order in which results are presented. It is true that organic positioning does not only depend on the content of the product cards.  Other factors, such as price or customer service, can also influence it.  However, in each case, the machine first checks for product indexing and relevance to the search term entered. And the keywords contained in our product description are essential for this. What are the benefits of choosing the right keywords?

1. We will improve the visibility of our product and brand in search results.
2. Increase the traffic to our product pages.
3. Our conversion and sales revenue will grow.

 Do you want to learn more about all the factors that influence listing positioning on Amazon? Read our article here.  

What are keywords and where you can find them?

  Activities to improve our position in search results fall under SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). As the name implies, SEO is the process of optimizing websites for the search engine algorithm. This is achieved by analysing the keywords and incorporating the most important ones into our listing. A well-conducted SEO analysis should be tailored for a specific language and market. The information then helps sellers to choose the right names under which to best display their product. Sometimes a given language contains many terms describing the same object/phenomenon, and each of them is correct. Performing a keyword analysis will help us determine which phrases are typed into the search engine most frequently. Specialized tools with the main task of selecting and optimizing keywords will be useful in this process. The most popular programmes used for this purpose are Helium10, Sellics, and Merchant Words.  The tools provide information on the frequency with which a particular word or phrase is searched for, as well as the keywords that our competitors are targeting. We include the most important keywords in the title. Those with a lower search volume can be inserted in the body of the description. Keywords that are less relevant, but may nevertheless drive traffic to our offer, are placed in the backend.  

SEO Optimisation of Our Listing on Marketplace

  We should never rest on our laurels when it comes to organic positioning. The trends in individual markets are constantly changing. Listings that convert well may suddenly cease to be effective. Keywords’ popularity is also not a constant feature and is subject to changes related to, for example, seasonality of products. The key to long-term SEO success lies in continuous monitoring & analysis. This means regularly checking the effects of our actions, such as the number of impressions, clicks, or conversions.  In this way, we can quickly identify problems and respond immediately to the market needs. It is advantageous to experiment with alternative keyword combinations. We should also keep an eye on the competition in this area.  

What is Cross-Selling and Why Should We Introduce It?

  Cross-selling, also known as complementary or linked selling, is a technique that involves offering another product to the customer. But there is one condition: it must match the already selected product. Suppose a seller offers tea sets. How can we apply effective cross-selling in this case? We can display under the presentation of this cup a picture (and link) to our offer with a creamer or saucers in the same colour and pattern with a note in the following style: “Customers who were interested in this product also bought…” or “Complete your coffee set by buying….”. We are directing this offer to a customer who already trusts us enough to have chosen one of our products.  This increases our chances of conversion compared to presenting a proposal to a new customer. Statistics confirm the effectiveness of cross-selling. According to the figures provided by Amazon, up to 35% of their turnover comes from cross-selling. A study by the e-tailing group also indicates that cross-selling has helped businesses increase their revenues by 10%. On the Amazon platform, we can use the so-called cross-sell table in A+ Content. It can include not only complementary products, but also a comparison of up to six similar products offered by the same seller. An example of an Amazon cross-sell table looks as follows:  

Conclusions

  The preparation of an effective product card is a multi-level task. It requires sellers to be attentive to detail, creative, and systematic.  We should never forget that a marketplace listing is not only a presentation of our offer, but a marketing tool. As such, it must be attractive to the prospective customers and encourage them to buy the product offered. A well-thought-out and carefully designed product card will constitute the best presentation of the offered goods. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that professional development of marketplace listings is not an expense, but an investment in long-term sales growth. Do you want to prepare a product card that will be professional in all the aspects? Contact us and start working with experienced graphic designers, copywriters, and SEO specialists.