SingleFeed At Internet Retailer – iPad giveaway!   May 31st, 2010

If you’re attending Internet Retailer next week, please let us know if you’d like to meet. You can stop by booth 371, set up a one-on-one meeting (just email ryan@singlefeed.com), or attend our session on outsourcing data feed management (with Alan Higley from Coolibar).

Our team would be happy to tell you more about SingleFeed, the shopping engine industry, do a quick in-person data feed review, or set up a Facebook Shop for you on the spot!

And like many other exhibitors, we’ll be giving away an iPad, so make sure to get your badge scanned at our booth or drop a card in our fishbowl.

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SingleFeed New Site Design   May 31st, 2010

Welcome to SingleFeed’s new look! We’re still working out some kinks, but we’re proud to launch a clean and fresh look and feel to SingleFeed’s logged out pages. This design will allow us to more easily convey our value proposition to and communicate with prospective customers. We’ll also be able to more efficiently communicate important news about Webinars and Events right from the homepage.

As for current customers, there’s a change for you as well. We have a new Support Portal. Just click on Support at the top right of every page. You’ll still have to log into your account to submit a support ticket, but now you’ll be able to voice your feedback, interact with the SingleFeed team, and access documentation quickly and easily. We’ll give you a more formal introduction soon.

Thanks!
-brian

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Big Changes to TheFind!   May 17th, 2010

If you are a current SingleFeed user, please read this important announcement!

TheFind recently announced the launch of their new Merchant Center. The new Merchant Center functionality represents a big benefit to online retailers for a few  reasons. First, by setting up a Merchant Center account you’re given the opportunity to tell TheFind more about your store. This information will supplement your listings on TheFind. Second, by verifying your site through TheFind’s UpFront program, you’ll get potentially more visibility and clicks than you did previously. Third, and finally, having a Merchant Center gives you more transparency and control over your existing product listings at TheFind.

Up to this point, SingleFeed has been delivering your feed to TheFind through our own FTP account. With the launch of their new Merchant Center, however, we will be moving away from our old delivery model in order to better serve you. So:

If you currently have TheFind active, please set up your new Merchant Center account as soon as possible. We’re phasing out the old way of feed submissions soon (but we’ll post another update just before this happens to remind you).  Don’t worry, we’ll guide you through the new account set up process; just refer to our handy setup help instructions.

If you currently do not have TheFind active, we encourage you to do so! Refer to our handy setup up help instructions for a step-by-step guide on how to set up your account.

To elaborate on these new changes, Jordan Keffer of TheFind has graciously offered to tell you all about the benefits of their new Merchant Center. Please see her guest blog post, below.

Hello SingleFeed Merchants!

Over 17 million shoppers use TheFind every month, clicking out to visit hundreds of thousands of stores -  why not yours?  Unlike many of the traditional CSEs, TheFind accepts free product feeds, so there’s absolutely no reason you shouldn’t be listing your products on our site.

How to work with TheFind:

  • Register and claim your store for free in the Merchant Center.  If you’re not currently registered, you’re not maximizing the visibility of your products on our site.  The more information we have about your store, the more relevant your results will be in our search algorithm and the easier it will be for you to connect with the millions of shoppers who visit our site every month.
  • We recommend that you join the UpFront Program.  It’s a free program that will help you increase your click through and conversion rates.  And because we value the increased transparency that UpFront Merchants provide our shoppers, we give them an additional boost in visibility on our site.  Thousands of merchants have already joined.  Here are just a few examples: Cymax Stores, Moosejaw, Beach Audio, and Stacks and Stacks.  On average, merchants have seen an increase in visibility/traffic of ~10% after joining the program.
  • Once you’ve completed the verification process and claimed your store, you can access your FTP credentials and send us a product feed via SingleFeed.

    • To learn more, go to: https://merchant.thefind.com and http://www.thefind.com/upfront.

    Stay up-to-date on the latest  from TheFind’s UpFront Program and Merchant Center on our Merchant Blog and Twitter.  We follow back!

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    Reminder to claim your website URL through Google   May 14th, 2010

    To all of our Google Merchant Center users, if you’ve logged into your Google Merchant Center account lately, you may have noticed this yellow banner:

    Google has recently implemented a policy that requires you to verify your store’s URL through Google, and if you have not done this before May 18th, Google will deactivate your listings until you have completed the process.

    If you fail to verify your store’s URL before May 18th, but have other active engines through SingleFeed, these listings will not be affected.

    The following instructions are copied directly from the Google Merchant Center, and if you log into your account, you will be able to click the “Learn More” link (shown above) to get back to these instructions.  If you have questions, please contact Google Merchant Support.


    Verify & Claim Your Website URL

    Important

    Verifying and claiming the website URL in your Merchant Center account is a new requirement. To make this transition easier, we have allowed eight weeks for you to complete this process. If you haven’t verified and claimed your website URL by May 18, 2010, your existing and newly uploaded product listings will get disapproved until you complete the steps below.

    The Website URL setting in your Google Merchant Center account is important because it verifies you have the right to upload product listings for the website specified in your account.

    Before you can upload and publish product listings to Google Merchant Center, you must verify and claim your website:

    1. Determine the exact website URL to verify and claimTo ensure all your uploaded listings are accepted by Google, you’ll need to determine the right website URL to verify and claim.For simple stores, the best URL to verify is the top-level URL of your store, e.g. http://example.com. If your store resides on a sub-host or on a path, you should include those in your URL, e.g. http://stores.example.com/mystoreNote: Verifying http://www.example.com only covers the www sub-host and any paths underneath, but not the entire domain. To cover the entire domain, you must verify and claim the root domain, e.g. http://example.comWhen entering a URL, the format must follow the rules below:
      • The URL must start with either http:// or https://
      • No IP addresses are allowed, e.g. http://10.127.127.127
      • No ports are allowed, e.g. http://www.example.com:8080
      • No fragments are allowed, e.g. http://www.example.com#top
    2. Verify your website URL.Visit Google Webmaster Tools to add and verify your website.
    3. Claim your website URLAfter your website URL is verified in Google Webmaster Tools, you will need to claim the website URL in Google Merchant Center using a Webmaster Tools ‘verified’ Google Account login.While more than one person can verify the same URL, Google Merchant Center requires that only one account holds the right to upload and publish product listings for this URL. For this reason, you need to claim your website URL in Google Merchant Center after you have verified it in Webmaster Tools. To claim your website URL:
      1. Sign in to your Google Merchant Center account.
      2. Click on the Settings link, then click General.
      3. Under Website URL, enter your site’s URL.
      4. Claim this URL to claim the website.
      5. Click Save Changes to confirm your changes.
      After you’ve claimed your website URL, you can upload product listings.

    Ways you might lose your claim

    • If another authorised owner of the website in question successfully verifies and claims the website URL, you will lose the claim and will be notified by email. We’ll let you know who the clashing account is (you can also find this information in your Google Webmaster tools account) in order to resolve the situation yourself, where possible. If unsuccessful, you can choose to either verify and claim a different URL or contact us.
    • If you lose your ‘verified’ status in Google Webmaster Tools, you will lose the claim. You can lose the ‘verified’ status because the identifying Meta tag or HTML file has been removed from the website. If you’ve lost your ‘verified’ status in Google Webmaster tools, you will need to verify and claim your website URL again.
    • If you choose to verify and claim a different URL in Google Merchant Center, you will lose the claim for your previously verified and claimed website URL.

    Multi-client accounts

    Multi-client account owners are required to verify and claim a Website URL for the parent account. Typically, the parent multi-client account will need to verify and claim the top-level domain, e.g. http://example.com.

    After the parent multi-client account has verified and claimed a URL, each sub-account can automatically inherit the claim and can submit product listings for any sub-host or path under the claimed URL tree. Alternatively, each sub-account can also choose to verify and claim a completely different website URL instead.

    Posted in SingleFeed | 11 Comments »

    Webinar – Google Merchant Center Explained   May 13th, 2010

    The comparison shopping engines, especially Google Product Search, have become more and more important over the last year as consumers are looking for great deals from top rated merchants.  In this informational Webinar, we’ll show you all the ways your Google Merchant Center feed can be used.  It starts with listing products on Google Product Search, but you can also leverage your data feed on Google Affiliate Network and Google AdWords.

    Brian Smith and Ryan Douglas of SingleFeed will cover:
    - Google OneBox listings
    - Google Merchant Center Account Optimization Tips
    - Google Product Extension Ads w/ Google AdWords
    - Google Product Ads w/Google Affiliate Network

    SingleFeed is a Google Merchant Center Partner and leading provider of data feed management and optimization services for small and medium sized merchants.

    Here are a few questions from the webinar-
    Q: What is the process of claiming URL?
    A:  You will need to create a Google Webmaster Tools account if you do not already have one. Then you will need to verify the url. You can find more details in Google Merchant Center Help.
    Q: How long will it take for my products to show on Google Product  Search after uploading a feed?
    A: It can take 24-48 hours for a feed to be completely processed, sometimes longer for first time uploads.
    Q: How do I get my products to show up in OneBox results?
    A: We are asked this all the time. There is no magic solution that can guarantee top position. We have helped numerous clients achieve results in the OneBox area of SERP’s by submitting optimized feeds.
    Here is a link to the upcoming Google Commerce Search webinar.

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    Posted in Data Feed Optimization, Google Base, SingleFeed, Webinars | 1 Comment »

    Microsoft Bing cashback Account Center Migrating to Microsoft adCenter.   May 10th, 2010

    Microsoft announced that they will be migrating away from the Microsoft Bing cashback account center in the next few months. They have opted to steer all cashback account management activities to Microsoft adCenter. To be sure you are kept in the loop with the transition, Microsoft asks that you update your primary contact information as soon as possible, if you haven’t done so already. To see the message and to update your contact info, log into your cashback account here. 

    More information on the transition is available via Microsoft’s FAQ page.

    Posted in SingleFeed | 1 Comment »

    Google Merchant Center Explained – Webinar Next Wednesday   May 7th, 2010

    Join us next Wednesday for an informational Webinar in which we’ll walk through all the ways your Google Merchant Center feed can be used. It starts with listing products on Google Product Search, but you can also leverage your data feed on the Google Affiliate Network and Google AdWords. It’s time to put the power of your data feed to greater use. Get a jump start on your competition today!

    All serious ecommerce businesses can benefit from this informative Webinar. Register today if you want to improve your performance, drive more sales, and discover how to better leverage your Google Merchant Center feed.

    Brian Smith and Ryan Douglas of SingleFeed will cover:
    - Google Product Search and Google OneBox listings
    - Google Merchant Center Account Optimization Tips
    - Google Product Extension Ads w/ Google AdWords
    - Google Product Ads w/Google Affiliate Network

    Register now.

    SingleFeed is a Google Merchant Center Partner and leading provider of data feed management and optimization services for small and medium sized merchants.

    *This webinar will be recorded. If you cannot attend live, please register and a link to the recording will be emailed to you after the event.

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    Posted in SingleFeed, Webinars | 1 Comment »

    Sell Your Products on Facebook   May 7th, 2010

    SingleFeed is alpha testing an application on Facebook that will allow you to list your top selling products on your Facebook Fan Page. Takes less than 5mins to get up and running. All you need is a Google Merchant Center data feed and a Facebook Fan page.

    If you’re interested in testing out the application (it’s free, by the way!), just send me an email: brian@singlefeed.com.

    Thanks!
    -brian

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    Posted in SingleFeed | 3 Comments »

    Webinar Recording – 5 Tactics for Shopping Engine Success   April 29th, 2010

    In case you missed the webinar this week with Brian Smith on 5 top tactics for  shopping engines success we’ve put up a recording here for you.

    The comparison shopping engines, especially Google Product Search, have become more and more important over the last year as consumers are looking for great deals from top rated merchants.  In this tactical Webinar, you’ll be introduced to the top 5 steps you can quickly take to improve your performance on Google Product Search, NexTag, Shopzilla, and the other leading shopping engines. Don’t wait for the holiday shopping season to think about data feed optimization (DFO).  Get a jump start on your competition today!

    - Get the basics done right
    - Titles and Descriptions
    - Proper Categorization
    - Go beyond the basics
    - Treat this as a war, not a game

    Here are some popular questions from the webinar-

    Q: With SEO I can research frequency of keyword searches on Adwords.  Is there an equivalent research tool for shopping feeds?  Is it the same as search keywords?
    A: Unfortunately there are no similar tools for the CSEs.

    Q: If I use s service like SingleFeed, does it do all the categorization and so on?
    A: SingleFeed categorizes all products for all the shopping engines for each of our clients. If you’d like to learn more about this process contact us.

    Q: How frequently should we send data feeds to the shopping engines? How often is too often?
    A: We recommend that you send the data daily, or at least every few days regardless if your prices or products have changed. Most of the shopping engines will only accept a data feed once a day, so more than that would be overkill for the majority of merchants.

    Q: How much does SingleFeed cost?
    A: SingleFeed has service plans starting at $99 and up to $600 per month. Visit our website to view our pricing.

    Here are some popular questions from the webinar-
    Q: With SEO I can research frequency of keyword searches on Adwords.  Is there an equivalent research tool for shopping feeds?  Is it the same as search keywords?
    A: Unfortunately there are no similar tools for the CSEs.
    Q: If I use s service like SingleFeed, does it do all the categorization and so on?
    A: SingleFeed categorizes all products for all the shopping engines for each of our clients. If you’d like to learn more about this process contact us.
    Q: How frequently should we send data feeds to the shopping engines? How often is too often?
    A: We recommend that you send the data daily, or at least every few days regardless if your prices or products have changed. Most of the shopping engines will only accept a data feed once a day, so more than that would be overkill for the majority of merchants.
    Q: How much does SingleFeed cost?
    A: SingleFeed has service plans starting at $99 and up to $600 per month. Visit our website to view our pricing.

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    Posted in Data Feed Optimization, SingleFeed, Webinars | 10 Comments »

    Google Merchant Center Feed Processing Errors   April 22nd, 2010

    If you received an email from Google today stating something along the lines of “No items inserted”, you’re not alone. It appears Google is having some feed processing issues today (4/22/10). The reality isn’t quite as bad as the email makes it sound, though. If you had products that were live and searchable yesterday, they will be live and searchable today, they just won’t include any updates that you may have had in today’s feed. We’ll keep you apprised of any developments as we learn more…

    UPDATE 4/24/10 – Google notified us and indictated that the status of the feeds has been resolved. Looking at a few Google Merchant Center accounts, it appears that feeds are now processing fine.

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    Posted in SingleFeed | No Comments »
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