Explanation, Details, and Steps

Trusted feeds are surprisingly effective when done right, especially at the free Google Base. Partly, this is because once they are set up, they require less maintenance than PPC. Moreover, the preparation of your database and URL structure almost always benefits SEO, and allows you easily to partake in other paid placement programs that may become worthwhile in the future (sometimes referred to as "ancillary and unexpected future returns on IT investment").

Trusted feed programs are becoming the best method by which prospects are connected through popular search sites directly to product databases that are inaccessible to search engine spiders. That said, a good search engine marketing firm should know how to open your product database directly to the free search engine spiders, in particular those of Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.com.

If you sell directly to consumers, Froogle.com is almost always worth the investment. In certain cases Froogle is worthwhile for B-to-B business as well. DISC is proficient in preparing and optimizing all trusted feeds, including Froogle.

Trusted feeds require excellent database programming skills combined with expertise in matching popular and relevant searches with the language of such exported data fields as product titles and descriptions. The linguistic dimensions of this work are similar to those required in search engine optimization (SEO). As with SEO, getting your products into the search engine or portal is one thing; achieving high ranking for relevant searches is quite another matter – and this is what determines the success of trusted feeds. Often, a site's URL structure must be re-programmed to produce consistent links between the trusted feed and product pages. DISC is proficient with this re-programming, and when we do it, we can also optimize your site's URL structure and wording, so that your site achieves optimum openness to and rank within all of the free sections of the top search engines. (Please see our page on SEO Recoding for more about URL optimization).

Experienced assessment of the trusted feeds' reports is crucial in the early stages, in order to decide whether to continue, expand, or terminate the partnership. Trusted feeds are a major revenue stream for search engines, shopping sites, and industry portals, and prices are usually set right at or above the point that will earn positive ROI for merchants with average competence -- which leaves plenty of room for superior ROI at the hands of a skilled firm like DISC.

Some second-tier trusted feed channels are not worth the money and time required to set up, track, and continue paying click charges. In some cases, the labor time required properly to evaluate these channels exceeds the total gross profit they will generate in one year. Some of these channels offer poor tracking because they know that good tracking would demonstrate that they are not worth the cost in click charges alone, never mind labor costs. You can almost always get better ROI by doing more SEO, honing your PPC, or implementing trusted feeds, in that order.

The major search engines have put many industry portals out of business because the former are much better at the science of delivering pertinent information. On the other hand, there are some successful and worthwhile second-tier paid placement programs, directories, and industry portals. Unlike SEO and PPC, where the labor covers all of the top search sites, paid placement in second-tier channels requires a case-by-case evaluation.

One advantage of implementing a trusted feed is that less time is require to prepare your site and database for doing subsequent trusted feeds that exist now or may exist in the future (i.e., "economies of scale" and "unanticipated, ancillary benefits of IT investments").

DISC's steps in your successful trusted feed campaign entail:

1. Evaluating the readiness of your web site and database.
2. Making any needed changes therein.
3. Setting up the trusted feed accounts.
4. Building a web page in which a push of a button exports from your database a flat text file ready for import into each of the trusted feed partners, or coding an automatic XML feed.
5. Setting up ROI tracking.
6. Updating the trusted feed in synch with your product updates.
7. Reporting on results of the campaign.
8. Optional, ongoing optimization of your feeds based on monthly reports.

DISC can help you choose trusted feed channels that will earn positive ROI within six months to a year.