Explanation, Details, and Steps

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

1. Evaluating the readiness of your web site’s URL structure and database, and making any needed changes therein.
2. Setting up the trusted feed accounts.
3. Programming a system that automatically imports your database to each of the trusted feed partners.
4. Setting up ROI tracking.
5. Updating the trusted feeds to synch with ongoing changes in the protocols of the destination sites.
6. Reporting on results of the campaign.
7. Monthly optimization of your feeds based on the monthly reports.

Trusted feeds are surprisingly effective when done right, especially at the free Google Product Search. This is because once set up, they require less maintenance than PPC, although most do require bid management. 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").

If you sell directly to consumers, Google Product Search is almost always worth the investment. In come cases Google Product Search is worthwhile for B-to-B business as well.

Trusted feeds require good database programming skills combined with expertise in matching popular and relevant searches with the language of such exported data fields as product titles, long and short descriptions, and product reviews. 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. Sometimes, 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 close to the threshold of 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. Some of these channels offer poor tracking because they know that good tracking would lose clients.

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. The major search engines have put many industry portals out of business because the former are much better delivering pertinent information.

One advantage of implementing a trusted feed is that less time is required to prepare your site and database for doing subsequent trusted feeds that exist now or may exist in the future.