What is Data Feed?
What is Data Feed?
The more product data you can provide Google with, the better Google can index your products against a customer’s search query.
The data feed that you use will play a key role in the success or failure of the Price Per Click campaign.
Define Data feed
A data feed is the best way to structure the content and keep it up-to-date. There are two different types of data feeds available. These include product feed and the news feed.
The focus of the article is mainly on the product data feed. The product feed is a powerful way to load thousands of products to the website quickly. If you are publishing the data of the merchant, you will receive the data from the merchant to showcase it on your website.
Be it you are manufacturer, supplier or merchant; you can make the data feed available to the publisher to grab the attention of customers to buy your products. The publishers who are publishing the product data feed include Amazon, Google Shopping, and many more.
Structured data
The main element of the data feed is to structure the information. It might be confusing for you, but when you put the data in a structured form, it will let the algorithms and programs to learn the data easily and showcase it to the customers who are looking for it.
Every item in the feed will have a set of attributes. The attribute will let you define how the product is and make it stand out unique from other products that are available in the feed. The attributes will have standard values, i.e., whether they are available in stock or not. There are a few open values linked to the attributes. These include the title of the product and its description.
The product listing that is in the data product will have links to the images. Many shopping sites and other platforms will make use of this information to showcase the product details.
Data feed distribution
The data feeds are dispensed to various channels with the help of FTP. Multiple channels that can use data feeds include:
- Price comparison websites
- Marketplaces
- Affiliate networks
- Social networks
Every channel has its requirements. These are the requirements that allow every channel to identify the products easily. It helps the channels to give the best experience to the users.
Feed specifications will also give detailed information to the users. It allows the channels to showcase the products that have enough stock rather than showing up the products that are out of stock.
The feed specifications keep on changing. There is a wide range of formats in which the feeds are accepted. These include – text, XML, and CSV.
It is easy to produce the text files, as it does not need any technical skillset. However, not all fields support text files. The best example of it is Google shopping.
Another major factor you must consider is how frequently you must update the product data feed. It depends totally on how frequently you are changing the information about the product. The frequency at which you can update the feed can be set. You must make sure that the feed is accurate and fresh always. The feed can be updated once a week or multiple times a day.
Significance of data feeds
The critical part of data feed is that it helps the customers to find the products that they are looking for on Google and other sites with ease. You need to upload an accurate data feed that sticks to the specifications set by the channel.
If you are not uploading the right information in the product feed, it becomes channelling for the shopping sites and search engines to properly link the product to the search terms of the users.
Few of the data feed tips you can embrace include:
- Keep on updating the feed regularly
- Fill every field in the product feed including the optional ones
- Compose a crisp, catchy and unique content in the descriptive fields
- Stick to the specifications of the channel and go through the guidelines thoroughly
When you manage the data feed effectively, it helps your products to be visible to customers who are looking for it. It helps you boost the traffic and sales of the business.
