Handling Search Problems on Listing Sites

Creating a custom listing site is a highly effective method for connecting with the public and facilitating e-Commerce. The structure of listings venues doesn't always make things simple for companies, however. Marketers and HR professionals who rely on listings portals run into numerous problems when it comes to visibility. These issues can make it difficult to take advantage of search functionality and normal linking strategies. Here are a few straightforward solutions that might make your marketing goals easier to achieve.

The Problems of Listing Sites

According to Dominic Woodman, an SEO analyst at moz.com, the nuances of listing sites can make all the difference in how things work behind the scenes. Amazon, Craigslist, Spare-room and Monster are varied in purpose, but they all help their owners provide consumers with access to massive inventories and catalogs. As Woodman notes, however, these listing databases use a number of different methods to create their category and landing pages, so SEO best practices must change to match.

Search functionality is essential to a functional listing portal. By letting users hunt for specific items via text searches, category classifications or predetermined filters, companies make it easier for consumers to sort through large inventories and find what they need. Bing and Google, on the other hand, may not be able to sort these kinds of listings as readily.

Catering to People and Search Engines

Listing search results are often complex, so they may confound marketing efforts. For instance, search engine robots can get lost or confused when multiple listings on the same page are competing for the same phrases. This phenomenon, known as keyword cannibalization, is to be avoided at all costs, meaning that a clear keyword strategy is critical to delivering more effective listings. Unique listing content plays a big role in improving page rankings, and it also makes it easier for visitors to find specific items.

Search engines also have a problem with faceted URLs and landing pages. When Google crawls through your site and identifies a custom search result page with only a few items, like "Pink 1994 Dodge Charger", for example, it may rank the page lower because it seems to be lacking content. Similarly, Google's robot may decide to search for the same facet keywords in some other order, like "Dodge Charger Pink 1994", which could make the engine assume you've provided duplicate content. Both situations are bad news for ranking algorithms that favor unique, organic results.

Adding basic menus can resolve many of these issues. In addition to helping users make their way through hundreds or thousands of items, they provide engine crawlers with convenient links that indicate which categories are the most relevant.

Sustainable Search SEO

Simple navigation tools also solve some problems associated with listings that eventually expire. Sales and e-Commerce pages may miss the chance to build link equity because their content listings are so short-lived. Links that use JavaScript, crawling restrictions, no-follow attributes and other common search site tools generally fail to pass value to other pages, so they're not optimal for increasing page ranking. Menus and other elements that contain hard links are easier for search engines to follow, and they direct traffic equally well.

In the end, the way your site builds landing pages plays a huge role in how you create link value and practice SEO. Learn to craft a strategy that takes the nuances of your search processes into account, and if all else fails, test various search methods to find a healthy balance between search engine marketing and organic content delivery.

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