Awantego

Janina Winkler

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Every SERP Feature You Should Know About

SERPs, or search engine results pages, started very basic, just listing the possible websites someone would be interested in based on their search phrases. Now, Google has implemented several SERP features that help users find the information they need much faster. Website owners focusing on the SEO of their website can use the SERP features to get more information out to potential visitors and to help promote their website. Right now, there are 16 different SERP features, many of which can be implemented on just about any website.

Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are designed to give specific answers to questions users might have. These always appear at the top of the search results but below the AdWords. To use this feature, websites need to be ranked within the top 5 positions. It also may be a good idea to use Schema Organization Markup and to create a FAQs page that answers specific questions visitors might have when they visit the website. This feature isn’t hard to rank for, but it’s not one of the easiest either. It is perfect for just about any website.

Local Packs

When a search includes a location or a user is looking for something near them, local packs show up. This is seen as a map with pins to businesses that might be of interest, followed by a list of those businesses. This only has a brief amount of information about the business, like their name, but users can click to learn more. This is often used by mobile users.

Businesses that want to take advantage of this feature should have a website that’s optimized for local SEO and mobile use and has Schema markup for the business name, location, and phone number. The website owner should also use Google My Business. Local Packs are perfect for businesses with a local storefront.

Local Teaser Packs

Local teaser packs are very close to the local packs, but there is one main difference. With a local teaser pack, there are only three businesses listed and viewable on the initial map. The list of businesses is more detailed and often includes information like hours open or pricing. This one has a medium difficulty, but those who want to take advantage of it should follow the guidelines for local packs as well as pay special attention to the schema markup. The local teaser packs are perfect for businesses with a local storefront, similar to the local packs.

Reviews

Reviews can show up for just about any keyword search, so long as the website has reviewable content on it. Rating stars show up in the regular snippets in the results as yellow stars underneath the URL. This can be added by making sure customers are reviewing the business or the website and the products on it. Also, make sure the website has the right markup to allow the search engine to see the reviews. This is easy to implement by following the directions offered by Google. Any type of business can use the review stars to boost their links in relevant searches.

Sitelinks

Sitelinks is another feature that adds to the original listing. With sitelinks, there are added links to the site, such as to specific categories on the website. They are designed to make it easier for visitors to find specific information on the website and it’s usually not difficult to add these to the listing. To get this feature, the website needs to have a good structure with plenty of internal linking, a website map submitted to Search Console, and the website schema markup. It’s also important for the website to have plenty of traffic already.

Videos

These are small snippets of videos that Google believes would help the user find what they’re searching for. They typically link to a video hosting platform but can link to embedded videos as well. Most of these include a thumbnail, title, link, and a description.

A featured video is one that has a bigger thumbnail and may provide added information Google thinks would be helpful for the user. This feature can be used by following standard SEO guidelines for videos, using video schema markup, and providing details for the video’s descriptions. Any website can take advantage of this, though the difficulty is medium, so long as they have videos that are related to the keywords their website is ranked for.

Images

Similar to the videos, Google also displays images on the SERPs. This doesn’t appear for every search, but it does appear for most of them. For this feature, Google displays a row of images it thinks are related to the search. Users who click the results will be taken to the “images” tab on Google where they can see more related images. This one has a medium difficulty but does not result in a lot of added traffic. To use this feature, have descriptive filenames for images, make sure the proper alt attributes are in place, and use title tags. Any website can use this feature, though it may be more useful for websites that have more unique images.

Twitter Packs

Google has partnered with Twitter, allowing them to start showing tweets in the SERPs. When Google believes a tweet might be relevant for a user, they display them in a special block along with a link to the creator’s Twitter profile and some of their tweets that were published recently.

It is very difficult to appear in the Twitter box and right now there’s not really any information on how to start using this feature. Most do feature Twitter accounts with a high number of tweets and followers, but there are exceptions to this. The Twitter packs feature is mainly useful for websites about people, organization, or events.

Knowledge Panels

The knowledge panels are similar to the featured snippets, but they are not created by using the information from various website. Instead, this panel typically includes information from Google’s own database called the Knowledge Graph. This panel is located on the top right of the results but underneath the AdWords. This feature has a medium difficulty to use as Google doesn’t take the information for these boxes from websites in most cases. To try to have an answer in the knowledge panel along with a link, website owners can submit their business information to Wikipedia and make sure social media accounts are verified. This is mainly used for larger businesses or businesses focused on a niche topic.

Instant Answer (Answer Box)

Similar to the knowledge panel, the answer box is comprised of information from Google’s Knowledge Graph or from other websites. It is a feature that shows a brief and definitive answer to a question. The answer box can have answers for questions relating to just about any topic, from events, facts, sports, transportation, the weather, and more. It is not easy for businesses to be able to take advantage of this feature, even if they are featured in a knowledge panel. To qualify, the website would need to be very data-oriented, verified by top informational websites, and have a high enough search volume.

People Also Ask (Related Questions)

The related questions section is usually found at the top of the SERPs, though it can be anywhere on the page. It’s a drop-down list that shows four initial questions.

Clicking on the question allows users to see a short answer, similar to a featured snippet, along with more questions at the bottom of the list. Users who click on the answer to a question are taken to the relevant website. Using this feature is the same as for featured snippets. Being in the top 10 results is key here as is proper SEO. The difficulty for this is medium, though it depends on the business. This feature could be useful for a wide range of websites, especially those that feature an FAQ or similar page.

Google Ads

The first SERP feature added to Google was Ads. Though this is a little different in that it is paid for, it allows websites to be listed in a featured section at the top of the SERP. Each one has an “Ad” sign and can be a way to get added visibility for a website. However, these ads can have a lowered click-through rate because they are labeled as ads, which can discourage some customers. To get started with this feature, website owners need to follow the steps on the Ads Express page. The difficulty of appearing here is generally low, but it is important to know that ads for keywords users type in more often are going to end up being more expensive. This feature is useful for just about any website, though small businesses might not want to pay for the advertising until they have a larger marketing budget.

Shopping Ads (Product Listing Ads)

wordpress shopProduct listings appear at the top of the SERPs and show a photo of a product, the product name, the price, and a link to the website selling the product. They appear similar to the images at the top, with a few different shopping ads in a row, but this is an advertisement, so it is paid for like Ads. To be displayed here, businesses need to register with the Google Merchant Center and then add their products. It’s very easy to be displayed here as long as the bid is high enough. Any business with products to sell can take advantage of the shopping ads.

In-depth Articles

One that’s useful for publishing houses is the in-depth articles. These are located at the bottom of the SERP and provide users with longer content they can read about what they’re searching for. To appear here, it’s necessary to have the right schema markup and have the headlines, images, descriptions, and article optimized properly. Websites cannot have pages that require registrations to read as Google cannot see this content. It is easy to have an article show up here; however, this is mainly for the top publishing companies and is not typically useful for other types of websites.

Top Stories

The top stories feature includes news articles that users might be interested in. Most of these are going to be in AMP format. Articles should include timestamps as well as the name of the publisher. Many different types of new can appear here, though the focus is on current events. To take advantage of this feature, articles should have a permanent URL, links, HTML formatting, and meta tags. It should not have multimedia content. The level of difficulty for this feature is generally medium as it can be difficult to post new content fast enough and there is a high amount of competition for this feature. Just about any website can take advantage of the top stories feature, provided they have articles about current events.

Search Boxes

Search boxes appear under the link for listings, similar to the review stars. These boxes allow users to search content on the website so they can get more information or find exactly what they need on the website faster. To use this feature, the website needs to have a search engine already on it. The search action schema markup should then be used, so Google knows the search engine is on the website. This is not typically difficult to implement and can be beneficial for a variety of websites, though it’s generally used by larger websites.

Google search results have changed quite a bit over the years, with new features being added regularly. Website owners can take advantage of many of these features to boost their click-through rating and to gain more visibility for their website. Start with the easier SERP features to get started, then move onto the more difficult ones if they’re applicable for the website and are going to provide more visibility or a higher click-through rate.

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How to use Google’s Answer Box for boosting Website Traffic

Even if they may not be aware of it, most of today’s browsers have already seen Google’s Answer Box. This feature allows users to search for a question and have it answered right on the search page instead of having to navigate through to an actual website. Although it is unarguably a benefit for browsers, Google Answer Box can be either a blessing or a curse for website owners.

For those who manage to rank high enough to have information from their sites placed in the Answer Box, this search feature is fantastic. Similarly, those who manage to provide more thorough answers to users’ questions find that they get more click-throughs as a result of this feature. There’s more to optimizing webpages for the Answer Box than site owners might think, though.

Some of the techniques used to improve a site’s Answer Box performance involve focusing on getting a specific page listed as an answer. Others rely on providing more comprehensive answers to users’ questions to ensure that the page will be listed directly below the Answer Box. This article will take a look at a few ways that site owners can get started improving their pages’ User Question SEO.

Pick Your Battles Wisely

There are some Answer Boxes that are literally impossible to rank for. If, for example, a user searches for “current time” Google will simply provide that user with the answer directly without quoting any sources. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost, though.

Site owners have a few options as far as how they want to proceed. They can either decide not to bother optimizing a page for that particular search phrase, they can attempt to offer a more comprehensive answer to the question that will rank lower on the page, or they can optimize a page for that search term so that it will show up directly beneath the Answer Box.

Deciding which of these approaches to take is largely a matter of understanding industry trends and choosing battles wisely to make the most of the site’s SEO budget. Those who want to compete for seemingly no-win Answer Box statuses like the one above can try adding a local touch. A company could, for instance, have its page listed beneath the official Answer Box if that page was optimized for the phrase “current time in New York City.”

Providing Company Information

A company’s “About Us” page should always be optimized for Google Answer Box. This will ensure that any browser who is searching for information about a company using its actual name will be directed to its official site, which gives that company control over browsers’ first impressions. This is a battle that should always be fought tooth and nail.

It may seem like incorporating the search term into the page would be the best way to ensure that a page ranks high in Answer Box, but the reality is more complicated. Site owners should start by optimizing their pages’ SEO titles and meta descriptions. These should contain relevant, detailed information in addition to the target user query.

Backlinks are also key when it comes to improving a page’s Answer Box performance. Build both internal and external links using the target query’s call to action as anchor text. Optimizing a company’s “About Us” page is usually an easy win since few outside parties are likely to be investing the time and money required to rank for someone else’s company name in Answer Box.

When to Shoot for Second Best

If the Answer Box has already provided a sufficiently in-depth answer to a user’s question, chances are he or she isn’t going to click through to the site no matter what page is listed. The best thing to do when this is the case is to aim for second best and optimize a page of the website so that it will be listed directly beneath the Answer Box.

Make a point of offering extra value. A browser who is searching for show times for a movie that’s currently in theaters, for example, is unlikely to click through to a movie theater’s website if its listings are already provided in the Answer Box. He or she might be interested in movie posters, film paraphernalia, or a related product, though.

The process of optimizing a page to catch the prime listing directly beneath the Answer Box is similar to the one described above. However, it’s also important to ensure that whatever information is being pulled up in response to the query offers added value over what is displayed in the Answer Box.

This added value doesn’t have to be in the form of related products or services. It could be a more in-depth answer to the user’s question or a forum for discussing similar issues. Just make sure that the page’s meta description indicates that the browser will be able to find more in-depth information on the site than he or she can find in the short Answer Box response.

Balance SEO With User Friendliness

A balance must be achieved between user accessibility and Answer Box friendliness. There’s no point in tricking a search engine into thinking that useful content is being provided if actual users won’t get anything out of it. Information that is spot-on accurate and extremely helpful will go unappreciated if the page that contains it doesn’t rank high enough to be seen.

Keep both of these factors in mind when optimizing a page for Answer Box. Make sure the information is accessible to browsers in addition to being search engine friendly.

The Bottom Line

Building links, using the right anchor text, optimizing SEO titles and meta descriptions, and providing in-depth information can all help a page’s chances of appearing in the Google Answer Box. Even when it just isn’t possible to rank first, a close second is often just as good. This is especially true when Google does not provide a source for its information.

A page that has already been optimized for high search engine rankings will be well on its way to appearing in the Answer Box. Taking the additional steps described above can also help, though.  In many cases, it can make all the difference.

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The Fastest WordPress Themes and Why You Want One

While having a website that looks great and functions well is important, the speed of the website can be crucial. The speed of a website refers to how quickly the website can load. The difference between a fast website and a slow website can be a fraction of a second or a few seconds. Increasing the website’s speed should be a factor when you’re deciding on a theme to use.

Why Does Site Speed Matter?

Website speed matters for a couple of different reasons. It matters to the search engines, and a slower speed might not rank as highly as a faster speed, and to potential customers that are visiting the website. Both of these are important to consider when looking into the importance of making the website load much faster.

Search engines use website crawlers to check out all available websites and use an algorithm to determine how highly each website will rank. The website crawlers have a lot of websites to view, so they can’t spend a lot of time on each website. When a website loads slower, the website crawler doesn’t see as much of the website before moving on, which means some or a lot of the optimization for the website doesn’t really matter.

Even once the website is ranked and as it ranks higher, a website that loads slowly can have an impact on whether visitors stay on the website or go somewhere else. Most visitors are not going to want to wait very long for a website to load. If they can get the information faster somewhere else, they’re more likely to go somewhere else to find what they need.

How to Check a Site’s Loading Speed

Checking your website’s loading speed is crucial. You’ll want to know what it is now and check to make sure changing themes or trying other techniques to speed up the loading time are actually working to make your website load faster. Right now, there are many different tools available to help you determine the speed of your website. Google offers one tool, called PageSpeed Insights, that can measure your website’s performance on mobile devices and desktops. Use this to check the current speed of your website as well as to check the speed of your website once you try a new theme.

Top Themes for Fast Speeds

If your website isn’t loading as fast as you might prefer, consider looking for a new theme to use. Many themes today are designed to load as fast as possible. Even though you’ll customize the theme to fit your website, it’s still going to load faster, which can help you optimize your website to rank higher and ensure customers don’t click to check out another website because yours is taking too long to load. Some of the themes you may want to look into include Jevelin, CheerUp, SEO WP, H-Code and Paperio.

Jevelin

Jevelin was designed as a modern and easy-to-use theme that enables you to create the website you want. It offers many different possibilities and can be completely customized to match your branding specifications. It was designed as a way to easily customize a theme that looks professionally done and offers everything you need to create the website you want. This theme does not require any coding knowledge and can be used for any industry or for any subject. Each page can also be customized and there are customizations available for everything down to the icons on the website.

CheerUp

CheerUp is a theme designed to work well for magazines but can be used for just about any type of website. It’s possible to create a magazine in minutes with this theme and website owners can customize the website to meet their needs. There are hundreds of admin options to make customizing the website possible and to ensure you can create the perfect website. It also includes a WooCommerce plugin so you can create an online shop on the website. CheerUp includes social media links to make it easier for your visitors to share your content.

SEO WP

This theme was designed for digital marketing agencies and similar businesses. The theme is fully responsive and includes scalable vector graphics file format support. SEO WP also offers many different customization options and enables you to instantly view any changes you make. It includes a number of premium WordPress theme plugins you can also use when building or managing your website. This WordPress theme is known for being one of the fastest themes as it’s fully optimized with speed in mind and has high scores on multiple speed tests.

H-Code

This theme includes a fully-functional website building toolkit along with plugins, templates, and more. It includes 16 different layouts, each fully customizable, and enables slideshows for the website. It’s designed to look professional but be as flexible as possible so you can build the website you want. H-Code was designed to be as light as possible, which means it loads as fast as possible. It’s also designed to be responsive, so it’s possible to create a website that’s easily and quickly viewable on just about any device.

Paperio

Designed to be used by just about anyone, Paperio is perfect for bloggers, business owners, and more. The theme was designed to make creating a shop online as easy as possible and it includes SEO enhancements to help increase website traffic quickly. It’s also optimized to load as fast as possible in any situation so your visitors never have to wait to view your website. One of the ways it does this is through smart image loading, which enables content to load faster without a loss in quality.

While you’re looking for a theme to use for your website, keep the load speed in mind. This can make a difference in how high your website ranks and how long visitors stay on your website. Check out the themes here to find a fast-loading WordPress theme you’re going to love using.

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Online Marketing BuzzWords: Omni-Channel

Imagine having a concise brand that reaches out to your customers no matter where they are and encourages them to learn more about you or to make a purchase. Imagine having the ability to reach out online and through a storefront, the ability to get customers interested in your brand, and the ability to encourage repeat purchases. Omni-Channel retailing enables all of this and can help your brand grow.

What is Omni-Channel?

Omni-channel means using multiple channels to reach out to potential customers and to encourage repeated  purchases. It’s an integrated approach to marketing that reaches everywhere to interact with customers. Branding must be consistent across all channels to present a unified approach and to allow the business to be everywhere their customers might be.

Omni-channel retailing combines social media, e-commerce, storefronts, and anything else the customers might expect to see your business in. It allows you to inspire customers to reach out to you, to purchase products no matter where they are or what they’re doing and enables brand recognition by keeping the branding the same everywhere customers might see you.

Example of an Omni-Channel Approach

Omni-channel retailing is not something that’s done all at once. Instead, it’s done in stages to reach out to the customer consistently and get more interaction with the company. An example of how this might work includes the following steps:

  • The customer makes a purchase online through a major reseller like Amazon. They receive their product with a letter thanking them for their purchase and encouraging them to visit the company’s website.
  • The customer visits the company’s website where they’re able to see all of the products sold by the company, sign up for the company loyalty program for special savings, and be connected to the company’s social media websites.
  • The customer adds the company on social media, receiving special discounts and an invitation to check out direct to store shipping. This makes it easier for them to try out the store shipping on the company’s website.
  • The customer purchases a product and has it shipped to the store, where they’ll pick it up. While there, they receive a coupon for a future purchase and have the chance to see more products in person.
  • The customer uses the coupon and receives a follow-up email. This encourages them to shop online, visit the store in person, or to check out a special event.

The process continues, with the customer receiving more information about the company, more reasons to connect with the company and to continue to purchase products from the company. They’re receiving information both in person and online across multiple channels, boosting brand recognition and supporting loyalty.

 

How Can This be Used in an Online Strategy?

Using omni-channel retailing enables you to reach out to customers online and in person. Though your storefront will be a part of your marketing strategy, a lot of the work will be done online. You’ll need to make sure your branding is consistent throughout all channels. You’ll also want to make sure all channels are connected as well so it’s easier for your customers to move between them and find all of the information they’re looking for.

To work properly, there should be the potential to purchase products through multiple channels, not just connect with your company. For instance, they might be able to purchase your products in your store, on Amazon, and via your website. They may be able to have products shipped to their home or schedule a time to pick up the product in your store if that’s more convenient for them. Connecting everything to encourage them to be loyal to your brand is what makes omni-channel retailing so successful.

Potential Drawbacks

Omni-channel retailing does need to be done carefully to work well. If the branding isn’t consistent, it could be confusing for potential customers and could make brand awareness more difficult. Additionally, if customers have trouble getting from one channel to another or aren’t contacted with more information about how to connect with the company, it could discourage them from future purchases. Consistency is the key with omni-channel retailing and helps ensure it works properly to promote your brand.

Brand recognition and encouraging loyalty are crucial today. Omni-channel retailing is the chance to connect all channels your company uses, online and offline, to promote your brand, bring in new customers, and encourage customers to continue shopping with your company for what they need. Learn more about this type of marketing today to find out if it’s the best option for your company.

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Online Marketing BuzzWords: Micro-Moments

Online marketing buzz words micro moments
When the internet became part of our daily lives and Google became a search market leader, consumers changed the way they made buying decisions. After all, a quick trip into a local mall or shopping center is enough to see how online shopping has affected the retail environment.

More changes are coming, and in this blogpost, you’ll learn how smartphone dependency and consumer intent are once again changing the marketing landscape.

How Consumers’ Journeys Have Changed

Previously, when someone wanted to make a significant purchase, they may have taken several days to research before making a decision. This process, being relatively static, took substantial determination and organization, but today’s consumer journey is different.

It consists of multiple decision-making points, and, for marketers, it’s about being in the right place at the right time, with the right content for the user. These intent-driven, real-time points are a crucial way to increase leads and build sales.

What Is a Micro-Moment?

what are micro momentsA micro-moment is a time in a person’s life where they quickly look something up and make a snap decision based on the information they find. If your company’s site pops up at the right moment and gives a buyer what they want, your brand has performed a successful customer engagement. Maybe they’ll bookmark your page for later, send a link in a text message, or watch a video.

Websites are seeing more mobile sessions, but they’re becoming shorter. As a business owner, it’s your job to anticipate visitors and be there when they need products or information. While it’s easy to stuff a site with keywords to give it the appearance of value, that’s not enough.

To succeed, your site must be valuable and useful at the right moment to meet the customer’s needs. Mobile device users are busy, and they need service right away. When your checkout process is fast and easy, it’s easy to give buyers what they want. Buyers’ methods have changed, and as an online marketer, it’s important to keep pace with those changes.

What You’ll Need to Capitalize on Micro-Moments

Successful marketers cover all their bases. To succeed, you may need:

  • A site with unbiased reviews
  • A popular channel on YouTube
  • Online how-tos
  • Product pages

Obviously, each of your products will need to look at micro-moments and consumer intent differently. You’ll need to anticipate customers’ thought processes; it’s all about thinking ahead. People won’t stick to a single platform when performing due diligence. They may look something up on a phone, move to a tablet, and complete the process on a work computer.

Consider that carefully, and ensure that your site helps them by easing the transition between platforms or staying at the top of the SERPs.

If you want to learn more about Online Marketing Buzz Words, make sure to check out our other articles!

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Online Marketplaces: Giving Retailers Ample Opportunity to Cash in on the Ecommerce Craze

Ecommerce has soared to stardom over the last three decades. Though the first electronic shopping service was officially launched back in 1984, only a handful of people ever saw its advantages. In contrast, the industry has now gone global and brought in more than $2 trillion last year alone.

This massive and ongoing growth has created unprecedented opportunities for retailers the world over. While major brand names are certainly cashing in on the sector, smaller-scale entrepreneurs can easily follow suit. From the single commerce service responsible for kickstarting the online shopping revolution, dozens of marketplaces have emerged; of course, not all of them are right for all retailers.

Benefits of Online Marketplaces

Whether you have little desire or capital for starting your own online store or just want to greatly expand your visibility, online marketplaces are the solution. They offer a number of advantages for budding retail entrepreneurs such as:

 

  • Handling Delivery: For home-based sellers and retailers just starting out, packaging and shipping can be a costly stress factor. Marketplaces cover all the finer points for you, so you can concentrate on furthering your product lines.
  • Broader Reach: Online marketplaces have virtually unlimited customer bases already looking for the types of products you have to offer. Building a clientele of this magnitude is almost impossible for smaller retailers, and those who do manage to obtain significant visibility often take years to reach that point.
  • Fewer Expenses: From shipping costs to marketing, all the necessities of the retail sector tend to add up quickly. If you have yet to establish a sizable client base, chances are your sales can’t live up to those financial expectations. Marketplaces don’t offer their benefits for free, but they’re typically more affordable than the alternatives.

These are only a few of the benefits at your disposal when you sell your wares through an already-established marketplace. Having said that, in order to spin those advantages in your favor, you need to choose one suited to your specific needs. This takes a good bit of research.

Choosing the Best Online Marketplace for Your Products

Finding the right marketplace means taking a few key factors into consideration. First of all, think of the types of products you sell. Secondly, take into account each marketplace’s features, services and prices. Also delve into their potential reach in terms of your target audience. Take a look at some of the ecommerce industry’s biggest names.

Amazon

This may very well have been the first marketplace to cross your mind, and with good reason. Amazon is the largest online marketplace in the United States with more than 197 million national visitors each month. That figure doesn’t account for shoppers in the more than 180 other countries it currently serves.

Amazon could also be considered a catch-all as far as products are concerned, selling everything from cosmetics and apparel to electronics and portable hot tubs. With more than 30 product categories, almost anything you sell would have a place here and a continual influx of potential buyers.

The Prices and Plunders of Prominence

Fees imposed by Amazon depend on the number of products you intend to sell each month and their categories. For 40 or less, you’ll pay $0.99 per item as well as a referral fee falling somewhere between six and 45 percent based on the product category. The expenditures give you access to Fulfillment by Amazon, which covers product storage, customer service and logistics for everything you sell.

If you sell more than 40 items each month through Amazon, you’ll need to pay a flat $39.99 service subscription fee along with the famed shopping portal’s category-based referral fees. Your subscription enrolls you in the Fulfillment by Amazon service and grants you access to buyers throughout North America as well as extra visibility through priority placement on product details pages. At the same time, you’ll have the freedom to extend promotional offers, gift wrapping and customized shipping rates to buyers.

Amazon’s Ups and Downs

Reach, visibility, flexibility, features and relatively low fees are all major selling points for placing your products on Amazon. Customer reviews are also likely to pour in, so valuable word-of-mouth advertising could work in your favor. If you’d prefer to fulfill orders on your own rather than have Amazon do it, you have this option as well.

Still, there’s a significant drawback: competition. Countless other retailers are also vying for customers’ attention on this marketplace. You’ll have to be able to offer competitive pricing and quality if you want to beat opponents at their own game.

eBay

As another major player in the ecommerce realm, eBay has amassed a global following of more than 170 million buyers. Its worldwide reach covers more than 190 markets with local ones in over 30 countries. Like Amazon, eBay is essentially an all-inclusive marketplace where you can sell anything from kitchen accessories and cars to jewelry and vintage toys.

While you can technically make a decent profit off a wide range of products on this global auction platform, some items prove more lucrative than others for retailers who operate on smaller scales. Rare and vintage items fall into this category. Some experts also recommend high-dollar items as order processing fees for smaller ones have a way of overshadowing profit margins.

Though a considerable number of buyers look specifically for branded items, finding unique selling points for unbranded alternatives has also been known to pay off in the long run. Overall, standing out in the crowd is the key to success through eBay.

What You’ll Pay for a Spot on eBay

Sellers are charged 10 percent of each sale regardless of item type or volume with a $750 cap on this basic fee. Without a subscription, you’re allowed to list up to 50 items for free with a $0.30 fee for items over that limit. Store subscription are available in three tiers: Basic, Premium and Anchor. Free listing limits and subscription prices grow higher at each level while inclusion fees drop.

eBay Store Features

Though you don’t necessarily have to subscribe to eBay to be able to sell your goods there, subscriptions come with numerous benefits. Basic store membership alone takes your free listing opportunities from 50 to 250 items per month at a cost of around $240 per year. This can be paid on a monthly basis, but the price is slightly higher when you choose this route.

If you want to target sellers in other countries, subscribing takes the hassles of international shipping and customs forms off your shoulders via eBay’s Global Shipping Program. You’ll also be able to create your own eBay store with numerous customization options. Those looking for the advantages of marketplace visibility as well as the benefits of personal branding would be well served by this option.

Pitfalls of Selling on eBay

Once again, the drawback here would be high levels of competition. More than 25 million active sellers pander their wares on eBay according to the company’s latest reports. These range from small-scale newcomers to top names in the retail sector. Uniqueness, lower prices than the competition and consistent quality will be your tickets to success on this platform.

Etsy

If handicraft is your genre, Etsy is the place to be. More than 33 million buyers shopped through this ecommerce portal last year. While its competition levels appear higher than those of the more widespread marketplaces based on some reports, many of its listed sellers only offer items on an extremely small scale.

Listing Prices

Etsy imposes a $0.20 listing fee per item and a transaction fee of 3.75 percent of the sale price. A three percent payment processing fee plus $0.25 for each item sold is also involved. These prices apply to all sellers whether listing a single item or hundreds of them each month. Shipping falls on your shoulders.

Benefits and Disadvantages

Since Etsy caters to buyers looking for handmade items, you’ll get a nice flow of targeted prospects. Your products are likely to fall into a class all their own, too. While shipping costs come out of your pocket, the company does offer a wide range of resources for its sellers, such as free printable shipping labels, discounted shipping, complimentary merchant apps and promotional tools to name a few.

On the downside, many Etsy shop owners are facing tough competition. It seems some retailers pass off mass-produced items as handmade for much cheaper rates than true crafters are able to offer. While the company does offer a certain level of marketing for its sellers, achieving further visibility is largely left up to individual merchants.

Bonanza

With online shopping making an endless array of items more accessible to almost everyone, the quest for truly uncommon finds has gained steam. Bonanza is an online marketplaces catering to this uptick. Should your products fall into the categories of fashion, home décor or artistic pieces, this may be the marketplace to help you shine. Bonanza’s following consists of more than two million visitors each month, and that number continues to grow. Sellers aren’t subjected to listing fees for their items, but a 3.5 percent closing fee for sales of $500 or less is in place. Those exceeding this amount are charged $17.50 per sale and 1.5 percent of the total amount over $500.

Pros and Cons

Honing in on off-the-beaten-path products takes some of the competition out of the equation when you sell through Bonanza. Several tools are available for the company’s sellers to help with everything from online shop customization to visibility.

Though the company has a sizable clientele, it doesn’t yet boast the same reach as eBay or Amazon. Since its merchant list doesn’t measure up to that of more extensive sites either, smaller size may not be a bad thing. Its distinctive category lineup may restrict your product offerings to a certain extent.

 

Several other online marketplaces are out there, waiting to help you sell products and find your own level of fame. Wish and Newegg focus primarily on tech gadgets and accessories whereas Wayfair centers on home furnishings.

 

Bottom Line

Consider the types of products you’ll be offering when choosing an online marketplace; then, look into each one’s traffic, competition levels and available features. Do the math to be sure you can sell your products at a low enough price to appeal to customers while still covering the costs involved. Once you do a deep dive into the available options, you’re sure to find one suited to your needs.