Investing in e-commerce-friendly product data is crucial for promotional product suppliers. Lengthy and subpar product descriptions can hinder product visibility, leading to lost sales opportunities. Optimizing product listings is essential to enhance visibility and drive sales. Consider how distributors and their customers search for products online and focus on improving top-selling or underperforming products first. 

Here are the top tips to strengthen your product data on DC:

Product Improvements

To increase product visibility on DC, utilize the Product Improvements page to identify and enhance key components of your products. This tool pre-filters your products, highlighting those that require attention. Ensure each product includes essential elements like high-quality images, informative bullet points, relevant keywords, and other vital details. By focusing on these components, you can optimize your products for display and discoverability within DistributorCentral's product database, ultimately improving visibility and attracting more potential customers.

Keywords

Add up to 5 keywords or key phrases that the search algorithm will weigh as heavily as a product name. Use keywords to keep your product name and description fields short and relevant.

Having a problem coming up with words or phrases that distributors and end-users would use to find your products? Use the Suggested Keyword tool in your product set-up for recommendations based on users’s searches.

Bullet Points

You should use your five bullet points to make your product descriptions shorter, easier to read, and more relevant.

High-level product information, including bullet points, is pulled into the Quick View. Product descriptions are not.  Give your products a competitive advantage when distributors and end-users compare products by providing bullet points for all your products.

Product Descriptions

Consider how distributors and end-users might search for your products and include those terms in your product descriptions. Use quality, descriptive, concise content that helps your customers make purchasing decisions. Avoid using long-winded copy and keyword stuffing.

Product Names

Include what the item is in your product name. Calling your product “Big Kansas” doesn’t let the search engine know what it is. Is it a bag, a pen, or a shirt? Above all, keep your product names short and relevant. You can use bullet points and keyword fields for synonyms.

Attributes

Attributes are all the filters that help users quickly narrow their search results. These include size, material, shape, decoration, material, and measurements.  Leaving these fields blank means your products will not be found when the filters are used. Don’t be left out when customers start narrowing down their searches!

Freight Data

Include how you package and ship your orders. This information is used to calculate shipping on distributors’ websites.  Leaving it blank deters an end-user from completing their order online. Reduce customer service calls for both you and your distributor. Refer to these guides to add freight data to products: 

How to Update Shipment Carriers & Methods, Shipping Containers, and Packaging Lines

Recommending Products

Add Recommended Products to all of your products. There is no additional charge! This area can be used to up-sell, showcase packaging and add-ons, or highlight a higher-margin alternative.

Videos

Videos that you have hosted on Vimeo or YouTube can now be pulled right into the product detail page of your products. When adding a video, flag it as distributor-facing or end-user-facing. Distributor-facing videos will be displayed within the DistributorCentral search platform. End-user-friendly videos will be displayed on our 8,500 distributor websites.

Don’t Use Your Catalog Data

Your catalog is written with the expectation that the product image will be seen first. The product names and descriptions support that image. However, a searchable database and websites are the opposite. Your product names and descriptions need to stand on their own. They need to describe your product effectively without your images’ help.

Catalog marketing copy is often too flowery, lengthy, or incomplete. Use it as a start, but don’t rely solely on it. That’s like running a three-legged race when everyone else is running a marathon.

Remember Your Audience

Your DistributorCentral product data appears on your website, in our platform’s search for distributors, and on 8,500+ distributor websites. Your product data needs to include both industry and laymen terms. Think about how each audience will search for your products.