Customers can’t buy items on Walmart Marketplace unless they can find them. The online world is a huge haystack and each product ‘needle’ can only be found by someone with a powerful search tool. Walmart has its own search engine for products in its online universe and it’s up to sellers to work within Walmart’s search algorithm to get their products the highest visibility.
Here are the 4 most important ways to boost your Walmart listings.
Create Walmart Product titles that work
The product name is the title of the listing. It’s the first, and sometimes the only, thing a potential customer will read. This is also the first thing the Walmart Search Engine considers when determining what to show in a customer search.
What’s the magic formula for the best titles? Follow Walmart’s title guidelines and make sure the title is unique across platforms.
Walmart’s title guidelines: Brand + Clothing Size Group (if applicable - like Women, Men, Boys, Baby, etc) + Defining Quality + Item Name + Style (if applicable) + Pack Count
Using keywords is important, but don’t go crazy. Use a keyword tool like the one in Sellegr8 to figure out the most important keywords in your product category and pick one for your title. Cramming a bunch of similar words into the title makes it hard for buyers to read and understand.
The title can be up to 75 characters, should be clean, and should describe the product in a simple, informative way. Only the first 50 characters will show up in quick view, so focus on those.
No punctuation or special characters. By ‘no punctuation’ we really mean it. No periods or commas in your Walmart product titles.
If your item has a number of variants - like different sizes, colors, or quantities - don’t put a variant attribute in your title. For example, if you are selling socks in different sizes, you should not mention a specific size in the title.
No meaningless promotional phrases like ‘high quality’ or ‘best selling’.
Again - It’s very important to make sure your title is not the same as the product title on Amazon, Shopify, or any other sales sites.
Using attributes
Walmart’s internal search rankings are set up to favor listings with more details. Using advanced attributes increases search visibility. It’s easier and faster to put in just the minimum required attributes. Many new sellers are anxious to get products listed fast and will fill in only the required fields. Don’t make this mistake.
Correct attributes can also help customers find a product quickly. Many customers come to their search with a firm idea about what they want. Correct attributes in the title, the description and in the optional Discoverability and Additional Category Attributes section can help items be more easily found.
Product Photography is Key
An item’s main photograph needs to have the product isolated on a white background. It’s very important that the main, or hero, photograph shows a clear image of the item. It also needs to be high resolution so the customer can zoom in on details of the product or packaging. Poor photographs, or those that don’t meet Walmart’s image guidelines can cause a listing to be suspended.
Don’t stop at the main photo, though. Customers are trying to make a buying decision and the more images they are able to examine, the more comfortable they feel about their choice. Adding background or lifestyle images can greatly enhance the listing. These can help the buyer visualize how the product would look in their own situation.
Images can also be very important in giving the buyer an idea of the product’s size, dimensions and feel. Use a text overlay to tell the story of a product - many buyers get all their information from images, rather than the written product description.
All of your product photos impact your SEO, so make sure you focus on presenting images that will help customers make the best buying decision - size, how to use, core features.
Walmart’s Free Promotional Badges
Promotional Badges on Walmart Listings can be eye-catching and make them stand out from any other for similar products. The main promotional banners you can make use of are:
Reduced Price. Lower an item price by at least 5% to have products display a Reduced Price Badge.
Clearance. Used for stock reduction, Clearance badge on a listing can also draw attention to a lower prices badge
2-Day Delivery. Customers can filter for fast and free shipping in their search results.
By far the most important of the badges for search optimization is the 2-day delivery. This one lets customers know the seller offers fast and free delivery without a minimum purchase. Many customers use the shipping terms as their first level filter when they are shopping online. According to Walmart analytics, items with the 2-Day Delivery badge have up to 75% more impressions than items without. Fast shipping will also allow listings to compete on service instead of price and may help win the buy box for some products.
Other Great Ways to Boost Walmart Listing
Shelf Category
Walmart Marketplace has a huge number of product categories. Making sure products are on the correct ‘shelf’ can make a huge impact on the internal search engine optimization. Check out Walmart’s Categorization Guide or Shelf Mapping Guidelines for help. Avoid using ‘Other’ as a category - the product will be found far less often.
Variants
If your product has variations - different colors, sizes, or multi-packs - make sure these are variants on the original listing. Making multiple listings for one product makes it harder for buyers to navigate their choices.
Holiday Related Keywords in Title & Descriptions
If a product is giftable, make sure to tell customers! Though Christmas is the biggest gift-giving occasion, there are plenty of opportunities for buyers to be reminded that an occasion is coming up. Valentine's Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day are good occasions for gift-giving – but don’t forget how many people want to buy holiday decorations. July 4, Thanksgiving and many other occasions can boost sales on products that are positioned properly.
Paid Ads
Paid Ads can be a great way to capture search traffic to a specific listing, but understand what they do for products. If an item is already at the top of the Walmart listings, it may not be worth paying for traffic. The search engine will bring up the paid ad, rather than the earned listing – not both. Using Sellegr8 can help you track your keyword position before you run a sponsored ad campaign. The keywords that already have search page 1 ranking do not need an ad campaign. You can focus your resources on running campaigns on other, lower ranked, keywords.
Help Walmart Advertise Products on Google
Walmart pays for products to appear in Google Search, but only items that meet their guidelines on:
Listing quality
Competitive Prices
Free 2-Day Shipping
Take the time to make sure your listing meets all of Walmart’s requirements so they can appear on the Google search paid for by Walmart.
Walmart Marketplace is an extremely important new platform for E-commerce sellers because It is becoming increasingly popular with online shoppers. You can greatly expand your E-commerce business by following the suggestions to get your Walmart products in front of more and more buyers. Establishing good SEO practices will grow your Walmart business faster than nearly anything else
Sellegr8.com suite of tools for Walmart sellers can be a huge help in growing and scaling powerful, profitable businesses. Monitor your listings, track your keywords and your competitors listings. View all your SEO information on Sellegr8 in an easy-to-read rank tracking dashboard to put your efforts towards all of what works and none of what doesn’t, and start seeing your rankings climb to the top of page one.
Check out Sellegr8.com today and get started with your FREE 14-day trial.
About The Author
Julie Bjugan is a long-time eCommerce seller and business coach. She writes about entrepreneurship, business finance and eCommerce marketing for some of the largest eCommerce merchants in the US.