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Why Some SKUs Can’t Win Paid Search on Walmart

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Walmart eCommerce and Paid Search

Walmart has become a powerhouse of online retail, slowly growing a presence in the world of eCommerce to match its status as the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer. And with Walmart.com and Walmart Online Pickup & Delivery seeing increased sales and shoppers in 2020, many sellers are rushing in to take advantage of this opportunity.

However, sellers coming from other retailers like Amazon can have some trouble adapting to the world of Walmart eCommerce. A simple relaunch of your strategy probably won’t net you the results you’re looking for on Walmart.com. One element of Walmart eCommerce that takes some getting used to is managing paid search campaigns through Walmart Media Group.

Sponsored Products and Relevancy

Some advertisers have been having trouble determining why their items aren’t eligible to appear in top search positions on Walmart. The answer usually comes down to the retailer’s requirements for which items can and can’t show up in paid positions for certain keywords or queries. Walmart uses an internal metric called a Relevancy Score to determine if the item page is able to win a top position in search results through paid search.  

Walmart’s intention with these requirements is to ensure the quality of the product pages shoppers see in their search results. For the same reason that organic search prioritizes high-quality content on product pages, Walmart uses relevancy scores to give shoppers a positive experience when they click on an item in the results. By having a high relevancy score, your item shows Walmart that it meets the retailer’s standards for content.

The most reliable way to improve your page’s relevancy score is to improve its organic rank for that keyword. You can do this by optimizing the item-level content on your page. Having a good title and number of images, a product description, and accurate specifications is essential for appearing in paid and organic search on Walmart.com. Other factors that affect organic search on Walmart like reviews, price, and popularity can help improve your organic rank and relevancy score, too.

 

Paid Search, Organic Search, and Wasted Ad Spend

When the product page you’re promoting with paid search is optimized with good content, it’s important you also keep up with your page’s organic ranking. If your page ranks higher in organic search than you can place it with paid search, any money you spend on that page does you no good. Knowing which products are both eligible for paid search and able to benefit from it is an essential skill for succeeding with paid search on Walmart eCommerce.

Before you can leverage a platform like Pacvue for optimizing your ad campaigns on Walmart, you’ll need to get your pages eligible for paid search by improving their relevancy scores for the targeted keywords. Don’t know where to start? Get an Elite Subscription to SKU Ninja, an all-in-one software platform that gives you the tools and insights you need to optimize your Walmart product pages. Pacvue users can even access their ad management software directly through SKU Ninja!  

Another way to succeed in paid search on Walmart is to change the keywords you’re targeting. It’s possible for your item to be eligible for paid search on keywords you’re not even aware of yet. SKU Ninja & Pacvue’s tools for Walmart Media Group ad campaigns can suggest the best keywords to target with your product pages based on relevancy, price, and competition.

For sellers that need their Walmart pages optimized for search, but don’t have the time to learn the process themselves, SKU Ninja + WhyteSpyder has an offering called Search Sensei. This strategy solution for Walmart items gives you deep, actionable insights for organic and paid search based on research by the Search Sensei team. By following Search Sensei’s guidance, you’ll see your items’ organic rank improved, and will identify keywords worth bidding on. Search Sensei is also a great way to stay informed of when your organic rank outperforms your paid position to avoid wasted ad spend.

SKU Ninja & Pacvue can help you turn your product listing ad campaigns into winners. Our eCommerce solutions give you actionable insights to improve your return on investment and save you time with automation and an intuitive user experience. Paid and organic search on Walmart.com can be a lot to balance, but you can excel in this high-opportunity timeframe with the right tools and strategy.  

About SKU Ninja + WhyteSpyder

SKU Ninja + WhyteSpyder is a Walmart Connected Content Partner and eCommerce software and insights company with 10 years of experience helping brands win online. We combine practical eCommerce expertise with precision software and tools to answer the unique challenges of selling items on Walmart. To learn more, email [email protected] or go to whytespyder.com.


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