Even though you may have survived gentler updates such as Penguin and Panda, beware of Google Zebra update that may take a harsher toll.“We have a potential launch later this year”, remarked Google’s Matt Cutts sometime ago, “looking at the quality of merchants, and whether we can do a better job on that, because we don’t want low quality experience merchants to be ranking in the search results”.
However, webmasters have already dubbed it as the “Merchant Quality Update” although they are still quite uncertain about how Google may detect ‘bad merchants’. It would, therefore be sensible to check into the criteria that can keep online merchants away from the Zebra Penalty.
Reviews as Guidelines
Webmasters have also been wondering whether Google tends to use reviews to differentiate between good companies and bad companies. But to achieve this Google needs to determine the timber of the reviews online and then come up with the integrity of a company. However, evidences already indicate that Google is taking longer strides in this path. What’s more, Google verily shows seller ratings in Ad-words ads. Needless to say, these ratings are counted on customer reviews picked up Google Product Search that collects reviews, such as Google Wallet reviews from sundry sources on the Internet. This should be taken as a warning for merchant with poor or bad quality reviews so that they can improve upon it forthwith.
Search Quality Guideline
Sometime in November 2012, Google had hinted at what it looks for in a quality merchant and has already released a list under the heading Recognizing True Merchants, detailing the items. This is reproduced below for the benefit of online merchants
- A “view your shopping cart” link that stays on the same site.
- A shopping cart that updates when you add items to it.
- A return policy with a physical address.
- A shipping charge calculator that works.
- A “wish list” link, or a link to postpone the purchase of an item until later.
- A way to track FedEx orders.
- A user forum that works.
- The ability to register or login.
- A gift registry that works.
However, Google appears to be quite liberal on this issue, declaring that a merchant need not meet all the criteria to comply, while it is a good idea to do an inventory of the list to make sure that one tries to meet most of the guidelines.
Google Shopping’s Trusted Stores Program
Merchants affiliated with Google’s Trusted Stores Program must meet certain criteria, such as having five hundred transactions per month at the minimum, with ninety percent of deliveries executed on time, as well as providing quality customer service.For smaller merchants, this may not apply but for larger merchants, one may take a look at Google’s Trusted Stores Program to get familiar with the issues.
Physical Location
Despite the fact that online merchants seldom have brick and mortar locations, Google seems to put some amount of importance to it. Of course, Google’s arguments are quite reasonable on this issue since consumers often find it convenient to deal with online stores that also have a physical location where complaints could be physically lodged and remedied on the spot. Of course, with cafes and restaurants, it is a must.
Conclusion
The above mentioned points are what online business merchants should focus on for the time being. These can also help them improve their website and provide a better online buying experience for consumers. And as a result, they will be able to keep themselves ready whenever Google rolls out “The Zebra” for online merchants.