In a PIM system, companies can bundle all product-relevant information from various source systems (ERP, CMS, DAM, etc.). In this “single source of truth”, they record, manage and add product data as well as digital media such as images and videos. A PIM system structures, classifies and translates all product data. In this way, it optimally prepares them for the shop system and for the various output channels.
Making product data analyzable:
Product information of a webshop has to be readable for search engines. Metadata (title, description) are important information for correctly displaying the preview in the search results pages (snippets). In a PIM system, it is possible to define which data should be read by the search engine as meta information. Automated workflows ensure that all products or product variants are provided with the unique and correct meta information. In addition, keywords can be created almost automatically with a PIM system by structuring product data hierarchically and inheriting keywords across categories, master products and product variants. In this way, each product receives many keywords, which improves the ranking in search results.
Making media assets analyzable:
Images, videos and other digital assets are very important for users in the purchase decision process. Therefore, they are also very relevant for search engines – as long as they can be processed and interpreted properly. Since the relationship between products and digital assets is managed in the PIM system, the relevant meta information (tags, title, description, lang) for the media files is automatically set. The information thus appears directly SEO-optimized in the webshop and can be correctly indexed by search engines.
Automatic generation and transmission of feeds:
For online stores with a large product portfolio, it makes sense to communicate assortment changes to search engines and marketplaces via product data feeds in order to ensure a high degree of actuality. These product feeds are usually exchanged via XML data. Here, the correct product attributes are mapped in numerous data fields. Search engines and marketplaces each have different requirements for their feeds and query different product fields. Manual feed management is therefore hardly feasible and is also very error-prone. A PIM system offers a high degree of automation here. For example, all the information required for a feed can be output to an XML with one fingertip. Finally, the improved evaluation of feeds opens up new sales opportunities for online retailers. For example, the cleansed feeds allow for a “long-tail keyword strategy,” making products more likely to be included in search results for more precise queries.