Sale down Again

[THEHERO Snowfall]

 Hello,

I have noticed over the last few weeks my business has gone down dramatically, is this only with my store, or does the new search engine have something to do with it?

Edited April 23, 2017 by Jagix Linden
Removing link for a second time

[DragonLady Merlin]

For the last two weeks, ALL of my online sales -Real Life and Second Life have dropped off dramatically. I've noticed a sales slump seems to follow really upsetting world events, and I think the troubles in Syria are putting people in a somber mood, so no one feels much like shopping.

[Alwin Alcott]

1 hour ago, THEHERO Snowfall said:

 Hello,

one line topic and 7 advertising... good grace .. no wonder it doesn't sell, people get lost in that wood of links

[Oceane Grumiaux]

I have the same issue and I am highly concerned. This is so bad now that I hardly sell anything! Since I guess a week or maybe 2 weeks. The websites is much much faster now, but the sales is bloody dramatic. Don't know what to do. I thought it was because of adjustments in technology and I still think it is. What do you guys do, complain at Linden Lab?

[Alwin Alcott]

3 hours ago, Oceane Grumiaux said:

I have the same issue and I am highly concerned. This is so bad now that I hardly sell anything! Since I guess a week or maybe 2 weeks. The websites is much much faster now, but the sales is bloody dramatic. Don't know what to do. I thought it was because of adjustments in technology and I still think it is. What do you guys do, complain at Linden Lab?

don't forget you have only 649 items of the 283073 in the components ... 20 of the 2141864 in appearal ... you will get lost in some searches

.. and for example... if you use  "just kissed fat pack" as title for lipsticks, it will end low in the "lipstick search" .. titles are as important as keywords ..

[Oceane Grumiaux]

Thanks for answering Alwin. I actually have a total of 991 items listed. https://gyazo.com/da8184af6f332eae62644e8b6f6e11cd
You are very right about titles and keywords, I will certainly take a look at that, thank you  
It is not possible that sales drop in an instant, just like that, usually it goes slowly down, not like this. Besides that, I advertise every month for several items, also on the home page. I am pretty convinced this issue has to do with different algorithms of whatever it is called ( I hope you understand what I mean) that changed in the past 2 weeks. 

[Dakota Linden]

Hi All!

Just some friendly information that may help sellers.

A few months ago, as noted, search was updated on the Marketplace.

If your sales have dropped off, now may be the time, before summer hits, to spend some time tweaking your listings for the changes.

1. Product Listing Title:  Make sure the Product Listing Title is effective. If your title is something like "BD-200-Red" it doesn't mean anything unless a buyer is looking for a very specific item with that name.  So you will want to make sure your Title really stands out.  If you are selling Lipstick, make sure that is in the title of the listing.  Using the example in this thread. "Just Kissed Lipstick - Fatpack" would be a perfect title.  The name of the item is included "Just Kissed", buyers know immediately what it is; Lipstick, and they also know immediately that the item is a Fatpack, so they will get multiple colors.

2. Product Images: Try to make sure your images are clear and specifically show the item you are selling.  If you use a standard format for images for your store that include your store name, product, information, permissions, etc., try to also include additional images that show a close up of the item you are selling.  So, again using lipstick as an example, try to include images of an avatar wearing the lipstick itself so that it shows off the color. Try to make sure the image is either a face shot, or a shot of the lips with the color.  As we all know, graphics cards and monitors can have shade differences in the actual rendered color. Offering a few different pictures of what the buyers can expect will help them better to decide if they would like to purchase that particular item.

3. Item Description:  This is where you have the chance to really set your item apart from other products.  The Item Description should spend at least 50% of the space to describe the item you are selling. Is it for classic and mesh items?  What are the permissions?  If you are selling a fatpack, listing all of the items in the pack can be done in this section, so that your potential customers will know all of what they are getting with their purchase.  Watch for spacing in this area.  The information should be clear and easy to read with paragraphs, etc.  A wall-o-text will make it harder to read and understand.  Try to limit information about your store itself, but it should certainly be included. Short and concise about what kinds of items you sell, an invitation to visit your inworld location, if you have one. If you have any restrictions on the specific item in the listing, those should be included here too.  If the item is No Transfer and you do not offer a refund on No Transfer items, this should be noted, etc., 

4. Features List:  One of the Tabs that is available, but is extremely underused by sellers is the Features List.  This list is included in search, and acts as a type of Keyword search for your item.  The name of the item should be listed, the permissions should be listed, if the item is Mesh, it should be listed. If the item has multiple colors, a Hud, etc., these should all be listed on separate lines on the Features List to help generate additional views.

5. Keywords:  Keywords should be inclusive for the item being sold in the listing. Your should include words that help tag the item.  So if your item is Red, then red should be in the keywords. If the item is Mesh, then the word Mesh should be in the keywords.  If your item is not something, you should refrain from saying that in the keywords.  If your item is not mesh, then you should not say No Mesh, in the keywords.  Your item will show up when someone types Mesh as a keyword search.  (I explain this more down below).

6. Related Items: Related Items should be used to draw potential customers to your other items.  If you are selling a Fatpack, but you also offer the items in the pack as individual purchases, you should consider linking those individual items to the FatPack using the Related Items feature.  If a buyer isn't really wanting to buy an entire Fatpack for 1 item, knowing they can purchase the item by itself, and having a quick link to that item will help to drive sales.  If you have a lot of items in the Fatpack, you could instead include the individual links to the items in the Item Description (Above) and use the Related Items to link to other similar options.  Again, using the Lipstick Fatpack sample, you could use the Item Description to list all of the colors in the FatPack (if they are individual items and not a HUD Controlled color picker) with links to those individual items, and then use the Related Items option for linking to any other Lipstick Fatpacks you sell. 

So, why do we only want to use keywords that apply to the item in an inclusive way?  Part of the search changes takes into account your sales conversion compared to search.  So if your item does not include mesh, and you put "not mesh" in the keywords, your item will show up when someone searches for Mesh.  This might be considered a good thing, since your item will be shown to more people, but in reality, under the new search changes, your item will get hurt.  The more times your item is shown in a keyword search without being purchased, the ranking on your item goes down. 

Here is a small example to show how this works.

Say you use the keyword Mesh in your item, but it isn't mesh.  When a user searches for mesh, your item shows up, but since it isn't mesh, no one buys it when they use that search term.

At the start, your item is shown in the 4th spot.  This, at first, might be good.  It is showing high up in the relevance, and more people are seeing the item.  But no one is buying it. 

After a while, your item will slowly lose relevance and one day a search is done, and instead of your item showing up in the 4th slot, it is down in the 15th slot.  Having the word mesh in your keywords is actually hurting your item, even though it is shown to more people. 

Cheers~

 

 

Edited April 24, 2017 by Dakota Linden
typos!

[Chic Aeon]

While Dakota's info is important and will likely increase your Marketplace sales if you have not already made those adjustments, the most likely reason for sales dropping is that it is TAX TIME IN THE UNITED STATES.  This is an historical low sales time -- not just in SL but in RL also. I agree my sales were down and procrastinators did their taxes and many found that they owed money --- hence no extra money to play with in SL.

I have seen this every year since I have been here and yep, it was that way this year to. Not really much to do about it but recognize the cause and work on things for AFTER tax time (around the middle of the month each April).  

 

 

[Pamela Galli]

40 minutes ago, Dakota Linden said:

Hi All!

Just some friendly information that may help sellers.

A few months ago, as noted, search was updated on the Marketplace.

If your sales have dropped off, now may be the time, before summer hits, to spend some time tweaking your listings for the changes.

1. Product Listing Title:  Make sure the Product Listing Title is effective. If your title is something like "BD-200-Red" it doesn't mean anything unless a buyer is looking for a very specific item with that name.  So you will want to make sure your Title really stands out.  If you are selling Lipstick, make sure that is in the title of the listing.  Using the example in this thread. "Just Kissed Lipstick - Fatpack" would be a perfect title.  The name of the item is included "Just Kissed", buyers know immediately what it is; Lipstick, and they also know immediately that the item is a Fatpack, so they will get multiple colors.

2. Product Images: Try to make sure your images are clear and specifically show the item you are selling.  If you use a standard format for images for your store that include your store name, product, information, permissions, etc., try to also include additional images that show a close up of the item you are selling.  So, again using lipstick as an example, try to include images of an avatar wearing the lipstick itself so that it shows off the color. Try to make sure the image is either a face shot, or a shot of the lips with the color.  As we all know, graphics cards and monitors can have shade differences in the actual rendered color. Offering a few different pictures of what the buyers can expect will help them better to decide if they would like to purchase that particular item.

3. Item Description:  This is where you have the chance to really set your item apart from other products.  The Item Description should spend at least 50% of the space to describe the item you are selling. Is it for classic and mesh items?  What are the permissions?  If you are selling a fatpack, listing all of the items in the pack can be done in this section, so that your potential customers will know all of what they are getting with their purchase.  Watch for spacing in this area.  The information should be clear and easy to read with paragraphs, etc.  A wall-o-text will make it harder to read and understand.  Try to limit information about your store itself, but it should certainly be included. Short and concise about what kinds of items you sell, an invitation to visit your inworld location, if you have one. If you have any restrictions on the specific item in the listing, those should be included here too.  If the item is No Transfer and you do not offer a refund on No Transfer items, this should be noted, etc., 

4. Features List:  One of the Tabs that is available, but is extremely underused by sellers is the Features List.  This list is included in search, and acts as a type of Keyword search for your item.  The name of the item should be listed, the permissions should be listed, if the item is Mesh, it should be listed. If the item has multiple colors, a Hud, etc., these should all be listed on separate lines on the Features List to help generate additional views.

5. Keywords:  Keywords should be inclusive for the item being sold in the listing. Your should include words that help tag the item.  So if your item is Red, then red should be in the keywords. If the item is Mesh, then the word Mesh should be in the keywords.  If your item is not something, you should refrain from saying that in the keywords.  If your item is not mesh, then you should not say No Mesh, in the keywords.  Your item will show up when someone types Mesh as a keyword search.  (I explain this more down below).

6. Related Items: Related Items should be used to draw potential customers to your other items.  If you are selling a Fatpack, but you also offer the items in the pack as individual purchases, you should consider linking those individual items to the FatPack using the Related Items feature.  If a buyer isn't really wanting to buy an entire Fatpack for 1 item, knowing they can purchase the item by itself, and having a quick link to that item will help to drive sales.  If you have a lot of items in the Fatpack, you could instead include the individual links to the items in the Item Description (Above) and use the Related Items to link to other similar options.  Again, using the Lipstick Fatpack sample, you could use the Item Description to list all of the colors in the FatPack (if they are individual items and not a HUD Controlled color picker) with links to those individual items, and then use the Related Items option for linking to any other Lipstick Fatpacks you sell. 

So, why do we only want to use keywords that apply to the item in an inclusive way?  Part of the search changes takes into account your sales conversion compared to search.  So if your item does not include mesh, and you put "not mesh" in the keywords, your item will show up when someone searches for Mesh.  This might be considered a good thing, since your item will be shown to more people, but in reality, under the new search changes, your item will get hurt.  The more times your item is shown in a keyword search without being purchased, the ranking on your item goes down. 

Here is a small example to show how this works.

Say you use the keyword Mesh in your item, but it isn't mesh.  When a user searches for mesh, your item shows up, but since it isn't mesh, no one buys it when they use that search term.

At the start, your item is shown in the 4th spot.  This, at first, might be good.  It is showing high up in the relevance, and more people are seeing the item.  But no one is buying it. 

After a while, your item will slowly lose relevance and one day a search is done, and instead of your item showing up in the 4th slot, it is down in the 15th slot.  Having the word mesh in your keywords is actually hurting your item, even though it is shown to more people. 

Cheers~

 

 

This is the first time I have seen the info about how keyword spam hurts sales. Karma!

Very helpful info!

[TatianaDokuchic Varriale]

16 hours ago, Dakota Linden said:

Part of the search changes takes into account your sales conversion compared to search.

Many thanks for the information, Dakota.

I'd love to be able to see the "sales conversion compared to search" statistics for my products

[Pamela Galli]

2 hours ago, TatianaDokuchic Varriale said:

Many thanks for the information, Dakota.

I'd love to be able to see the "sales conversion compared to search" statistics for my products

Or any of the sales data we had with SL Exchange. 

If LL has the data why is it a secret?

Edited April 25, 2017 by Pamela Galli

[Dakota Linden]

4 hours ago, Pamela Galli said:

Or any of the sales data we had with SL Exchange. 

If LL has the data why is it a secret?

 

7 hours ago, TatianaDokuchic Varriale said:

Many thanks for the information, Dakota.

I'd love to be able to see the "sales conversion compared to search" statistics for my products

Greetings!

As far as Customer Support is aware, the only public facing metrics that are available are on those items with Product Listing Enhancements.  You are able to view your PLE Traffic Report page to see how many times your listing has been shown and the click-thru's for the item.

With over 5 million active listings on the Marketplace, generating traffic reports for every product may be too much for the Marketplace servers, but it never hurts to request the feature by submitting a Jira Ticket.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Dakota Linden

[THEHERO Snowfall]

 

On 4/25/2017 at 0:22 AM, Dakota Linden said:

Hi All!

Just some friendly information that may help sellers.

A few months ago, as noted, search was updated on the Marketplace.

If your sales have dropped off, now may be the time, before summer hits, to spend some time tweaking your listings for the changes.

1. Product Listing Title:  Make sure the Product Listing Title is effective. If your title is something like "BD-200-Red" it doesn't mean anything unless a buyer is looking for a very specific item with that name.  So you will want to make sure your Title really stands out.  If you are selling Lipstick, make sure that is in the title of the listing.  Using the example in this thread. "Just Kissed Lipstick - Fatpack" would be a perfect title.  The name of the item is included "Just Kissed", buyers know immediately what it is; Lipstick, and they also know immediately that the item is a Fatpack, so they will get multiple colors.

2. Product Images: Try to make sure your images are clear and specifically show the item you are selling.  If you use a standard format for images for your store that include your store name, product, information, permissions, etc., try to also include additional images that show a close up of the item you are selling.  So, again using lipstick as an example, try to include images of an avatar wearing the lipstick itself so that it shows off the color. Try to make sure the image is either a face shot, or a shot of the lips with the color.  As we all know, graphics cards and monitors can have shade differences in the actual rendered color. Offering a few different pictures of what the buyers can expect will help them better to decide if they would like to purchase that particular item.

3. Item Description:  This is where you have the chance to really set your item apart from other products.  The Item Description should spend at least 50% of the space to describe the item you are selling. Is it for classic and mesh items?  What are the permissions?  If you are selling a fatpack, listing all of the items in the pack can be done in this section, so that your potential customers will know all of what they are getting with their purchase.  Watch for spacing in this area.  The information should be clear and easy to read with paragraphs, etc.  A wall-o-text will make it harder to read and understand.  Try to limit information about your store itself, but it should certainly be included. Short and concise about what kinds of items you sell, an invitation to visit your inworld location, if you have one. If you have any restrictions on the specific item in the listing, those should be included here too.  If the item is No Transfer and you do not offer a refund on No Transfer items, this should be noted, etc., 

4. Features List:  One of the Tabs that is available, but is extremely underused by sellers is the Features List.  This list is included in search, and acts as a type of Keyword search for your item.  The name of the item should be listed, the permissions should be listed, if the item is Mesh, it should be listed. If the item has multiple colors, a Hud, etc., these should all be listed on separate lines on the Features List to help generate additional views.

5. Keywords:  Keywords should be inclusive for the item being sold in the listing. Your should include words that help tag the item.  So if your item is Red, then red should be in the keywords. If the item is Mesh, then the word Mesh should be in the keywords.  If your item is not something, you should refrain from saying that in the keywords.  If your item is not mesh, then you should not say No Mesh, in the keywords.  Your item will show up when someone types Mesh as a keyword search.  (I explain this more down below).

6. Related Items: Related Items should be used to draw potential customers to your other items.  If you are selling a Fatpack, but you also offer the items in the pack as individual purchases, you should consider linking those individual items to the FatPack using the Related Items feature.  If a buyer isn't really wanting to buy an entire Fatpack for 1 item, knowing they can purchase the item by itself, and having a quick link to that item will help to drive sales.  If you have a lot of items in the Fatpack, you could instead include the individual links to the items in the Item Description (Above) and use the Related Items to link to other similar options.  Again, using the Lipstick Fatpack sample, you could use the Item Description to list all of the colors in the FatPack (if they are individual items and not a HUD Controlled color picker) with links to those individual items, and then use the Related Items option for linking to any other Lipstick Fatpacks you sell. 

So, why do we only want to use keywords that apply to the item in an inclusive way?  Part of the search changes takes into account your sales conversion compared to search.  So if your item does not include mesh, and you put "not mesh" in the keywords, your item will show up when someone searches for Mesh.  This might be considered a good thing, since your item will be shown to more people, but in reality, under the new search changes, your item will get hurt.  The more times your item is shown in a keyword search without being purchased, the ranking on your item goes down. 

Here is a small example to show how this works.

Say you use the keyword Mesh in your item, but it isn't mesh.  When a user searches for mesh, your item shows up, but since it isn't mesh, no one buys it when they use that search term.

At the start, your item is shown in the 4th spot.  This, at first, might be good.  It is showing high up in the relevance, and more people are seeing the item.  But no one is buying it. 

After a while, your item will slowly lose relevance and one day a search is done, and instead of your item showing up in the 4th slot, it is down in the 15th slot.  Having the word mesh in your keywords is actually hurting your item, even though it is shown to more people. 

Cheers~

 

 

Dear Dakota Linden,

I think I do have the perfect title, a good product image, a good item description with good keywords.  I set a related item too and have been paying more then 10,000 linden every month for listing enhancements.  If you look at my sales for about 2 weeks I have only earned about 50 linden!!  

Your new search engine has had a direct impact on my store.  I am earning almost nothing this month!  I will not even be able to pay my store rent in sl.  

For almost 4 years I have been paying the listing enhancement cost and my products were at the 2nd position.  Right now, it is not even in the top 200 for position.  
I did a lot of hard work to get to the 2nd position but your new search engine just ruined all my hard work.  I am very upset right now.  Something is terribly wrong with your new search engine.  

I also wonder why your new search engine shows newbies products in the top positions.   What about me?  How am I to survive?

 

[TatianaDokuchic Varriale]

25 minutes ago, THEHERO Snowfall said:

I also wonder why your new search engine shows newbies products in the top positions.   What about me?  How am I to survive?

This is probably going to sound like cold comfort but here goes.  Over the years I've seen statements like this related to search (both for the SLM & inworld) many times before. IMHO it's like howling at the wind.  Search algorithms change and merchants shouldn't overly rely on them as part of their marketing strategy.

My philosophy is to have a clear title and honest keyword list.  After that I prefer to spend my time & resources in other areas rather than search.  Saves me a lot of angst.

[Dakota Linden]

2 hours ago, THEHERO Snowfall said:

 

Dear Dakota Linden,

I think I do have the perfect title, a good product image, a good item description with good keywords.  I set a related item too and have been paying more then 10,000 linden every month for listing enhancements.  If you look at my sales for about 2 weeks I have only earned about 50 linden!!  

Your new search engine has had a direct impact on my store.  I am earning almost nothing this month!  I will not even be able to pay my store rent in sl.  

For almost 4 years I have been paying the listing enhancement cost and my products were at the 2nd position.  Right now, it is not even in the top 200 for position.  
I did a lot of hard work to get to the 2nd position but your new search engine just ruined all my hard work.  I am very upset right now.  Something is terribly wrong with your new search engine.  

I also wonder why your new search engine shows newbies products in the top positions.   What about me?  How am I to survive?

 

Hello TheHero, 

Unfortunately, there is not enough information in your reply for me to try to research the issue.

Provide me with the name of an item of yours that was selling well prior to the changes, that is no longer selling as well, that has newer items showing higher in the search returns than your item.

Please also provide me with the word or term that you used for the Keyword Search that you did.

I am happy to do a search as well to try to observe your findings and try to determine if the keywords may be triggering the issue.

A deeper investigation would need to be done by the Marketplace team, time and resources permitting, and would require a Bug Report to be filed.

 

[THEHERO Snowfall]

1 hour ago, Dakota Linden said:

Hello TheHero, 

Unfortunately, there is not enough information in your reply for me to try to research the issue.

Provide me with the name of an item of yours that was selling well prior to the changes, that is no longer selling as well, that has newer items showing higher in the search returns than your item.

Please also provide me with the word or term that you used for the Keyword Search that you did.

I am happy to do a search as well to try to observe your findings and try to determine if the keywords may be triggering the issue.

A deeper investigation would need to be done by the Marketplace team, time and resources permitting, and would require a Bug Report to be filed.

 

1.Product name is Galaxy II dance hud which was on 2nd position, title is "Dance with me Galaxy II HUD 400 Dances/swimmer/2017 Fully Loaded Dance HUD" Price :599L

keywords: dance with me,dance hud,dances,hero,thehero snowfall,thehero,Galaxy hud,omg hud,dance ball,couple dance,dance,dace ball,mocap dances,dance machine,shine waves,michael jackson,celebrity,breakdance,mj

2.Product title is "Omg Dance with me Angel Effect 259 Animation Dance ball and Dance hud"   Price 8L (I am selling this product one or two a day)

Keywords :dance,dances,dance ball,dance hud,disco,dj hud,dance machine,machine,thehero,dance with me,hip hop,jazz,snowfall,thehero snowfall,couple dance,cheap dances,free,8L,ao,omg,free dances,Dance breakdance

3 Product title "Dance with me Galaxy III HUD 763 Dances & Instrument Fully LOADED Dance HUD" Price :3333L

keywords: dance with me galaxy,dance hud,dances,thehero snowfall,breakdance,mj,hollywood,bollywood,disco,metal,jazz,celebrity dance,beyonce,gaga,rihanna,street dance,unisex,drum ,microphone,guitar,sync,ao,dj

4. Storm Dance machine

5 . Sun shine Dance machine

all of them,I was selling it everyday.... it was helping to maintain my business .right now people are not buying anything

by Just typing "dance hud" or "dance ball" my product were visible in first page on 2nd position and first position

Edited April 26, 2017 by THEHERO Snowfall

[Dakota Linden]

2 hours ago, THEHERO Snowfall said:

1.Product name is Galaxy II dance hud which was on 2nd position, title is "Dance with me Galaxy II HUD 400 Dances/swimmer/2017 Fully Loaded Dance HUD" Price :599L

keywords: dance with me,dance hud,dances,hero,thehero snowfall,thehero,Galaxy hud,omg hud,dance ball,couple dance,dance,dace ball,mocap dances,dance machine,shine waves,michael jackson,celebrity,breakdance,mj

2.Product title is "Omg Dance with me Angel Effect 259 Animation Dance ball and Dance hud"   Price 8L (I am selling this product one or two a day)

Keywords :dance,dances,dance ball,dance hud,disco,dj hud,dance machine,machine,thehero,dance with me,hip hop,jazz,snowfall,thehero snowfall,couple dance,cheap dances,free,8L,ao,omg,free dances,Dance breakdance

3 Product title "Dance with me Galaxy III HUD 763 Dances & Instrument Fully LOADED Dance HUD" Price :3333L

keywords: dance with me galaxy,dance hud,dances,thehero snowfall,breakdance,mj,hollywood,bollywood,disco,metal,jazz,celebrity dance,beyonce,gaga,rihanna,street dance,unisex,drum ,microphone,guitar,sync,ao,dj

4. Storm Dance machine

5 . Sun shine Dance machine

all of them,I was selling it everyday.... it was helping to maintain my business .right now people are not buying anything

by Just typing "dance hud" or "dance ball" my product were visible in first page on 2nd position and first position

Hello TheHero,

I just did a search for Dance Hud and here are the results:

I view the Marketplace with 96 items per page. 

Dance with me Galaxy II HUD 400:

Search with General, Moderate, Adult had your item return in row 22 

Search with General only, had your item in row 15.

Omg Dance with me Angel Effect 259:

Search with General, Moderate, Adult had the item in row 23

Search with General only had the item in row 17

Your keywords show one huge possible reason why the items are losing relevance, you have the word "free" in the keywords and your items are not free.  

If users are search for the term free and your item is showing up, and the people who did the search for free did not buy the item, the relevance on your will go down.

 

 

 

[Chic Aeon]

Just a note that as far as I can see sales are back to normal or better after the "Tax Time"slump. My sales are noticeably UP.  Since we know that part of the algorithm is percentage of folks that buy after looking, then I agree that the best thing a seller can do is be clear and honest with the description. Having a demo inworld if it demo isn't provided (like with clothes) is also a very good thing. 

 

And I think that was super nice of @Dakota Linden to take the time to look at your listing.  :D. 

 

[Tari Landar]

I could be wrong here, though I doubt I am, since Dakota already pointed this out, twice now in the same thread(and elsewhere)..but I believe you are causing your own problem. You are over complicating your keywords lists, and it's causing you to lose sales. Some of those keywords, while perhaps relevant(to you) to your products, they are less likely to be what people search for to find your products. That means every time I search for one of those words, and am NOT looking for your product, but it shows up in my search anyway..and I don't buy it..you lose relevance. I'd cut back on some of your keywords. If I wanted to find a guitar, for example, I don't want to see your dance hud show up, but it will. If I want to search for something related to DJing, a dance hud isn't likely what I am looking for..but yours will show up because you have versions of the word DJ in there despite it not being a DJ hud at all (and I won't buy), and you'll again lose relevance. See how that works? 

When looking at your keywords, think about the things people are searching for when looking for *your* products, not general products or slightly related products even, then think about how you are going to lose sales(and your position) every time one of your items shows up in someone's search-despite not being what they were looking for even remotely-and they don't buy it.

You're killing yourself with keyword spam, in other words, to put it bluntly. Make them more precise and directly related to *your item* specifically, not related items you sell (not you, either, your name need not be in your keywords, it shows up in search just fine without being in keywords). Having more words doesn't help you, at all, with the way search functions.

I'm no super fan of the search myself, or how it functions(it's still a muddled mess imo, but my opinion is irrelevant on that topic, lol). But I DO like that keyword spammers now lose relevance, and position, when they fail to follow instructions  No one likes that kind of spam, I promise you.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Tari Landar
had to fix a typo :p

[ChinRey]

6 hours ago, Tari Landar said:

I could be wrong here, though I doubt I am,

You're very obviously both right and wrong at the same time.

You're right in the sense that Dakota's post is very good advice to everybody who want to increase their MP sales. But it can't possibly explain the recent drop Hero and others have seen since nothing there has changed recently. I suppose Chic's explanation is the best one. It's tax time all over the world, not just in the USA and that can be a taxing time so there's no wonder people have less money to spend on entertainment than they usually have.

[Pamela Galli]

Sales always drop a bit starting in March, because people are outdoors more enjoying Spring and Summer -- and in summer, the kids are not in school, so Mom has not as much time to devote to SL. 

For my early years in business I thought I was immune to the pattern others reported because my business was new and rapidly expanding -- sales never went down, only up. But it's been predictable for the last few years. 

 

[THEHERO Snowfall]

16 hours ago, Dakota Linden said:

Hello TheHero,

I just did a search for Dance Hud and here are the results:

I view the Marketplace with 96 items per page. 

Dance with me Galaxy II HUD 400:

Search with General, Moderate, Adult had your item return in row 22 

Search with General only, had your item in row 15.

Omg Dance with me Angel Effect 259:

Search with General, Moderate, Adult had the item in row 23

Search with General only had the item in row 17

Your keywords show one huge possible reason why the items are losing relevance, you have the word "free" in the keywords and your items are not free.  

If users are search for the term free and your item is showing up, and the people who did the search for free did not buy the item, the relevance on your will go down.

 

 

 

Dear Dakota Linden,

you are telling me that just because I added the word 'FREE' as one of my keywords is why people are not buying any of my products. Then why were people buying my products 3 weeks ago?   Yesterday I sold one Galaxy2 hud @ 599L after about 5 days.  I was selling  3 or 4 copies of it everyday.  
Why did my product drop from the first page and go to 22?

I have spent 4 years paying for listing enhancements and spent a lot of time and hard work to make it the best product.
Now, your new search engine has ruined all my efforts. I think there are some problems with your new search engine. 

[Dakota Linden]

46 minutes ago, THEHERO Snowfall said:

Dear Dakota Linden,

you are telling me that just because I added the word 'FREE' as one of my keywords is why people are not buying any of my products. Then why were people buying my products 3 weeks ago?   Yesterday I sold one Galaxy2 hud @ 599L after about 5 days.  I was selling  3 or 4 copies of it everyday.  
Why did my product drop from the first page and go to 22?

I have spent 4 years paying for listing enhancements and spent a lot of time and hard work to make it the best product.
Now, your new search engine has ruined all my efforts. I think there are some problems with your new search engine. 

Hello TheHero, 

Unfortunately, Linden Lab cannot force users to purchase items.

I explained that the relevance on your items may be going down in the search returns, in part, because of the keywords, a change that was made to how search works on the Marketplace, which could be contributing to the lower sales since your items are no longer showing up higher in the search returns and are not showing on the first page if residents are using the default of 12 items per page. 

Additional relevance is lost when searches for Dance Hud are made and buyers purchase other items instead of yours. Those other items will gain relevance while your items lose relevance. 

 

 

 

[Alwin Alcott]

1 hour ago, THEHERO Snowfall said:

Dear Dakota Linden,

you are telling me that just because I added the word 'FREE' as one of my keywords
Now, your new search engine has ruined all my efforts. I think there are some problems with your new search engine. 

no you simply have to use to the point keywords instead of all the rubble you put around your products now.

The problem is just that, and not the engine. Your item even could get removed for the keyword spam when it gets reported.

 

Edited April 27, 2017 by Alwin Alcott

[Love Zhaoying]

2 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

The problem is just that, and not the engine. Your item even could get removed for the keyword spam when it gets reported.

Now I want to buy his free dances, hope they don't get removed! I like free things.