Listing audit for otto.de: the 30-minute checklist

Preparation: five minutes

Open three things side by side: the product in OTTO Partner Connect, the product page on otto.de, and your rank tracking with the product's search terms. Note the current positions of the five most important terms. They are the baseline against which you later measure the effect of your corrections.

Then search for the product's head term on otto.de and note the three products at the very top of page 1. They are your benchmark for every point that follows.

1. Status and availability

Check the marketplace status in Partner Connect. A product that is "not online" or has stock 0 does not appear in the search, however good the listing. Also check the stated delivery time: long delivery times lower the purchase probability and with it the signals that count for the ranking.

Only when status and stock are right are the next points worth the effort.

2. Title

• Does the product type come first, the way shoppers type it?
• Does the most important feature (size, power, material) follow, before the brand?
• Does the title contain the words you want to be found for, without repeating them?
• Is it as long as the titles of the three benchmark products, or clearly shorter?

Compare word by word with the page-1 products. Whatever their titles name and yours does not is your first candidate for a correction.

3. Category and attributes

A product in the wrong category is not shown in the filters of the right category. Check whether the category matches that of the benchmark products. Then go through the attributes: every empty mandatory field and every empty filter attribute (colour, material, dimensions) costs visibility, because shoppers who filter no longer see your product.

Enter attributes the way Otto specifies them, not as free text in your own spelling.

4. Images, price and description

• Images: does the first image show the product cut out on a white background, and is there at least one image in use? Are all variations pictured?
• Price: is the price within the range of the benchmark products? Where a unit price is mandatory: is it correct?
• Description: does it answer the questions a shopper has before buying (dimensions, scope of delivery, assembly)? Does it contain the search terms in natural sentences?

5. Search terms and result

Finally, check the baseline positions against your findings: a product that is "not found" for its head term usually has a problem with status, category or title. A product on pages 3 to 5 usually has a problem with features, images or price.

Correct the points you found, but not all at once if you want to know what worked. Check the five terms daily for the following three weeks and compare with the baseline.

The checklist to tick off

1. Marketplace status online, stock > 0, realistic delivery time
2. Title: product type first, main feature, no repetitions
3. Category like the benchmark products
4. All mandatory and filter attributes filled, in Otto's spelling
5. First image cut out, one image in use, all variations pictured
6. Price and unit price within the competitors' range
7. Description answers shoppers' questions
8. Five search terms in tracking, baseline noted

Frequently asked questions