DatFeedFile: Data Fee Integration Example.

I have been using DataFeedFile for quiet some time now and today I would like to share with my readers some practical steps in creating “Merchant Search Engine”. The reason I chose this tool over other available is that this one tool that makes DataFeedFile a little different from GoldenCan. Some web-masters think that either websites do not provide enough flexibility, but for some one like myself, without programing skills, these two website offer wonderful opportunity to create a website quickly and easy.

What kind of editor should you use?

If you can afford either Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe Macromedia Dreamweaver, these are wonderful tools to create websites. If you are serious about affiliate business one of these softwares will be a good business investment, a tax deductible one I should add.

If you can not afford these editors, any HTML editor will do, including simple notepad that is on every computer. I never use notepad, since writing a website in notepad requires knowledge of HTML and being able to write HTML code some what quickly. I have started my first pages by using Nvu, a web editor that allows you to switch quickly from visual editing to HTML code. Nvu is a wonderful free tool, probably the best there is, among free software that is. It was my first web editor therefore I will use it as an example.

How to create a “Merchant Search Engine” with DataFeedFile?

First of all you should register at http://www.datafeedfile.com/ (free) and set up all the necessary affiliate ids and apply to few merchants.

In this example I will show you how to create this a small website using only two pages and two java script codes which you will copy and paste from your account at DataFeedFile. I will not use any styling for this example so the finished product may not look so appealing, but hopefully it will give you an idea of how to use DataFeedFile.

Step 1: Create “store.html” and “products.html”

Create two HTML files with Novu naming them “store.html” and “products.html”. You will need both of this files in order for your site to function.

Step 2: Edit “store.html”

You will need to login to your DataFeedFile account, go to Get HTML>Menus>Merchat Menus.
Chose any template (I have chosen Standard template), if you wish the text to show in bold you may select that option, but I generally leave “Show product in new window” unchecked. Define font size (I use fonts no bigger that 12pt). Define number of columns and rows ( I opted for 3 columns and 4 rows). Select view mode (I selected Gird), next to it you can also define the size of the merchants logo (I leave it blank for due to the image quality. In the field of Target URL you will need to provide URL of file named “products.url” in my case it will be http://sageblogger.com/products.html. Then click “Generate HTML Code”, from the first window titled “JavaScript” copy and paste the code anywhere inside the “body” tags of “store.html” file. Save the file and then upload it to your server, in my example I placed the file to http://sageblogger.com/store.html .

Step 3. Edit the “products.html” file.

Going back to your DataFeedFile account go to Get HTML>Shopping Tools>Price Search Engine. Select a template style. The rest of the options you may leave untouched (at least for now). Click Generate HTML code then copy and paste JavaScript code anywhere inside the “body” tags in your “products.html” file, save and upload the file to the location you have specified in step 2 for Target URL, in my case it is http://sageblogger.com/products.html. That’s it, your website is ready. It should look something like this:

http://sageblogger.com/store.html 

Using the JavaScript code does not give you SEO benefits. In odrder to have the data of your site indexed you will need to use PHP code. To do that you will also need to save files “store” and “products” with a php extension: store.php and products.php