Google Shopping is one of the most powerful advertising platforms for businesses that sell products. Whether you’re thinking of hiring a digital agency that offers Google Shopping Management to help you optimise your campaigns or are wanting to have a go yourself, it’s important to understand how Google Shopping works and how you can make the most of it.
Here are 10 of the most important Google Shopping tips to get you started.
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Pay Attention to Your Product Feed
Your product feed is where Google takes all the relevant information from when it displays your ads. Whether you make your product feed manually or use an app to help you out, it’s important to make sure the information is optimised.
The more precise and Google-friendly the information, the better your ads will show up for the right search queries. Don’t overlook categories like product type, brand and size system – these can all help your ads get found by the right people. Make sure you include relevant keywords in the product description and product title.
Be Smart About Bidding
Unlike Google Search ads, there are no keywords to bid on in Google Shopping. Instead, you bid on your products. The good thing about this is you can have a lot more control over your bidding strategy.
You can set a custom bid on each individual product or set a bid for a group of products (called a product group). When deciding what to bid, take into account the profit margin and how much competition each product has. You should keep a close eye on how your products are performing and adjust your bids accordingly.
Change Bids According to Time of Day
It’s likely your ads won’t perform as well at certain times of the day. To maximise the success of your ads, consider segmenting them into 24 hours and increase your bids for the times which get the most traction. Decrease your bids for the lowest performing times.
Invest in Quality Images
One of the great things about advertising on Google Shopping is that it’s a visual platform. I.e. customers see product images which are much more engaging than text based ads. You shouldn’t overlook the power of a good image – it plays a huge role in a buyer’s decision making process.
Optimise your images by:
- Using high quality images
- Including additional images to show off all angles
- Testing lifestyle vs studio images (one may work better than the other for you)
- Staying on brand
Consider Mobile Traffic
Mobile usage has surpassed desktop usage now, including for Google Shopping. But it’s not that simple. While customers may be browsing for products more on their mobiles, more sales are made on desktop.
The takeaway? You need to find the right balance between product exposure on mobiles and high conversion rates on desktop. You should test mobile placements and see how they perform. Adjust accordingly until you find a profitable balance.
Know what Sells
Some of your products will sell better than others. The best sellers will give you an amazing return on investment – they’re what’s going to drive up your profit. But you might find that some products are losing you money. Perhaps lots of people are clicking on the ad, but you’re not getting any purchases.
Bid more on the products that are bringing you a good return on investment. Exclude any unprofitable products from your campaign.
Use Negative keywords
Google Shopping ads don’t rely on keywords to show up (they rely on your product feed from the first tip). However, you can use ‘negative keywords’ to prevent your ads showing up for irrelevant searches.
Google provides a helpful example: if you’re an optometrist selling glasses, you don’t want your products showing up when someone is looking to buy drinking glasses. You can therefore add negative keywords for “drinking glasses” and “wine glasses” to help make your ads more targeted.
Keep Your prices Competitive
Google Shopping is a powerful search engine which means most people are using it to compare different products. To stand out, you need to consider the prices your competitors are setting when you develop your own pricing strategy.
More competitively priced products tend to get more clicks and conversions. Don’t just focus on the product price, consider the shipping costs too. Buyers notice both of them. That doesn’t mean you have to suddenly drop your prices across the board – just take a thoughtful approach to your pricing.
Collect positive Reviews
The power of social proof shouldn’t be underestimated. Before a customer commits to buying something, they look at what others are saying about the product. Having lots of good reviews can dramatically increase sales.
You will need 50 ratings or more across your business before they show up on your product listings. The good news is you can pull reviews from multiple sources, including your own website. The more stars you have, the more you’ll stand out from competitors.
Remarket Your Ads
Did you know someone is more likely to buy your product if they’ve seen it before? Remarketing your ads to people who have been to your website in the past is an effective way of driving up sales.
Shopping remarketing lists help you show your ads to someone who has already been to your website or clicked on your ad. You can specify groups of customers you want to target such as loyal customers who have bought from you in the past or people who have added something to their cart but not purchased it.
Final Thoughts
If you’re just getting started with Google Shopping, these tips are a great launching point. As any Google Shopping Ads agency will tell you, online advertising is a process of testing, adjusting and testing again. Keep a close eye on the performance of your ads, and keep optimising them for bigger and better results into the future.