Google is everywhere. They provide the leading search engine in the UK, produce gadgets that can be found in millions of homes and are making huge strides in the development of new technology such as augmented reality. But one service they offer has been going particularly strong since its launch in 2002; Google Shopping.
Originally named Froogle, the service allows consumers to search for a product, compare it to other competing products and then purchase it. But, since 2012, this has been a monetised service, where businesses pay to appear in the search results. This change moved Google Shopping into a branch of Google AdWords.
With Google Shopping having a higher conversion rate of 30% compared to text-based ads, it's a platform you'll want to make use of. Luckily, it’s pretty simple to get set up. Just create yourself a Google AdWords account and create your Merchant Center before uploading your products into the feed. Then all that’s left to do is launch your ads.
But, for those ads to really be successful and deliver well, you’ll need to ensure they're optimised to both attract consumers and rank well on product listings. There are plenty of ways to optimise your listing, and as Google Partners, we know plenty of reliable ways to help you get your product to the top of the feed...
Product Title
The main aspect of Google Shopping is the feed - something many people don’t think to optimise. The first thing that the user sees in the feed (image aside) is the product title, so it’s important to ensure that this looks exactly how you want it to.
As a basic rule, if your title is over 150 characters, your ad won’t get approved, and long titles 75-150 characters tend to be penalised, so try and keep your titles short! The algorithm uses the title to identify a match with what users are searching for, so always ensure the title is precise and includes the most relevant information to your product.
For example, if you’re looking to sell a dress, keeping the product title as ‘Women’s Dress’ will get you in all of the general searches, but won’t put you in front of the users searching with higher intent. Users will use more specific search terms when they know specifically what they want and therefore are more likely to make a purchase. Instead, include all of the keywords, for example, ‘Fendi Off The Shoulder Mini Dress Size 12’.
Product Types
In your campaign structure, you’ll find product types and nested product types. These contribute to the quality score of your data feed and are therefore fairly important in terms of product visibility.
Product types are a way of categorising your products, so, for example, a fashion retailer might break these down into shoes, trousers, dresses, accessories etc.
To optimise this, the best thing to do is to follow the structure of your existing website. It’s a great category indicator that can add organisation to your campaigns.
Product Category
While there may be over 6,000 choices available, product categories can have a noticeable effect on conversions. They won’t show up on the user-facing side of the page and they’re a vital aspect that Google uses to process which items will show up in users searches. So, while it may take some time, going through each category and finding the most accurate one can really pay off.
Negative Keyword List
Inputting words or phrases that are irrelevant to your product but could be misunderstood by Google will prevent your ads from being shown to users who wouldn’t be interested, saving your ad spend for searches that offer more potential for conversions.
A key example of this could be adding groups of keywords such as ‘used’ or ‘second-hand’ to your negative keyword list, if you only sell new products. Another popular negative keyword group could be ‘location’ or ‘images’ which will prevent your ad from showing to people not actually looking to buy.
Regularly review this list as it will help you keep an eye on any keywords your ad is showing for that is irrelevant, and therefore save your budget for the relevant searches.
Bidding
Something that should be a high priority for any Google Shopping campaign is to get your cost per click to a level where it’s high enough that you’re getting a satisfactory amount of relevant clicks but not so high that profit is damaged. But, with Google focusing on their own profit, it can be hard to negotiate the bidding process.
If you have a low impression share or your campaign has an indicator suggesting that it is limited by your budget, this is a good opportunity to raise the bidding threshold slightly. If you want to predict the success of using a higher budget, the Bid Simulator is a good tool to use, just keep in mind that bid simulators can provide insight into how different bids might have affected performance over the past 7 days, but they don't attempt to predict future performance.
To optimise product performance, we’d also suggest bidding higher on products performing well and lower on those that didn’t. We always look at longer time periods to optimise bids, as the short term could be open to errors, fluctuations or seasonal interest.
Google shopping is proven to be a fantastic platform to use if you want to increase product sales. With a 17% higher return on revenue than text-based ads, is it time you made the most out of your Google Shopping ads?
We understand that getting the most out of your Google Shopping ads can be a struggle, and it can be hard to know where exactly your ads need optimising and how to go about getting the optimisations right. But, if you’re looking for a helping hand, our expert team are Google Partners, and are more than happy to offer you their help and advice - just get in touch today!
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