Let me guess; you're probably here because of three reasons:
First, you're not convinced if Google Shopping is legit for your business.
Second, you want to optimize your Google Shopping campaigns and don't know how to do it.
Third, you've run out of ideas on how to optimize and still get 0 results from your Google shopping campaigns, and it has become a nightmare for you.
Whatever the reason why you're here, I'm glad that you are reading this post. I'm here to share tips and tricks on how to optimize your Google shopping campaigns effectively.
Let's go back at the beginning, Google, as you know, is the popular search engine in the world of our generation.
We google everything from the minor things such as ‘How to create Valentine's cards' to deep existential questions such as ‘What is the meaning of life' in there.
The majority of ecommerce business owners like you probably have used Google for their business strategies or daily operational activities. There's no way business owners have not to use Google for their entrepreneurial journey, and if someone said NO, then that's bullshit.
So let's cut the crap and let's be real, for ecommerce store owners like you who have to wear many hats and reach business goals.
Ecommerce business owners like you have the desire to sell your products, gain exposure, and increase ROI and profits. Google shopping is here to save the day in boosting your advertising efforts online!
You're in good hands since, in this post, I'm going to enlighten you on how Google shopping can be your holy grail in the ecommerce industry.
What is Google Shopping?
First things first, what the heck is Google Shopping? And does it mean online shopping immediately? The answer is yes, and no. Google shopping can easily be confused for online shopping or used simultaneously for one another. But here's the key, Google Shopping helps your products get seen by customers worldwide, all thanks to Google!
If you know what product listing is, then Google Shopping is an online product listing. Hence the other name of Google shopping is Product listing ads or PLA's, where potential customers searching for products on Google can click your product ads and check out the goods on your ecommerce site. Sounds like a dream, right?
Sample of Google Shopping listing that is high-performing:
Why should you start using Google Shopping?
Okay, before you get carried away and immediately launch Google shopping campaigns, there are many factors to consider before you reach the sweet spot on the top of Google shopping's listing.
Did you know that according to a study in 2014 advertisers are spending 47% of their advertising dollars on Google Shopping, while text ads slowly declined?
This study shows that Google Shopping is a real deal for the ecommerce industry, and you don't want to miss out on this digital land of Milk and Honey.
How to know if my Google Shopping Campaign is doing great?
Always check the Merchant Center account of your Google Shopping campaign. You can monitor and keep track of your progress on low-performing ads. Keywords and more.
There’s also data and queries that you can check and see what you can improve on while running the campaign. You’ll know if you’re doing good once you achieve the goals that you have for your ecommerce site using Google shopping campaigns.
Merchant Center Account on Google Shopping:
Tips on how to optimize Google Shopping
Here are the tips and tricks I promised to share with you. There is no one big solution for optimizing campaigns, but you can test the waters and see what tricks are working well for your Google Shopping Campaigns.
Photo Optimization
When it comes to Google Shopping, one of the best ways for you to optimize your campaigns is by using high-quality photos, which is a big thumb up for the policies and structure of Google Shopping Ads.
It's best to remember that Google Shopping is a product listing ad, and your product should have the best-optimized photos for potential buyers, or consumers will get attracted to your product.
Imagine that your product photo represents your brand and store, and you want to give out the best impression to your online audience. By choosing pictures that are clean, attractive, and show the accurate product.
Keep it professional by using a white background to make the products stand out more, and without lousy watermarks hanging around your product photo.
Sample of best product photo optimization:
The key is putting more attention to detail. You also might want to use image ALT and Title tags in the image file for optimization and organization. Consistency in the branding and product photos are also a big factor for your campaigns to be optimized.
There are also specific product photo size requirements you need to be aware of:
⦁ 64-megapixel resolution
⦁ 16 MB image size
This product photo size depends on the industry or category your product is in.
⦁ 100 x 100 pixels for auto parts.
⦁ 250 x 250 pixels for apparel.
It's all about asking the right questions, don't forget to put yourself on your customer's shoes. Does this photo make me want to buy my product? Do we look legit here? Is the product photo accurate to the real product?
Optimizing Product Titles
You need to take the Product title seriously since it's more than just choosing a name for your product listing for the sake of putting one since it plays a huge factor in increasing revenue and your impressions online.
Product Titles are essential as much as the title for optimizing Google Shopping campaigns. Google has always been strict on implementing its guidelines and policies, especially for ads.
Sample of a bad sample of product title:
Remember that Google is known for picking high-quality content online. So you better step up or say Adios to your Google Shopping campaigns as soon as now.
Product title is crucial since it has an immediate impact on the overall campaign and is also one of the feed attributes you can't simply ignore.
Sample of Product Title Structure based on Google requirement:
Best practices you can follow for optimizing product titles on Google Shopping Campaigns:
You can optimize product titles by being strict on following the 150 characters' length, no less. It's like doing meta tag and meta titles, so this shouldn't be a surprise to digital marketers now. Make sure that it's sweet and spicy for potential buyers to click on since Google tends to shorten product titles to 70 characters.
Place keywords and use the gathered data from Google on the relevant queries and implement them on your product titles. Remember, it's best to keep your content clean, and at the same time suitable.
According to a case study conducted by Search Engine Land on how important it is to optimize product titles, they found out that “more keyword-rich product titles saw a CTR uplift of 18 percent; while the CTR increase on the exact query match to the term that was added to the title was 88 percent. “How cool is that?
The next step that you can do to optimize your product title is by adding brand names to your title. If your ecommerce store is new, you probably need to adjust your goals by using descriptive words for your brand. Not unless your brand is already known then, by all means, include your brand name in the product title.
Always place the important information first before anything else since this makes the algorithm of Google easy to run through your title without cutting off the significant bits of your product.
Don't be vague about product titles, and you want to be specific and cohesive as much as possible. Keep in mind that people who are doing high-intensity searches on products tend to be highly specific on products they are looking for. So feel free to use modifiers such as color, size, and other information about your product.
The trick is that your ecommerce store titles are different from those in your Google Shopping campaigns, why? It's because Google Shopping is a high-technological algorithm, and if you want to achieve the best results on one of the excellent search engine/advertising platforms online.
Don't be lazy and work your ass off when it comes to creating creative yet compelling product titles. This is your chance to show off on Google Shopping's listing ad, and you don't want to be lame as a brand.
By optimizing your product titles on your Google shopping campaign, you're already increasing leverage among your competitors in the digital space. It's a noisy world out there, and only those who take their business seriously will win.
Google can be your friend and enemy when it comes to product titles, but you need to play by the rules of Google shopping to increase your chance of converting buyers.
If Google Shopping can't figure out what the heck is your product and category, then all of your hard work is wasted. That's a total bummer!
Improve product descriptions
Product descriptions are essential to be optimized if you want your Google shopping campaign to be a success. Google can be thorough on running through ads, and it's for a good reason.
Quality over quantity is such a big deal for this platform. So now that you know how important it is to pay attention to product titles, the same attention should be given to product descriptions.
Sample of a best product description:
This is where you have to give the crucial details in a product description such as the color, size, brand, pattern, texture, and other technicalities of the products.
This is your chance to answer the questions in their heads on why they should buy YOUR product. It's time for you to shine the spotlight on your babies with the product description.
You can be as creative, catchy, accurate on the information. But the catch is that Google allows 500-1000 characters. Don't push your luck by exceeding it since Google will cut your shit up. It will affect your campaigns immediately, and it will be just another sob story for your entrepreneurial journey.
The key is finding the right balance to highlight your product's best features while also staying within the limit.
It is better to keep your product description short and sweet than deal with bad product listing ads that no shopper would give a shit.
This way, it can stay optimized and Google-friendly, and your google shopping campaign can lead to more CTR or click-through rates, impressions, and an increase in revenues.
Don't ever try to mislead your buyers about your product with your product description. That's a golden rule when it comes to the ecommerce industry.
Always provide a structured and easy to understand information for your shoppers. Remember to enrich your product description content with relevant keywords from Google shopping ads data or queries.
Avoid the following when it comes to optimizing product description:
⦁ Promotional texts such as Buy now, or shop now
⦁ Capitalization
⦁ Information on payment, promos or sales
⦁ Link to your website or online store
Optimize for queries
If you're wondering how to optimize your queries and what its impact on the overall performance of your campaign, here's the thing: keeping track of data or queries that you get from your search campaigns.
Conducting keyword research and competitor analysis to analyze your product feed is essential. You have to know your shit, and you have to own it.
Being in the ecommerce industry, especially doing Google shopping campaigns, will make you reach your highest standards when it comes to doing business. This is the real deal, and you can't screw it up. Not only your profits and ROI are at risk but also the future of your ecommerce site. Google Shopping is a gold mine, especially to those who are ecommerce savvy and competitive in the field.
Analyze, study, and keep your eyes wide open for trends that you see. Check your product feed thoroughly, even the little details such as the important attributes. Everything that you do will play a big factor in the success of your campaign.
Keep optimizing queries since it's the fuel to your drive. The more that you learn the psychology behind the search queries of your potential buyers. The more you'll learn to speak their language and get into their heads. Try to win them, keep your campaigns optimize, accurate, and updated as always as your life depends on it.
Keep pricing in mind
Optimizing your Google shopping campaigns doesn't stop at the online stuff; You have to see what and how much do your competitors offer? Check if you’re selling the right product price online. It is best to remember that pricing also plays a crucial factor for buyers to buy your product.
Make sure that you offer the best deals with your product, but your brand is also reputable and valuable to them.
Retargeting Method
One of the best ways that you can optimize your Google shopping campaigns is by retargeting the old visitors of your product listings. It's one of the highly effective strategies to boost profits and revenues online. There are two ways for you to retarget with product listing ads or PLA's.
The first way is for you to place your Google shopping ads right in front of your retargeted audience. In that way, you can capture their attention if you're lucky that they already remembered your brand from before. They'll indeed click your ad in an instant.
The second way is to show your Google Adwords across the Google Display Network, such as youtube, Adwords, and others who have already seen your ads before. It's an excellent strategy for you to raise converts on your campaigns and ecommerce site.
Omnichannel Marketing
Make sure to optimize your campaign that can reach various devices features online, such as web, mobile, and other technologies. If you can optimize your ads, that will make shoppers easily access or see your ads being listed online. You don't want to pissed of potential customers by having an outdated version of your ads.
Besides, Google wouldn't even allow such a thing to happen, so before destroying your reputation online. Make sure that you have already seen through things ahead in reaching potential buyers online.
Creating a new ad campaign
If all else fails and after doing all the best that you can, throwing in the towel doesn't have to be a bad thing. You can start all over again and start from scratch.
It may feel like a bummer at first since after working hard on keeping your product listing campaigns run for a while, it's still not working out. But if it's not working, then you can try a different approach or strategy and start again. It may be costly or soul-crushing in the process.
But as the adage says, one door closes, another one opens. So learn from your mistakes and make sure to learn the in and out of Google Shopping campaigns before starting again. You never know, maybe you need to do another marketing or advertising strategy that works wonders for your ecommerce store.
Other Best practices to optimize your Google Shopping Campaigns:
⦁ Constantly run promotions of your products online
⦁ Keep an updated inventory of your products
⦁ Don't forget to sue geographic bids for the areas that you sell to
⦁ Boost individual products
And here are the quick strategies that you can do to Optimize your Google shopping campaigns and now that you're aware that it is not a piece of cake better put in the work, but trust me all of the hustle that you're putting in will make all the difference.
Remember that running a business, especially an ecommerce site online, can be daunting and awesome. Optimizing your products through your campaign is like the fuel to keep the ads up and running all the time.