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Google Shopping Campaigns help you advertise and sell your products via Google platforms using their prerequisite formats.

Google Shopping enables users to search and compare products directly on a Google platform, depending on their search queries. After you submit your product in the format given by Google, it shows up as a product ad, this tiny square of online real estate that’s exceptionally viable for selling products.

High Profitable Google Shopping Checklist (2023) – AdNabu 

Google Ads and its partner tools have stormed the world of eCommerce and retail because they facilitate focus on more crucial parts of running a business and automate frustrating processes that once consumed a lot of time and effort.

Table of Contents

What is a Google Shopping ad?

Google Shopping advertisements are based on search terms images, not keywords like standard text ads. This makes them more engaging and convincing, and your website or online store is likely to boost leads and conversions.

Google Shopping ads fall under the category of paid ads and are also generally known as Product Listing Ads, a term that Google once used. They appear across Google’s Search and Shopping platforms and are open for users to view and click on, should they be interested. They’re a crucial advertising channel for eCommerce businesses because appearing in search network results early in the search funnel allows retailers to drive direct conversions and be noticed from the beginning of a buyer’s journey.

A sophisticated Google Shopping plan is a must for marketers and e-retailers looking to make a big splash this year and in future years because comparison shopping is trending in the consumer world, and this tool makes it all the more accessible.

Why do you need Google Shopping Ads for your eCommerce business?

Despite its many benefits, Google Shopping Ads continue to be overlooked by retail players, both big and small. In fact, these ads account for only 20% of retail paid search clicks, according to Forbes, so the remaining 80% makes a more than viable entryway into driving more conversions. In a nutshell, Shopping Ads generate sales for your eCommerce store. While breaking down the benefits, though, these ones stick out:

Benefit #1: More effective than text ads.

A traditional Google Shopping Ad displays a high-quality product image, a clear headline, and a price tag. Sometimes they may even contain star ratings and reviews. The added visual element instantly attracts a user’s eye way more effectively than a chunk of text would, however, well-written it is.

Benefit #2: Links to your product data feeds.

Shopping ads are created with information from your data feed. The automated feature pulls product headlines and pricing data from your feed on Google Merchant Center, which is why this feed must be up-to-date, complete, and accurate. However, this bypasses the process of manually creating shopping ads and adding photographs, which is highly time-consuming.

Benefit #3: Increases conversions.

Research has found that marketers who spend more on Google Shopping Ads while looking at it as a viable advertising option tend to see up to 130% higher rates of conversion in comparison to regular shopping ads. This is partly because it’s placed overall organic and traditional PPC ads. The visual content adds to the winning formula because it’s interpreted faster and better by the human brain, unlike plain text, which constitutes the rest of the search page.

Benefit #4: Can include additional information.

Google Shopping ads aren’t limited to images and headlines; by using extensions, a business can include more relevant information for users. This could boost engagement and drive sales. Examples of these are reviews and particular promotion indicators. By making them this customizable, Google essentially allows marketers to maximize the use of minimal ad space.

Benefit #5: Reduced Costs Per Click.

Shopping Ads inevitably lead to better click-through rates. This, in turn, lowers your costs per click, saving ad spending and giving you more traffic for what you have invested. In the long run, this leads to higher returns on investment (ROI) which means you could invest more and see higher sales.

Benefit #6: Great mobile visibility.

On mobile browsers, traditional PPC ads are only shown two at once. This makes it much harder to secure a spot because it’s valuable and highly competitive. However, Google Shopping Ads get placed by default on the top. The carousel layout also currently allows up to 15 search results, which means competition isn’t as tight- it all boils down to how relevant your product is to that particular mobile user’s search query.

Benefit #7: Automatic updates.

This is a massive draw for using Google Shopping Ads. Once you’ve set up a product feed on Google Merchant Center, the Google Shopping campaign is automatically updated every night to ensure that you’re not bidding on out-of-stock products, broken links, or irrelevant search queries. It works the same way with adding products; fresh products are added to the feed within a fixed time frame, so there’s no need to manually manage ads.

Benefit #8: Clearer data.

Analytics data for Google Shopping Campaigns are generated based on products, not by product type or ad group. This way, you can filter and segment data dimensions based on products or product attributes. This gives you a clearer picture of ad spending and segmenting and helps you identify what product is selling better in case you’re looking to optimize or promote it more. With a little more research, you can also get anonymous data about your competitors’ graphs to make comparisons and optimizations more fruitful.

How to create perfect Google Shopping Ads for your eCommerce business

Google’s default way is one of the leading ways to set up a Google Shopping Ad. However, it can take some time to get used to navigating around the tool and looking for more information, especially since an active Google Merchant Center account is also a prerequisite. Here’s how to set up the perfect Google Shopping Ad.

Method #1: The default way

  1. Log in to your Google Ads account.
  2. Navigate to the menu on the left and click on ‘Campaigns.’
  3. Click on the ‘plus’ button and then on ‘New Campaign.’
  4. Set ‘Shopping’ as your campaign type and then hit ‘Next.’
  5. Identify and set your preferences for campaign name, merchant, bidding, campaign priorities, daily budget, and other factors.
  6. Hit ‘Save’ and then ‘Continue.’
  7. Choose the ad group required: Product Shopping Ads (recommended for newbies) or Showcase Shopping Ads.
  8. To create your first ad group, enter all the required information.
  9. Click on ‘Save.’

To move into creating a new ad.

  1. Select the campaign under which you want to create an ad.
  2. Click on ‘Ads’ and then on the ‘ Ad’ dropdown.
  3. Choose the right format and fill in the prerequisite information.
  4. Click on ‘Save Ad.’

It’s important to note that your new ad will appear in the ‘Ads’ tab once saved, but it will not be promoted to users until Google reviews and approves it. Depending on the selected format, this process may take a few days.

Method #2: The AdNabu way

While setting up might be simple, understanding the functioning of Google Shopping and Google Ads requires quite a while. If your company has no time or resources but desperately requires this function to support your product feed, you can sign up on AdNabu to get much-needed attention.

You can learn precisely how to use Google Ads and all its features to increase conversions by more than 30%. The company manufactures and monitors multiple Shopping Ad campaigns that will fulfill your company goals and can identify the best-performing campaigns with high ROI from the very start.

Best Practices for creating Google Shopping Ads for your eCommerce store

To launch successful ads and bring in leads and revenue, there are quite a few ‘best practices and tips and tricks that you need to tack on to your Google Shopping checklist.

Best Practice #1: Refine your product data feed.

Setting up a Shopping Campaign is nearly impossible without an accurate data feed on Google Merchant Center. It is also crucial to have a working process by which the marketers can regularly update stocks, pricing, product details, and availability.

Best Practice #2: Make sure your feed matches your website.

The information on your data feed- product name, images, and pricing- needs to be harmonious with what’s on your website. If not, it’ll come across as an error or anomaly, and Google will automatically stop showing your product ads. You can use Google’s spreadsheets to maintain this or a third-party API if you have too many products that can’t be manually managed.

Best Practice #3: Use keywords in your shopping ad titles.

Product titles are key to running a successful Shopping Ad. As irrelevant as keywords are to actually display your ads, they’re essential when crafting product titles; keyword-rich titles that correspond neatly to the search term convey to the user that they’re in the right place. This pushes them to click on the ad and follow through to your landing page.

Best Practice #4: Use high-quality photographs.

Photos with logos, watermarks, or on-display pixels will irrevocably be rejected by Google’s strict algorithms. To prevent this from happening and delaying your ad campaigns, use high-resolution images where the product stands alone and against a white or plain background. Nothing should take away from the product being advertised.

Best Practice #5: Start with a smaller data feed.

If you’re just dipping your toes into Google Shopping and ads, then consider beginning with a smaller data feed with only a few products. This way, if it doesn’t work out or isn’t optimized enough, you can pull back the campaign without suffering too much of a loss in ad spending.

Best Practice #6: Organize your product groups.

Segmenting your products into groups is key; consider doing it based on ROI. A good way to start selecting categories is to use your eCommerce store’s navigational category pages. Since you already have your products organized, you can clone that set up in your product groups and ad campaigns.

Best Practice #7: Maintain your Quality Score.

Your quality score, which Google assigns to you, is an assessment of the quality of your product advertisements, keywords used, and landing pages for your website. The precise metrics used to measure are kept under wraps. Still, it’s common knowledge that a quality score can have a significant effect on the likelihood of an eCommerce store being picked to display their Shopping Ads against a search term.

Best Practice #8: Use product promotions.

This is an excellent feature that almost always leads to higher conversion rates. If your business runs any special promotions, be sure to tack them on to the promotional text in your shopping ad. Make sure these are relevant and are in sync with what’s being carried out on your website, or else they won’t be displayed.

Best Practice #9: Maintain your landing pages.

Your Google Merchant Center data feed is linked directly to your landing page, which is the first page your potential customers land on when they click an interesting Shopping Ad. It’s clear, then, that a clean, accurate landing page is significant for bringing in a lead and retaining them as a customer. Ensure that there are no low-quality images, broken links, unnecessary redirects, and out-of-stock products on the main landing page.

Things to look out for a while creating Google Shopping Ads for your eCommerce store

Google Shopping takes a while to understand and weave into digital marketing strategies like all tools. There are also some facets that firms tend to overlook, realizing they exist only after they have affected their campaigns negatively in one way or another. Consider keeping these pointers in mind when creating Google Shopping Ads and, in general, carrying out your campaign:

Consideration #1: Using negative keywords to your advantage.

To reiterate, keywords aren’t a core factor in successfully implementing shopping campaigns. However, negative keywords are essential when streamlining your traffic and weeding out irrelevant leads. A negative keyword is a keyword you don’t want to match with; setting those will also give Google perspective on the kind of users to send your way.

Consideration #2: Make sure your prices are accurate.

While Google Shopping Ads can display prices as part of an ad extension, they need to be accurate to make it through the screening process. This is vital when dealing with foreign currencies, so make sure your conversions are correct down to the last decimal.

Consideration #3: Shopping campaigns are country-specific.

Leading on from the previous point, keep in mind that Google Shopping ads are displayed on a country-specific basis. Therefore, if you’re marketing to different countries, you’ll need more than one ad campaign- one for each country. This also means you’ll need more than one data feed in Google Merchant Center.

Consideration #4: Make sure your URLs work.

Google requires that you specify a destination URL in your Shopping ad. Ensure that these are live, accurate, and up-to-date links. Any hint of a 404 error or a dead page link and your ad will not show on search engines because it was disapproved.

Consideration #5: Bids are placed on products, not keywords.

Since Google Shopping Ads are displayed based on search terms, bidding is done on products or product groups, not keywords. This gives the marketer a massive amount of control; it lets you set your own bids on individual products or groups depending on how much you’re willing to spend or how fast-selling that product is. This feature comes in handy during sales and discount seasons.

Consideration #6: Ensure the ‘Everything Else’ group works.

Every time you segment products into a group, you’ll find an ‘everything else’ group being created. This automatically sets up a campaign that serves as a catch-all for products that may not fit neatly into the categories or groups you’ve already defined. This way, you won’t lose out on traffic even if these products are a little out of the way because they’re still valuable to a user looking for something like them.

Consideration #7: Use the Search Impression Share metric.

This metric is critical in identifying which product group has the potential to grow beyond the rate it’s already at. It will also indicate how well or poorly your product is performing compared to others selling similar products.

Consideration #8: Use Smart Shopping Campaigns.

This type of campaign merges standard Shopping ads and display remarketing ad campaigns to expand the reach and maximize conversion rates within the set budget. This elevates your existing standard campaigns and acts as a safety net to target users who visited your website but didn’t buy anything.

Conclusion

It’s always helpful to keep this checklist handy while setting up, breaking down, or re-optimizing Shopping campaigns. It ensures that you’ve hit all the right spots, haven’t left a stone unturned, and are well on your way towards increasing ROI while reducing CPC and, in general, getting the most out of your ad spend.

Author

CEO and co founder of AdNabu. Exploring the intersection of data and marketing