What is Google Shopping?

Google Shopping (which used to be called Product Listing Ads), is a free tool that lets businesses showcase their physical products on the search engine results page (SERP) or under the ‘Shopping’ tab. With this game-changing approach, potential customers can view your products before even visiting your website.

A Google Shopping listing features key product details, including:

• A product image
• Product name
• Retailer’s name
• Product price

This visual placement can also include extra information, like customer reviews and different sizes.

Here’s how it works:

When a user searches for a given keyword, Google scours its Merchant Center database to find the most suitable products to show. More specifically, it looks at the product information you’ve supplied to choose which products are most relevant to the search query. That means no keyword bidding.

Instead, you’ll need to upload precise product data to Google Merchant Center if you want it to be in the running. More on this below.

How to set up a Google Merchant account

To get started with Google Shopping, you need two things: an Ecommerce platform like Shopify or Woocommerce and a Google Merchant Center account.

This is how to set up a Merchant account:

1. Before signing up for Merchant Centre, you’ll need a Google Account (which you can create here if you don’t already have one!). Once that’s sorted, simply sign into Merchant Center with these logins.

2. Input your business details:

a. List your registered ‘Business address’.
b. Change the time zone manually if needed (this is automatically set based on the selected region under ‘Business address’).
c. State your business name for display across Google.
d. Share and confirm your phone number.
e. Add up to four social media profiles.
f. Include your customer support channel, whether a website URL, email address and/or phone number.
g. Upload your seller logo.

3. Choose the checkout options for your customers. These include on your website, via the Google listing itself or in-store at your local shop.

4. Connect your Merchant Account with third-party platforms used to market or sell your products

5. Opt in for free listings by selecting ‘Show your products in product listings on Google that are free of charge’.

6. Verify your website by adding an HTML tag, uploading an HTML file, connecting it to Google Tag Manager or linking it to Google Analytics

7. Claim your website by logging in to Merchant Center and clicking the ‘Claim website’ button at the bottom right. This gives your account exclusive association with your website.

8. Create a product feed. This file will feature a list of products with assigned attributes, which are then used to group the products. A feed can be used more than once across as many Merchant Center features as required.

9. There are a few different ways to set up your product feed based on the structured data markup on your website. Here are your options:

a. If your site has the right setup, Google can scrape it and automatically pull the data into a product feed in the Merchant Centre, which will dynamically update in line with your site. This input method is called Website Crawl.
b. The Scheduled Fetches input method lets you set an uploading schedule for your product data feed, hosted on your website. Google will do its best to download the file from your site and upload it to your Merchant Centre account as per this schedule.
c. The Content API for Shopping can serve as an input source for your product data.
d. Upload your product data to the feed by supplying the right attributes on a Google Sheets template. These nuggets of information help to describe a product to Google (and customers searching for items like yours!). Examples include [title], [condition] and [availability]. Some have fixed, standardised values, while others are open-ended for you to fill in as needed.

10. Last but not least, link your Google Ads account if you’d like to boost your presence with a paid campaign.

The most important piece of advice for this whole process?

To come up for the right searches and drive sales, you need to add precise product details to the Google Merchant Center. That means clear descriptions, high-quality images, accurate pricing, and useful variations like colour and size.

After all, every little detail can be the difference between a consumer clicking on your listing or scrolling to a competitor’s.

Keep reading to learn how to maximise your brand’s reach through Google Shopping.

Boost your Google Shopping activity with paid ads

Once you’re all set up, you can complement organic listings with paid ads by linking your Google Merchant Center (GMC) to your Google Ads account.

With more visible placements across the Google network, these pay-per-click ads have the potential to attract a larger customer base!

You can build and manage Google Shopping ads straight from the Merchant Center.

Both standard Shopping campaigns and Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns are available. With the latter campaign type, you choose the goals you wish to achieve, and the campaign’s spending will stick to a set monthly budget.

All you have to do to get started is set your budget, name your campaign and select the country where your products are for sale. If needed, you can make other adjustments, like tweaking bidding options, audiences, locations or budget, in Google Ads.

Google’s machine learning will then work its magic to meet your objectives, optimising ads based on campaign settings and the Merchant Center product data.

Be careful when setting this up, though. We’ve heard of lots of clients running dynamic search ads and display ads alongside their PMAX campaigns by mistake.

Who should take care of Google Shopping management?

Sure, you could manage your Google Shopping activity on your own without any professional support.

But here’s the catch.

Google Shopping is an exceptionally competitive place to market your products.

And standing out in this super crowded space is no easy feat. Simply setting up a campaign and crossing your fingers won’t reel in the results you’re after.

Now, throw in the fact that this platform is notoriously challenging to navigate – especially if you have a chunky product SKU catalogue. Retailers with plenty of SKUs often find it difficult to optimise bids manually without the required expertise.

Maintaining a feed – particularly through site changes if the Website Crawl method doesn’t work – is exceptionally challenging and time-consuming.

Long story short? Google Shopping management demands a huge degree of skill, experience and optimisation to achieve a strong return on investment.

That’s where Redback comes in.

One of the smartest moves you can make to maximise this tool is to team up with a professional PPC agency like ours.

From initial account setup and feed creation to ad optimisation and performance tracking, having a reliable digital agency on your side means that seasoned specialists are fine-tuning your campaigns all the time. This helps to ensure your ads reach the right audience at the right moment.

And when your ads resonate with your target market, you’ll see a noticeable improvement in your conversion rates – and ultimately, your online sales and revenue.

Advantages of effective Google Shopping management

The benefits of Google Shopping for both online and offline retailers are manifold. By running these campaigns, you can drive targeted traffic to your physical or Ecommerce store. Done right, the result can be a game-changing rise in sales and revenue!

Take a look at each advantage below.

Reach consumers who are ready to buy

With the Shopping network, you can showcase visual ads of your entire product catalogue to consumers who are actively hunting for solutions just like yours. It’s an easy and adaptable way to promote at the point of need.

That’s because Google Shopping ads tend to take centre stage at the top of SERPs for product-related searches. In other words, they’re often the first thing a user notices. Plus, Their eye-catching images stand out starkly against the text-heavy remainder of the SERP, giving you a prime chance to pull in customers.

And it’s not all about the visuals, either.

These ads can also serve up essential information needed to make a purchase, warming up potential buyers before they even click through to your website.

Promote your products free of charge

Thanks to Merchant Center, you can promote products to in-market audiences across Google and guide them to buy on your website or in your physical store – all without spending a cent.

You can also share your operating hours, showcase in-stock products and respond to reviews through a complimentary Business Profile.

Maximise ROI with AI

By displaying your ads to the ideal customers at the optimal times across various Google platforms, Performance Max campaigns leverage Google’s AI to increase sales and drive ROI.

Learn more about this powerful technology with our quick guide to Google Ads types.

Boost sales with paid search

Once you’re all set with free listings, you’ll have the option to promote your products even more with paid ads driven by machine learning.

Leveraging product data from your Merchant Centre feed, these Performance Max campaigns will run across multiple Google channels. Essentially, they’ll match ads to a user’s search based on inventory details. That way, your most relevant products will be presented at the perfect moment.

Plus, this paid search activity can all be managed from one place – your Google Ads account.

Make the most of remarketing

Take advantage of remarketing, a key tactic in any retailer’s digital toolkit that focuses on users who have abandoned their shopping carts.

With Google Shopping, you can reconnect with these potential customers. By presenting the precise product again, it’s easy to encourage them to return to your website and complete their purchase.

Gain performance insights

Enhance your decision-making with invaluable data. Google Shopping lets you create customised reports on your business, products, and customers.

By analysing crucial performance indicators, such as store traffic and top-selling products, you can call the shots with confidence.

Support in-store sales

Show off your store to local customers searching on Google for similar products nearby. You’ll also be positioned to stay ahead of quickly changing consumer trends in your region.

Learn how competitive your prices are relative to other local retailers, see which products are showing up next to yours, and even check out how shoppers are interacting with your business on Google Maps.

How to measure Google Shopping campaign performance

If you’ve decided to take the reins on Google Shopping management, it’s important to keep an eye on several key performance metrics.

Your digital team for Google Shopping management

At Redback, we know Google Shopping inside and out. From optimising inventory data to applying key insights to your wider digital marketing strategy, our experienced and reliable team is here to help your business sell more products online.

For end-to-end support with Google Shopping management, give us a call at (02) 4962 2236 or submit an online enquiry.