With the advent of new customs like social distancing and home quarantining, consumers have turned to online shopping. As consumers have fallen in love with online shopping practices, you can see a cluster of online shopping platforms thriving nowadays.

The release of Google Shopping in 2012 has opened the door for online businesses to harness the power of Google even during the time of crisis.

Google Shopping is an online marketplace and a smart advertising platform through which you can boost quality traffic to your e-commerce website and drive more potential online buyers into your sales pipeline.

We have outlined the actual process of using Google Shopping for your online business. By the end of the blog, you will get a clear idea to embark on your e-commerce activities with Google Shopping.

What is the Advantages of Investing in Google Shopping?

Google Shopping is one of the online shopping services that allows you to stream your products on the search results. When online buyers search for products related to what you offer, Google will display interesting ads to help users gain insights about your products like this.

Google Shopping visually displays your products on the search results and grabs the attention of the prospective buyers. Over 6 million+ people visit Google Shopping monthly to compare products across multiple stores and brands. This states that a majority of users will check out your online store.

Google Shopping is proven to have a 30% higher conversion rate than text ads. As Google Shopping ads display image, price, rating, brand name, and other details, these ads seem more appealing to users than text ads.

How to Use Google Shopping?

Google Shopping ads are otherwise referred to as Product Listing Ads (PLA) that include product images, price, ratings, and other details. Google places these listings directly on the search results. A click on your ad will drive potential buyers directly to your online store.

Let’s dig deeper into this and explore the process of using Google Shopping for your e-commerce business.

1. Set-up a Google Merchant Center Account

Google Merchant Center is a tool through which you can upload your online store and product details on Google. Only if you upload your product information on Google, you can appear on Google Shopping Ads and other Google platforms. Before leveraging these perks, you need to sign in to the Google Merchant Center with few simple steps.

• In the sign-in form, fill your business location, name, and website URL
• Choose the exact options where your customers want to check – On your website or Google My Business listing or at a physical store
• Specify the tools you will work with and select the third-party platforms. To learn more about how to link third-party platforms, check out here
• Opt in to receive email updates regarding mandatory service announcements, tips, best practices, surveys, beta invites, opportunities, product data alerts, and orders

After you check the box in the terms and conditions tab, you will be directed to the website verification process. Once the verification process is over, your Merchant Center account will be registered.

2. Optimize Your Product Imagery

Google Shopping aims to give a highly visual experience to online buyers. To index your product images on search results, it uses uploaded product feeds but for the featured images it pulls images from the respective retailers’ websites. Therefore, it is essential to add your product images to your e-commerce website.

Moreover, if your product images are of low-quality Google will not permit your Google Shopping campaigns. To design an image with high-quality, check out this Google image guidelines page.

3. Collect and Add Your Product Feed Data

The main purpose to use Google Merchant Center is to inform Google you have products to sell and request Google to display ads for your products along with the product details for the most-relevant queries.

If you want Google to showcase your products to the right consumers, then it’s crucial that you have to upload a complete product inventory on Google Merchant Center.

With just a few simple steps, it’s easy to upload your product inventory.

• Within your Merchant Center account, click on the big blue + icon from the Feeds menu in the Products tab

Fill in all the basic information about your business like country, language, and other demographics

Give a name to your feed and select the right product data specification method to add your product data feed so Google would display amazing ads for your products

4. Link Your Google AdWords Account

While you type for a product on Google, you can see advertisements on the search results. By linking your Google Ads account with your Merchant Center account, you can request Google to display ads for your products.

• For this, login to your Google Merchant Center account and select Account Linking in the top-right corner

• Click on Create Account if you don’t have a Google Ads account otherwise click Link Account and enter your Google Ads ID. Now your Google Ads account is linked with the Google Merchant Center account

5. Create a Google Shopping Campaign

Once both your Google Ads and Google Merchant Center accounts are linked, you will now be eligible to run Google Shopping campaigns. Either through Google Merchant Center account or Google Ads account, you can host your ad campaigns successfully.

• In the Google Merchant Center account page, click Create Shopping Campaign and add the campaign name, country of sale, and daily budget.

• In Google Ads, click on New Campaign from the left-side corner in the Campaigns tab

• Select a campaign goal based on your preference

• Designate the campaign type as Shopping and display your Google Merchant Center account. Then mention the country of sale
• Choose a campaign subtype
• Fill details like campaign name, inventory filters, local inventory ads, and URL options

6. Place Bids on Your Shopping Campaign

Bidding refers to paying for people to see, click on, and interact with your ads. According to Google officials, “a sufficient bid and high-quality product data will earn your ad a higher rank.” To see the effects of bidding on your ads, use Google’s Bid Simulator tool.

• Specify your bidding strategy. Select the automated bid strategy option and get a budget for displaying your ads. If you are not happy with this, then specify your own maximum cost for ads by selecting Manual Cost-Per-Click(CPC) bidding strategy.

• Choose your campaign budget and set a delivery method for your budget. Further, you can prioritize your Google Shopping campaigns

7. Target and Schedule Your Shopping Campaign

Targeting and scheduling will determine who sees your products and when they have a major role to play within your Google Shopping campaigns.

• Select the right location where your target buyers and your physical store are available to deliver the products with ease

8. Build Ad Groups

Ad groups determine what type of ads you will run and the way you organize bidding for those ads. There are two types of ad groups you can run that include Product Shopping ads and Showcase Shopping ads.

Product Shopping ads display ads with your product image, title, price, and your store or business name without the need for you to create unique ads for each product you sell. Showcase Shopping ads show ads with lifestyle images that represent your brand or business.

If you choose Product Shopping ads, then you have to enter your ad group name and set a maximum Cost Per Click (CPC) bid. In Showcase Shopping ads, enter your ad group name and set a maximum Cost Per Engagement (CPE) bid.

Kick-start Your E-commerce Business with Google Shopping

As Google Shopping ads are the first thing that a searcher views on the search results, there are better opportunities to capture more potential leads into your sales funnel. Through consistent efforts and strategic techniques, you will leverage all the perks of Google Shopping ads.

If it seems hard for you to implement smart strategies by tracking the performance of your Google Shopping ads, then hire strategists who have in-depth knowledge and years of experience on the Google Shopping platform.

At ColorWhistle, our skilled PPC ad strategists formulate techniques that drive better ROI for your online store through Google Shopping ads. If you have plans to reach us, drop us a message or give us a call +1 (919) 234-5140. We are ready to partner with you.

Why did you decide to invest in Google Shopping ads? Leave your thoughts in the comments box. We are happy to hear back from you.