Digital Insight

Google Shopping:
The Essential Beginner’s
Guide.
Google Shopping has fast become both a leading
traffic source and a sales advantage. Here’s your
ultimate Web Bureau guide to leaping ahead of the
competition…
GOOGLE SHOPPING: Whether you’re already retailing online or
exploring how you can go from bricks and
YOUR SHOPPING CART’S mortar to a virtual store, there’s never been a
NEW BEST FRIEND better time to do it.

The opportunities to not only make instant sales, but to also find,
target and reach your most lucrative customer base, growing a
business into a brand along the way, are practically infinite.

But that also means the challenges are many too: how and
where do you focus your marketing activity? How do you
meet customers’ ever increasing expectations of what makes
a good shopping experience? And how do you cut through the
competition, whether they’re the big players or smaller outfits in
the margin-cutting race to the bottom?

Meet Google Shopping…

Get Set Up for Success

The first of a two part series, this essential Google Shopping

guide, tells you everything you need to know about creating and
optimising your ‘Feed’.

Ready to open your Google store? Let’s go…

The Web Bureau’s eCommerce experts work alongside your

team to feed your products into a strategic selection of
online marketplaces and global channels.
 Q WHAT? WHY? HOW?
YOUR GOOGLE
Google Shopping (formerly Google Product
Search, Google Products and Froogle) is a
Google service which allows users to search
SHOPPING QUESTIONS for products on online shopping websites and
compare prices between different vendors.
ANSWERED. Google Shopping - Wikipedia

Before we get into the ‘how’, let’s explore the ‘what?’

Google Shopping is the next big thing in retail.

Otherwise known as Product Listing Ads (PLAs), these little

thumbnails appear in the top or top right of a search results page
and they also populate the ‘shopping’ tab page.

For now, we’re concentrating on the results that appear on the

main search results page – because that’s where you want to be!

Why?
These ads are now one of the leading traffic sources, enabling you
to attract new customers at a competitive cost.
Ask us how we would analyse your data to explore
If you’re not showing up in these search results, you’re missing out!
customer journeys, review your sales funnel and monitor
the check-out process. By refining the experience for
existing users and maximising their conversion rate, we can
help you drive sales.
LET’S GO GOOGLE SHOPPING!

It’s not rocket science. But there is an art to Setting up and managing Google Shopping ads is very different from
setting up traditional text ads. With text ads, you’ll create campaigns and
getting Google to love your stuff so much, they
ads around keywords. In Google Shopping, you’ll need to concentrate on:
push it out to your potential customers.
So let’s begin with the mechanics of it all… Creating and Optimising Your Feed
…which is a big job as it covers product data, images and price. Mastering
Powered by two platforms, Adwords and Google Merchant Center, this is key!
Google Shopping puts the power of your products showing up in
search results in Google’s hands. Ready to get started? Let’s go…

Google Merchant Center is home to your product feed.

Adwords houses your shopping campaigns and is where you

Web Bureau: A Certified Google Partner
manage your budget and bids, and fine tune insights and
optimisation.
We work alongside our Google Account Manager
to provide the highest level of insight into market
To determine which search queries are best answered by your
trends, competitor data, conversion rates, search
ads, Google takes into account your feed, your site and your bids. volumes and more.
Which makes setting up your ads a bit like working on your SEO.
But different…

Watch out for our second guide – Advanced Google Shopping – to

find out more about managing your budget and bids.
CREATING A SUPERIOR SHOPPING
EXPERIENCE: THE BASICS
Google is a data driven company that, to be successful, wants
to give its shoppers useful information. This approach is also
good for retailers as it drives sales. So Google does want you to
succeed – it’s just not always straightforward!

Great Google Shopping starts with:

A Google Merchant Account

A Google Merchant Account is free, easy to manage and essential to getting your product
to their millions of search engine users faster and better. So, if you haven’t already, get
your products listed as a matter of priority. BONUS FEATURE: Google’s location-based
technology and availability checking features can also drive shoppers to your bricks and
mortar store.

A Sharp Image
“In order to provide a high-quality
Advertising with Google Shopping can double or triple click through rates in comparison
experience to our users, the product data
with text only ads. Plus: optimising your product images gets your image to users faster
provided to Google needs to accurately
than anything else. That’s because it’s a more visual experience, and when Google is
incorporating your product feed into category pages for comparison shopping, the best
describe your items and has to reflect the
images will stand out, time after time. status of the products on your website at
all times. If your product data doesn’t meet
our quality standards, your products will be
Doing What Google Tells You!
removed from Google shopping until the
Sticking to the rules and presenting your best side are essential – exactly as Google
Merchant Center says: issues have been addressed.”
GOOGLE’S SHORT GUIDE TO LOOKING SHARP

DO DON’T
Use a solid white, gray, or light coloured background Submit images smaller than 32×32 pixels or larger than 64
megapixels (apparel images must be at least 250×250 pixels)
Show the product in clear, even lighting
Scale up images or thumbnails
Show the product with a view that clearly represents the item
being sold. Back views and close-ups can be used for additional Use watermark, logo, or text overlay
images, but not the main image
Use borders around the image
Show the product at the correct scale, not too big or too small.
Include more than one product in the image,
A product should ideally fill no less than 75%, but not more than
unless it’s a bundle
90%, of the full image
Use a multi-coloured, dark,
Make sure the image is free of blur, noise, excessive jpeg artifacts,
or patterned background
or other image artifacts like pixelation, fringing, and fading out
eCommerce. Integrated

More efficient eCommerce

Any or all of these things won’t just impact on starts and ends with fully
sales, it may also mean Google will delist you. integrated solutions that
minimise admin time
and manual input. And
we can recommend the
best ones for you, whether
in stock management,
accountancy, EPOS, CRM
or email marketing.
CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
It’s pretty straightforward – just follow our guide to get going, and then we can get on to the fun stuff: building your
feed and optimising the lot to sell, sell, sell! Look out for our advanced guide to find out how to really optimise your
feed through better and more effective bidding.

The three accounts you’ll need are:

Google Merchant Center Google Analytics

This is where your feed will live – that’s your product data - and While you’re here, set up and connect Google Analytics and conversion tracking, so
where you set tax and shipping rules. You can build your feed you can get Analytics data inside AdWords and AdWords data in Analytics! You can do
by manually entering product data or by using a plug-in, app or this either by generating an AdWords tracking code and dropping that into your order
extension that pulls in data from your site and formats it in the way confirmation page. Or you can pull in conversions from Google Analytics.
Google likes. www.google.com/merchants To connect your AdWords and Analytics accounts, click on the top right wheel by your
email address and account ID, click through to linked accounts, and click on Merchant
To get started, you’ll need to verify ownership of your site – you can Center.
do this easily by logging into your domain registrar and giving Google
access. You’ll also need to enter any relevant sales tax and shipping You can create conversion tracking in AdWords by going into Conversions in the Tools tab.
rates. You’ll then need to link Merchant Center to...
Google Analytics is great if you want the benefits of:
Adwords
More ways to track conversion - get the details like seeing where customers are coming
In your Merchant account, you’ll find AdWords under settings – click
from, or if they visited your site more than once, from first click to assisted conversion –
to use your 10 digit AdWords ID to join your accounts. You’ll need to
all essential to evaluating Google Shopping as a channel.
use the same email address for both accounts.

Evaluating engagement data – assessing things like time spent on site, average pages per
Now you’re ready to set up a Google Shopping Campaign in the
session and bounce rate can give valuable insights to your customer experience.
Campaigns tab.

The value of remarketing lists – you can create lists based on time spent on site, pages
visited or activities carried out, such as filling in a form. These kinds of segmented lists
gives you more options for better targeting.
OPTIMISE YOUR FEED. MAXIMISE
YOUR SALES.
If you can’t pick the keywords your product listing gets
selected in search for, how do you optimise your product feed
to get results?

As Google trawls your feed and determines if one or more of your products are suitable for
a search query, you must format your feed in a way that Google likes - so it can read and
understand.

So Google Shopping is similar to SEO: you just need to find and follow the structure
Google can make sense of.

You are always aiming to set up your feed to:

• Show up in the RIGHT search queries

• Earn clicks
• Easily manage optimisation and management

The two main ways you can do this are by:

You can easily decide which
• Manually entering your product information into a spread sheet
is for you from the volume of
• Using an extension, plug-in, app or service that uses the data from your site and your products: if you have just
formats it for you a few, manual entry is quick
and easy. If you have hundreds
or thousands… you’ll need to
automate!
MASTERING YOUR FEED: Product Title
This MUST be accurate and descriptive or Google just won’t know where to put it,
THE KEY ELEMENTS meaning you show up in all the wrong places. If you’ve experience of SEO, you’ll
know just how important a title tag is – this is exactly the same!
Getting the basics right is key to optimising
So you must:
your feed. And while requirements will vary
• Include top keywords
by product or category type, there are some
• Use the name of the product
boxes that everyone has to tick: • Include the details – colour, size, brand – this is ESSENTIAL to maximising
your chances of showing up in an active buyer’s search
• Front load the details – put the important stuff first (Product / Brand / Size /
Colour is a good guide)
• If you’re in a specialist area, include things like model numbers or known
category identifiers like year or edition

The key is to squeeze the maximum out of Google’s 150 character limit: think
carefully about what is essential and use all of those characters to the max!
With that in mind, there are a few things you should never do – use these as your
guide:

• Never use a keyword more than once in the title

• Never add promotional text – this is not the place!
• Never be vague – it’s not a catch all and in fact will do the opposite, leaving
you out of specific searches
• Never use ALL CAPS – Google disapproves!
Product Description Product Type
Now we’re getting into the detail. We would say your description is just While not essential, Product Type can be important if you haven’t been
as important as your title as Google uses it to help determine which able to find the right category. In any case, it always helpful to fill out
keywords trigger listings. wherever possible.

It’s essential to get it right: • Use your site’s taxonomy or category breadcrumbs – in fact, you can

• Be concise and accurate – that means thinking carefully about how copy and paste these easily!

the marketplace or your customer would describe the item • Be descriptive – layer the info as per breadcrumbs, for example:

• Use keywords – and choose them carefully

• Don’t overdo it – only use a specific keyword once Image
• Keep it straightforward and simple: You don’t need to tell a story or First impressions aren’t just important, in Google Shopping, they’re
oversell critical.
• Short is sweet – you won’t get penalised for an overlong description,
but on the other hand, concise, descriptive and accurate is the gold The image is perhaps the most important factor in getting clicks – so it
standard must be good.

Category So make sure:

Google has a category and subcategory for almost everything, meaning • It’s clearly visible – even in thumbnail size
everything has its place. • There’s a white background – Google demands it
• There are no watermarks/logos – Google prohibits it
If your product is in the right place, it’s easy for Google to find it. • It’s compelling – if your product isn’t attractive, it won’t attract clicks
However, Google has (currently!) 6,215 categories and sub-categories to
choose from. Price
After the image, the price can be the click-through deal maker or breaker!
So you can see how categorising your product correctly is essential.
Particularly so if your product is exactly the same as the other retailers or
In most cases, your product will fit neatly into a category. Where it
in markets where customers are price sensitive.
doesn’t, get in the category you feel is most appropriate – your Product
Type will then help Google to identify your product.
In these cases, a high price can damage your listing. Conversely, where
your product is unique or has well-sold advantages, buyers may expect a
higher price point and so this can be a benefit.
Product Description Sales Tax
Lots of products are searched for by brand name and so, whether yours Where this applies, you can set up sales tax in your Google Merchant
or somebody else’s, Google needs to know. Active buyers are most often Center in general account settings.
also brand conscious and so including a brand name can take you to a
readymade buyer. Other Essentials
Don’t forget – these bits are essential! They’re also quick and easy to fill
Clothing out so shouldn’t cause any headaches.
The clothing market is a little more complex given the diversity of the
audience – so it’s good that Google offers the following guide: Availability – choose from in stock, out of stock or pre-order
Condition – choose from new or used
• Gender: male, female, or unisex
• Age Group: newborn, infant, toddler, kids, adult Custom Labels
• Colour
Solely for your benefit, custom labels can however help you to optimise
• Size
bids.
• Size Type: regular, petite, plus, big and tall, maternity
• Size System: US, UK, EU and more
You can use them to describe product attributes (such as top seller,
seasonal, offer, etc) that make optimisation easier.
MPN & GTIN
These are the Manufacturer’s Product Number and the Google Trade
Identification Number.

And they’re essential. If you’re a product reseller, you’ll need to get your
GTIN (previously or otherwise known as a UPC) from the manufacturer.

Shipping
For ease and efficiency, set up your shipping rules in your Merchant
Center than on a product by product basis. GMC allows you to set up free
shipping, flat rate shipping, and carrier calculated shipping.
Quality Score for PLAs
Web Bureau Tips:
Quality Score naturally leads to more clicks and happy shoppers.

Try the Google Shopping app for Shopify to get your feed
Text ad campaigns give a quality score for each keyword. But while PLAs
aren’t quite so transparent, each product has a quality score for relevant up and running quickly.
search queries determined by:
Check out MOZ On-Page Grader to see how optimised your
• Your CTR or expected CTR product pages are for keywords.
• Your ad relevance
• Your landing page experience

Your ad rank is determined by:

Quality Score x Max CPC = Ad Rank

Meaning that a higher quality score can allow you to pay less than a
competitor and still outrank them.

For PLAs, the quality score is much the same with one main difference: it’s
based on feed relevance rather than ad relevance.

So, again, creating a great feed is essential!

HAPPY SHOPPING! Find out more today or give us a call…

You’re open for business but there’s no time to rest on your laurels!

Google Shopping is such a dynamic and evolving platform, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your numbers, reports and the
competition - seasonal changes, sales and search will all affect your results. So make a plan to check in with your reporting as
frequently as necessary and take a proactive approach to tinkering with bidding and optimisation to see what really works for you.

Check out our Advanced Guide to Google Shopping to see how you can optimise We can show you how to grow your eCommerce capabilities with cutting-
your feed for maximum results. edge workshops.

Delivered to small groups of clients with potential for growth, our

Ready to be a Google Shopping Superstar? workshops are tailored and cover all key areas of ecommerce, including:
Work with us! We deliver high performing eCommerce strategies built for growth.
• Strategy and growth planning
• An ecommerce focused digital agency & multi-award winning team • Design and user experience
• Creative ecommerce solutions, aligned with your brand • Ecommerce platform user training
• Strategies proven to engage and convert customers, time and time again • Magento user training
• An internationally recognised digital marketing team - driving online sales • Social media marketing
• Fast, reliable and secure hosting solutions • Search engine marketing
• Dedicated aftercare - working towards your continual growth • Email marketing

Visit our website for more information or get in touch…

Belfast +44 (0)28 9073 1190 Dublin +353 (0)1 905 3217 Email info@thewebbureau.com.