6 Ways to Optimize Your Google Shopping Feed
For eCommerce merchants, paid search has become less of a choice and more of a necessity. Most use PPC in some form, usually text ads. However, in our experience, clients have had greater success for less money with Google Shopping ads and PLAs, as compared to traditional text ads. Google Shopping campaigns differ from text ads in several key ways, so you can’t use all the same optimization techniques. Let’s examine 6 ways to optimize a Google Shopping feed for more conversions.
1. Complete product data attributes
One of the most important parts of your Google Shopping feed is the product data attributes. These attributes help Google know when to display your products and help shoppers find what they are looking for. Leaving attributes blank can result in lost sales because your competitors may be filling them in, giving more information to customers. For example, if a customer is looking for women’s red pants, but your product data does not include gender of the correct color attribute, your product may not show up at all or customers may not click on it because they can’t tell if the pants are men’s or women’s. There are many product attributes including size, color, brand, description, price, availability, etc. Google has categorized them into a few groups: basic product data, price and availability, product category, product identifiers, detailed product description, configurations, shipping, and tax.
2. Standardized attribute terms
Not only do you need to complete all possible attribute fields, you need to complete them correctly. For each attribute, there are certain supported formats that you need to follow for your data to be uploaded properly. For example, there are 5 supported age group terms: newborn, infant, toddler, kids, and adult. If you use another term to describe the intended age group for a product, Google will not understand it. For more information on specific product attributes, Google has a full list.
3. Negative keywords
Unlike traditional text ads, Shopping campaigns don’t use keywords. However, like text ads, you can still add negative keywords to prevent your ads from showing on irrelevant search queries. This is done from your AdWords account at the ad group or campaign level. You can use exact, phrase, or broad match negative keywords.
4. Product title
Although you can’t add lists of keywords, you can use the product title to highlight the most popular search terms. Research keywords the same way you would for text ads, then use them where appropriate in your title – and remember to never keyword stuff! Put the most important keywords first in the title, to catch the reader’s eye and make sure they are not truncated. Also, make sure to use search terms that shoppers would be likely to use, rather than the terms that might be on your landing page. For example, don’t use “indigo jeans” even if that’s what the color option is on the product page, when customers are probably more likely to be searching for “dark wash jeans.”
5. Quality images
Product images for your Shopping feed should be the highest quality images you have. Use images that are as high-resolution as possible. Sizes should be no smaller than 250 x 250 pixels, but no bigger than 64 megapixels. Make sure there are no logos, text or watermarks on the image. Products should always be displayed on a solid white background.
6. Merchant Promotions
Merchant Promotions are used to tell customers about special offers and discounts. The promotion appears as a link called “Special offer” under the product details in the Google Shopping feed. Customers click the link to bring up a box with the offer, like a discount promo code. To start using Promotions, you will need to have an AdWords account, Merchant Center account with active products, and an interest form that has been approved by Google. You can create promotions one at a time, or use a promotions feed spreadsheet if you have too many to enter manually.
ParadoxLabs can get you set up for Shopping Campaigns
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