How to set up Google Shopping for an e-commerce shop
Unlike other price comparison engines, there is no direct way to list and promote your products on Google Shopping. You need to follow a few steps and use several platforms to set up Google Shopping eCommerce and list your products on the platform.
This process involves two main elements: a Google Merchant Centre account and a feed for the Google Shopping e-commerce platform. In addition, you need a Google Ads account to run paid Shopping ads.
Create a Google Merchant Centre account
Google Merchant Centre is a free platform that businesses like yours can use to upload their product catalogue to Google. This allows you to showcase your products in Google Shopping results, which are prominently displayed on Google's search results page.
In addition to Google Shopping and SERP, GMC (Google Merchant Centre) also displays your products on Google Images and YouTube.
You can register for a GMC account for free with your Gmail address. We will show you the steps to follow.
Registering a GMC account
After entering your Gmail address and moving on to the next screen, you will need to enter your business name, location and time zone. Next, you need to confirm where you want customers to checkout once they click on a Shopping ad on Google.
Even local shops that do not have an online store can list and promote their products on Google Shopping. They can select the third option, and Google Shopping will display a map of their shop's location once a user clicks on their advert.
As we mentioned earlier, your customers can also check out directly from Google Shopping. To do this, select the second option. Otherwise, select the first option if you simply want to redirect them to your e-commerce shop.
You can choose the platform if you use one of the e-commerce platforms.
This was the process of registering your main GMC account. To promote your products on Google Shopping for e-commerce, you will need to complete the following steps.
List your products on GMC
The first step will ask you to enter your e-commerce business details.
In the next step, you will need to verify your e-commerce website. Enter your website URL. Google Merchant Centre (GMC) offers two ways to verify your WordPress site:
Next, GMC will ask you for your shipping and sales tax information. The sixth step is where the action happens. You need to start adding products.
You can add a single product at a time or upload a Google Shopping feed to upload all the products in your e-commerce shop in bulk. Before proceeding, you need to create a Google Shopping feed for eCommerce.
How to create a Google Shopping product feed for eCommerce
Think of Google Merchant Centre as a library and your Google Ads account as a librarian. Your Google Shopping product feed is like the books in the library. Without the books, the librarian would have nothing to help people find the information they need.
Just as a library needs a well-stocked collection of books to be useful, a successful Google Shopping campaign relies on a comprehensive product feed to help customers find the products they are looking for.
A product feed is like a product catalogue. In most cases, it is a spreadsheet file where you enter your e-commerce product information. A Google Shopping e-commerce feed contains information about your products, such as the title, description, price, images, etc.
The product feed is the basis of your Google Shopping campaigns for e-commerce. It is the information that Google uses to display your products in search results and shopping ads. It is therefore important to ensure that your product feed is accurate and up to date.
What are attributes in a Google Shopping e-commerce feed?
In a Google Shopping product feed, attributes are the details or specific information about your products that you include in the feed. Google uses these attributes to show your products in Google Shopping ads and search results.
There are currently over 170 different attributes that you can include in your product feed. Google has divided them into 10 categories:
- Basic product data: 9 attributes in total
- Detailed product description: Total of 4 attributes
- Product category: Total 11 attributes
- Price and availability: Total 8 attributes
- Product identifiers: Total 5 attributes
- Destinations: Total 2 attributes
- Shipping: Total 4 attributes
- Taxes: Total 2 attributes
- Markets: Total 3 attributes
- Marketing campaigns: Total 7 attributes
The specific attributes to include in your product feed depend on the products you sell and where you sell them. However, it is important to include as many attributes as possible to ensure your products are visible in Google Shopping search results.
- Common Google Shopping attributes for e-commerce
- Some of the most important attributes are:
- Product ID: This is a unique identifier for the product.
- Title: This is the name of the product.
- Description: This is a brief description of the product.
- Product URL: This is the URL of the product page on your website.
- Category: This is the product category in Google's taxonomy.
- Image URL: This is the URL of the product image.
- Stock availability: Indicates whether the product is in stock.
Effectively managing inventory and stock with Cuborio is quick and easy, allowing you to avoid out-of-stock and over-stock situations. Synchronise inventory data across your e-commerce site and your shops.
- Normal price: This is the normal price of the product.
- GTIN/MPN: These are the unique identifiers for the product.
- Product condition: Indicates the condition of the product.
- Manufacturer: Indicates the manufacturer of the product.
By including the right attributes in your product feed, you can improve the visibility of your products in Google Shopping and reach more potential customers.
How to create a product feed for Google Shopping for Cuborio eCommerce
If you are familiar with software such as Microsoft Excel or online spreadsheet tools such as Google Sheets, creating a feed will not be a difficult task. You can enter attributes as column headers and copy your online shop's product data underneath them.
We strongly advise against this manual process to avoid errors, but above all because Cuborio allows you to extract spreadsheets automatically so that you don't have to add products one by one to your GMC account.
Manually entering products is not a reliable way to get your products on Google Shopping. You need to use an automated solution to ensure that your products are approved and displayed correctly.
By using an automated solution, you can avoid the difficulties and errors associated with manual product feeds and improve the visibility and performance of your Google Shopping campaigns.
To complete and launch your advertising campaign, follow the instructions to set up your bidding strategy, ad groups, and other settings. Google will automatically create product ads based on the data in your product feed and display them in relevant search results.
To ensure that Google displays your product offers accurately, you need to make sure that the feed you submit is accurate. You also need to further subdivide your product groups so that you can create relevant and efficient bidding strategies for your product ads.
Frequently asked questions
How can I measure the success of my Google Shopping campaigns?
To evaluate the effectiveness of Google Shopping campaigns, you need to monitor key metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), conversion rate, average position, and return on ad spend (ROAS). These metrics serve as a compass, guiding you towards understanding the impact and performance of your campaigns.
What role do reviews and ratings play in Google Shopping campaigns?
Reviews and ratings can help improve the visibility and click-through rate of Google Shopping ads.
Conclusions
People who visit Google Shopping are generally there for the sole purpose of comparing prices and purchasing the product they are looking for. This makes Google Shopping a very effective platform for increasing traffic and conversions.
By listing your products on this platform, you will have a better chance of reaching your potential customers and growing your e-commerce business. I hope this article on Google Shopping for e-commerce will guide you in listing your products on the web giant's platform.
