How to set up Google Shopping for an eCommerce shop
Unlike other price comparison engines, there is no direct way to list and promote your products on Google Shopping. It is necessary to follow certain steps and different platforms to configure Google Shopping eCommerce and list one's products on the platform.
This process involves two main elements: a Google Merchant Center account and a feed for the Google Shopping eCommerce platform. In addition, a Google Ads account is required to run paid Shopping ads.
Creating a Google Merchant Center account
Google Merchant Center is a free platform that companies like yours can use to upload their product catalogue to Google. This allows you to show your products in Google Shopping results, which are displayed prominently on Google's search results page.
In addition to Google Shopping and the SERP, GMC(Google Merchant Centre) also shows your products on Google Images and YouTube.
You can register a GMC account with your Gmail address free of charge. Here are the steps to follow.
Registering a GMC account
After entering your Gmail address and going to the next screen, you will have 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 Google Shopping ad.
Local shops that do not have an online shop can also 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 ad.
As we have already mentioned, your customers can also check out directly from Google Shopping. To do so, 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 registration process for the main GMC account. To promote your products on Google Shopping for e-commerce, you will need to complete the following steps.
Enter your products on GMC
The first step will ask you to enter your e-commerce business data.
In the next step, you will need to verify your e-commerce website. Enter the URL of your website. Google Merchant Center (GMC) offers two ways to verify your WordPress site:
Next, GMC will ask you for shipping and sales tax data. The sixth step is where the action takes place. You need to start adding products.
You can add a single product at a time or you can upload a Google Shopping feed to bulk upload all the products in your e-commerce shop. Before proceeding, you must create a Google Shopping feed for eCommerce.
How to create a Google Shopping product feed for eCommerce
Think of the Google Merchant Centre as a library and the Google Ads account as a librarian. The 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 in which eCommerce product information is entered. A Google Shopping eCommerce feed contains information about your products, such as title, description, price, images, etc.
The product feed is the basis of your Google Shopping eCommerce campaigns. It is the information 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 eCommerce feed?
In a Google Shopping product feed, attributes are the specific details or 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: Total 9 attributes
- Detailed product description: Total 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
- Sales campaigns: Total 7 attributes
The specific attributes to include in the 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 the visibility of your products 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 of the product.
- Title: This is the name of the product.
- Description: This is a short description of the product.
- Product URL: This is the URL of the product page on your website.
- Category: Is the category of the product in Google's taxonomy.
- Image URL: This is the URL of the product image.
- Stock availability: Indicates whether the product is in stock.
Managing inventory and stock effectively with Cuborio is quick and easy and allows you to avoid out-of-stock and over-stock status. Synchronise inventory data on your eCommerce site and your shops.
- Normal price: This is the normal price of the product.
- GTIN/MPN: These are the unique identifiers of 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 creators such as Google Sheets, creating a feed will not be a difficult task. You can enter the attributes as column headers and copy the product data of your online shop underneath.
We strongly advise against this manual process to avoid mistakes, but especially because Cuborio allows you to extract spreadsheets automatically so that you do not have to add products one by one to your GMC account.
Manual product entry is not a reliable way to get your products on Google Shopping. An automated solution must be used to ensure that 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 start your ad campaign, follow the instructions to set up your bidding strategy, ad groups and other settings. Google will automatically create product advertisements based on the data in the product feed and display them in relevant search results.
In order for Google to display product bids accurately, it is necessary to make sure that the submitted feed is accurate. In addition, it is necessary to further subdivide the product groups so that relevant and efficient bidding strategies can be created for product listings.
Frequently asked questions
How can I measure the success of my Google Shopping campaigns?
To assess the effectiveness of your 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 act 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 with the sole purpose of comparing prices and buying 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 have a better chance of reaching your potential customers and growing your eCommerce business. I hope this article on Google Shopping for eCommerce will guide you in placing your products on the giant platform.
