It seems like nearly everyone starts the buying process with an online search these days. Often, the buying process starts with Google. This is why getting your Google Shopping Product Feed right is so important.
In the beginning days of the e-commerce revolution, Google reigned supreme. Now, other online shopping platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are in the e-commerce arena.
However, Google’s fighting back as it vies to expand its shopping influence—which is good news for you. With Google Shopping product feed optimisation, you can get the most from your Google Shopping product feed.
To learn how to optimise your Google Shopping product feed, keep reading.
Understanding the Google Shopping Product Feed
Let’s start with the basics.
Google Shopping is a great way to show off your products. Your Google Shopping product feed is the foundation of your presence on Google Shopping. It’s like a spreadsheet.
It describes and organises your product catalogue for Google. If you need a quick overview of the Google product data feed, check out this quick summary.
Now that you’ve checked out the summary and you’re a Google Shopping pro, let’s get into the nitty-gritty.
Shopping feeds for Google Shopping will optimise product placement not just on bids, but also on the product attributes that best match the search. So, it’s important to get the feed right to make sure you’re found when people do a product search.
As with SEO, Google trawls shopping advertisements and feeds. It looks for specific information that’s relevant to users’ search queries. In doing so, it aims to once again compete with—or even outdo—its competitors.
Your Google Product Shopping Feed Matters
With this in mind, it should be clear how important it is to optimise your Google Shopping feed. You can spend countless hours perfecting the quality of your goods.
However, something else is equally as important. You must get your products in front of your buyers. If you don’t accomplish this task, what good was all your hard work?
Tweaking Your Google Shopping Product Feed
As you read through this post, you’ll notice a recurring theme. Providing too much information for your Google Shopping product feed is never a bad thing. You want to provide as many details about your products as possible.
Feeling compelled to skimp here, but it will prove unwise. The less information you provide, the harder it is for Google to match your ad with the queries of potential buyers.
Start With Your Product Titles
You must make your titles as detailed as possible. Here, it’s important to include information such as brand, style, colours, and sizes.
A brand name distinguishes your offering. Meanwhile, details give your customers information that they appreciate having at a glance. Alternatively, titles that are short and vague minimise Google’s ability to hone in on keywords.
Also, list the most essential details in your title first. Users will only see the first 150 characters of your title when using computer browsers and only 35 characters on mobile devices.
In addition, it’s important to write your title for both Google and your customers. You want to optimise your titles for the most impressions, engagements, click-throughs, and conversions. You may find it helpful to use this formula for your title:
Brand + Product + Keyword + Specifications
You don’t want to stuff your title with keywords. Yet, you do want to include as many product details as you possibly can in your title. It helps to know that shoppers seem to prefer long-tell search queries when they’re ready to buy.
Fixing Your Images
Your product images must have a professional appearance. Sometimes, customers will buy your offering without reading a word of text. Accordingly, with some customers, the image is the most important part of your listing.
You should never use a device like your smartphone for product photography. Doing so will result in poor depth-of-field and angle. What’s more, your product images will look horrible. In turn, you could lose a considerable amount of business.
Instead, you’ll want the highest quality images possible. Hire a professional photographer for the job. A photographer will use specialised tools for product shots, like softboxes, umbrellas, background lighting, and product turntables.
Optimising Categories
You don’t have to choose a product category. If you fail to do so, however, Google will do it for you.
Giving Google the freedom to pick your categories isn’t a good idea. You know your products best. Set your categories and subcategories so that they’re accurate and deliver the best experience for your shoppers.
Here, relevancy is of the utmost importance. By choosing the right categories, you’ll ensure your product shows up in customer search results.
Also, there are more than 6,000 Google product categories. You want to make sure to choose the right category from the Google Product Taxonomy (GPT).
Streamlining Product Descriptions
Your product description will appear below your product title to the right of your image. Often, marketers misuse product descriptions.
They stuff their descriptions with frivolous information. The thinking here is that more is better.
In reality, Google trawls product descriptions for relevant keywords. Use your product description to target secondary keywords that didn’t fit into the product title. This tactic is an excellent way to rank higher with Google for product searches.
Category Specific Information
Now, you’ll need to think about the nature of what you sell. For instance, you’ll need to consider the prices of your products.
Here, you’ll want to do some competitive research. Look around and see what your competitors are charging for the same products.
Also, you might resell goods made by another manufacturer. In that case, you’ll need to include the brand of your goods in your catalogue.
Imagine you sell apparel. Then, you’ll want to list attributes specifically for clothing products. These attributes might include:
• Gender
• Colour
• Size
• Size type
• Age group
You’ll also want to include any other information that’s important for your audience. Depending on your circumstances, for instance, you may need to also include sizing system information such as US, UK, or EU sizing. You may also need to list the condition or availability of your product.
The Devil in the Details
Your Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is another mandatory piece of information you’ll need to include in your shopping product feed. A GTIN is a unique number for finding products. It’s a standard format for information databases.
There’s a universal GTIN for every product. Companies can find GTIN numbers across any database.
However, there’s a different use for your GTIN with Google Shopping. Google uses the number to group together sellers who offer products that have the same GTIN.
Here, make sure you choose the right GTIN. Again, your attention to detail and the accuracy of your product information directly correlates to your visibility on Google Shopping.
Segmenting Shopping Campaigns
Now that you’ve tweaked your product listing to perfection, there’s something you should consider. You want to use your product feed information to your advantage when you bid on ads.
Here, it’s helpful to divide your product catalogue into categories. You can segment your products as you desire.
For instance, you might break up your offerings into brands, styles, or age groups. Now, assign bids to these categories.
Using this method, you can differentiate between your products. This tactic will provide you with a foundation for setting your bids.
Committing to Google Shopping Feed Optimisation
Google Shopping feed optimisation is more than a one-time proposition. It’s important to do it more often than just around major selling holidays, such as Christmas and Black Friday.
Your product feed is the backbone of selling goods across major online platforms all year long. It contains all your essential product information and attributes.
It’s not clear exactly which attributes help to improve your rankings with Google. What is clear is a high-quality title, a great description, and detailed, up-to-date, and relevant product attributes will increase your overall impressions. In turn, you’ll see increased conversions.
Putting It All Together
As a retailer, you want to make the most of the Google Shopping feed. Google rewards sellers who provide relevant details about their products with increased visibility.
Google has a common goal across its enterprise—it wants to provide users with quality information. Consumers want convenience, they don’t want to wade through search results that aren’t related to the things they want to buy.
By optimising your product shopping feed, you can give your customers exactly what they want. Yet, there’s the rub.
Consumers’ wants and needs can change at any given moment. Optimising your Google Shopping product feed, however, can keep up with rapidly changing consumer trends.
Maximise Your Sales With Optimisation
Hopefully, our Google merchant tips have cleared up a few things about Google Shopping feed optimisation. Still, it can prove challenging to stay on top of your marketing campaigns with so many responsibilities related to running your company. We’ve got you covered.
Unbound is committed to taking your marketing initiative to the next level. Let us show you what we can do for you. Please feel free to connect with us online for your free marketing plan.
