Google Shopping is a platform increasing in popularity for small businesses who want to sell online. It's only become free for sellers to list their products in the last couple of years, so now it is, why miss out?!
You might be wondering how Google Shopping works and how you can use it to boost your business’ sales? Read on to find out how to get started and how to make the most of it!
WHAT IS GOOGLE SHOPPING?
After adding your products onto Google Shopping, they will then appear at the top of Google’s results page for the right search. This is a prime location and is a great way to attract new buyers.
Products will also appear under the ‘Shopping’ tab, so customers can easily view their choices, without having to dip in and out of websites.
If you're not sure what we're talking about, go to Google, type in 'blue dress', press the 'Shopping' tab, and your results will appear directly on one page. This allows users to compare the prices of items on one page, lemon squeezy.
HOW DOES GOOGLE SHOPPING WORK?
Google Shopping is a dream come true for many retailers, as it places their products right in front of potential buyers. This, of course, increases the likelihood of purchase.
Google decides when products are shown, based on what consumers are searching for.
Understandably, setting up Google Shopping can seem like a daunting task, but we can reassure you that Google provides plenty of support to help with the initial setup.
HOW TO SET UP GOOGLE SHOPPING
1. CREATE A GOOGLE MERCHANT CENTRE ACCOUNT
Users will need to create a Google Merchant Centre Account, to access the Shopping platform. An account can easily be created here.
Once this is sorted, the next step is to enable ‘surfaces across Google’. This will allow your products to be displayed as free shopping ads on SERP (search engine results pages) - wahey!
This is done by logging into the Merchant Centre, finding ‘growth’ on the left-hand menu, and then clicking ‘manage programmes’. The final step is to simply choose ‘surfaces across Google.
2. UPDATE YOUR PRODUCT IMAGES
Google will take product images from your website to put in their listings. It’s also important to point out, that you will need to already have an online shop or website set up, to use Google Shopping.
Take some time to decide which products you’d like to advertise and make sure your images comply with Google’s guidelines.
Displaying images on a light background, with the product taking up at least 75% of the image is a great start.
3. CREATE A PRODUCT FEED
A product feed is made up of the products you’ve selected to be shown on Google Shopping.
When setting up your product, you’ll need to include the following:
A product title
Product descriptions
The target country you want to sell in
The language you want your listing to be in
The price of the product
To get started, log in to your Google Merchant Centre, click ‘products’ then ‘feeds’ and click the ‘+’ button.
Google will ask you how you’d like to upload your product data. They have tons of handy articles to help with this step.
Once all of your products are uploaded, Google will keep updating your items automatically – which is great for you, as there will be no need to keep logging in to change any details.
This means if you have a sale and reduce the price of your items on your website, this change will be reflected on Google Shopping without you having to complete any manual updates!
4. CREATE YOUR CAMPAIGN
Next, select ‘create shopping campaign’ in your Google Merchant Centre.
As you’re selling products, the best option would be to select ‘sales campaign’ – which aims to drive sales to your website. Instructions should then appear on the screen, to help you with the final set-up stages.
Bish bash bosh - that’s it!
Once your campaign is all set up, Google will take things from there and make sure your products are appearing searches.
Well, who knew, Google shopping isn't only a way for your customers to shop, it also provides free advertising space on SERPs - you don't want to be missing out on that now do you?!
Get in touch with us today to see how we can support your business and grow your audience.
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