The majority of consumers (49%) say they use Google to research products before buying.
Google Ads campaigns receive 95% of all mobile ad clicks.
76% of all money spent on retail-related search ads goes toward shopping ads. And 85% of all clicks on Google Ads or Google Shopping campaigns are from shopping ads.
Many eCommerce brands have seen extraordinary returns on their investment in Google Shopping Ads, with an average CPC of $0.97 in 2022.
The above statistics clearly explain how important Google Shopping ads are for your WooCommerce business. However, if you’re unfamiliar with the concept, you may confuse it with traditional search ads.
In this article, we will find out what Google shopping ads are, how to create one, and how to optimize google ads to increase sales.
Let’s get started.
What are Google Shopping Ads?
Even if you have little experience using the internet, you must have experienced how Google works. You input your query, and Google returns some results with links to top-ranked websites that contain information about that query.
For instance, if a consumer is looking for a watch, they will probably start their search by going to Google.com. And typing the word ‘Watch’ in the search box. Then Google will return a page with different website links containing the best information about watches or having the best watches for sale.
This return page is called the Search Engine Result Page (SERP). You might have noticed Google displays some links that have the level ‘Ad’ before the links. These are paid Google Search Ads you, as an online business, run to promote your products or services.
Coming back to that ‘Watch’ search, you will also notice some other ads at the top. These ads contain images of different watches with their brand name and price. These are called Google Shopping Ads.
Source: WebAppick
Google Shopping Ads are a type of advertising campaign that allows retailers to display their products on Google’s search results pages and Google Shopping. By the way, Google Shopping is different from Google Shopping Ads.
Confused again?
Google Shopping is a price comparison engine that displays eCommerce products from different vendors, whoever lists their products on the platform. This platform displays the Google Shopping Ads at the top and the organic listings below the ads.
These ads typically include a product image, price, and store name and may also include ratings and reviews. When a user clicks on a Shopping Ad, they are taken to a page on the retailer’s website where they can view more information about the product and make a purchase.
Why should you use Google Shopping ads?
There are several reasons why a retailer might want to use Google Shopping Ads:
Increased visibility
Shopping Ads allow retailers to display their products at the top of Google’s search results pages, which can help to increase visibility and drive traffic to their website.
Targeted advertising
Shopping Ads are triggered by specific search terms. So retailers can target their ads to users who are actively searching for the types of products they sell. This can help to increase the relevance and effectiveness of the ads.
Easy to set up and manage
Google Shopping Ads can be set up and managed through the Google Ads platform, which is user-friendly and easy to use. This makes it easy for retailers to create and manage their campaigns.
Measurable results
Google Ads provides detailed performance reporting. So retailers can track the effectiveness of their Shopping Ads campaigns and make adjustments as needed.
Overall, Google Shopping Ads can be useful for retailers looking to increase their online visibility and drive traffic and sales to their websites.
How to create Google Shopping ads?
To create Google Shopping ads, you will need to do the following steps:
Set up a Google Ads account
If you don’t already have a Google Ads account, you will need to create one. This can be done by going to the Google Ads website and following the prompts to create a new account.
Create Google Merchant Center account
Setting up a Merchant Center account is the first step in promoting your products using Google Shopping. This is the place where you will upload your products and release your shopping ads. Go to Google Merchant Center and create a free account.
Add your products
Once you have set up your Merchant Center account, you will need to add your products to it. You can do this by creating a product feed.
A product feed is a file that contains information about your products, such as the product name, price, and image. You can create a product feed manually or use a tool such as Google Sheets or a third-party feed management tool.
Link your Google Ads account to your merchant center account
Your merchant center account is where you manage your product data, such as titles, descriptions, and images.You will need to link your Google Ads account to your merchant center account in order to create Shopping Ads.
Create a Shopping campaign
Once you have linked your Google Ads and merchant center accounts, you can create a Shopping campaign by clicking the “+” button in the “Campaigns” tab and selecting “Shopping.”
Choose your campaign type
You will have the option to choose between a “Standard” or “Smart” Shopping campaign. Standard Shopping campaigns allow you to have more control over your bids and targeting. Smart Shopping campaigns use machine learning to optimize your bids and targeting automatically.
Set your budget and bids
Next, you will need to set your budget and bids for your Shopping campaign. You can choose between a daily or lifetime budget, and you can set your bids manually or use automated bidding strategies.
Select your target audience
You can target your Shopping Ads to specific locations, languages, and devices. You can also use negative keywords to exclude certain words or phrases from your targeting.
Choose your ad groups and products
Finally, you will need to create ad groups and select the products you want to advertise. You can organize your ad groups by theme or product type, and you can select individual products or entire product groups to advertise.
Once you have completed these steps, your Shopping Ads will be live and will start appearing on Google search results pages and other websites in the Google Ads network. You can monitor the performance of your Shopping Ads in your Google Ads account and make adjustments as needed to optimize your campaigns.
Ways to Optimize Your Google Shopping Ads for Increase Sales
Research keywords
Keyword research is an important aspect of search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing, as it helps you identify the words and phrases people use to search for products, services, or information online. By understanding the keywords people are using, you can create content and shopping google ads that are more likely to be discovered by your target audience.
While it’s true that Google Shopping ads don’t use keywords like standard Google Ads do, this doesn’t mean you can ignore keyword research. Keyword research should still be an important element of your google shopping ads strategy.
You need to optimize your content, such as product titles, descriptions, URLs, etc. implementing keywords inside them. So that Google can easily find relevant searches and target audiences and promote your Google product listing ads to the right consumers. Additionally, consider using an AI image prompt generator to craft visually compelling images that resonate with your target audience and enhance the effectiveness of your Google Shopping ads.
When you optimize the content of your WooCommerce product pages, especially if you are using tools like a 3D product configurator for WooCommerce the product feed will automatically fetch those optimization settings and make your Google shopping ads SEO friendly.
Optimize product feed
In order to have Google feature your product as a shopping ad, you must submit a product feed. If you make it simple for Google to analyze your feed, you’ll get better results. Therefore, the details you provide must be spot-on.
To optimize your product feed for Google Shopping ads, you can follow these best practices:
Use relevant and descriptive titles
The product title is the first thing that users see when they see your ad, so it’s important to make it as descriptive and accurate as possible. Avoid using vague or misleading titles, as this can lead to low-quality traffic and low conversion rates.
Use high-quality images
Product images are one of the most important elements of a Shopping ad, as they help users visualize what they are purchasing. Make sure to use high-quality, clear images that accurately represent your products. You should also consider using multiple images to show different angles or features of your products.
Include product details
In addition to the product title and image, you should also include other important details about your products in your product feed. This can include the price, availability, and any relevant features or benefits. This will help users make informed decisions and increase the likelihood of a purchase.
Use relevant and descriptive categories
Categorizing your products correctly can help improve the relevancy and accuracy of your Shopping ads. Make sure to use relevant and descriptive categories that accurately reflect the products in your product feed.
Use relevant and accurate product descriptions
The product description is an important element of your Shopping ads, as it helps users understand more about your products and their features. Make sure to use relevant and accurate descriptions that clearly communicate the value and benefits of your products.
Utilize product variations
If you have products that come in different variations, such as size or color, it’s important to include these variations in your product feed. This will allow you to create targeted and relevant Shopping ads for each variation.
Use relevant and accurate product identifiers
Product identifiers, such as UPC codes and GTINs, help Google match your products to relevant searches. Make sure to include accurate and relevant product identifiers in your product feed to improve the performance of your Shopping ads.
By following these best practices, you can optimize your product feed and improve the performance of your Google Shopping ads.
Subdivide product groups in the shopping campaign
When you set up a Google Shopping campaign and an ad group, all of your products in the product feed file will automatically be added to this Ad group.
For instance, if you set a $1 bid for your Ads group, that amount will be used for all your products.
So, what exactly is the issue there?
The issue is that not all products are created equal. Different things have different values.
For instance, the prices at which they can be purchased can vary widely. When someone clicks on one product, they may spend $100 on upsells while spending almost nothing on another. As a result, while one product is doing very well, another is not.
That’s why it’s not a good idea to pay the same amount for each click. You need to begin segmenting in the same way that you would for various keywords in standard Google Ads.
You wouldn’t put $1 on every keyword in standard Google search ads, right?
The best strategy for bidding is to observe what is currently bringing in revenue. The same goes for Google shopping ads.
You can subdivide product groups to better manage your stock and determine your best pricing strategy. As a result, you will be able to either increase your bids on successful niches or categories or decrease them on underperforming ones.
You can also learn what people are typing into search engines with this information. As a whole, your google shopping ads to increase sale judgments will improve.
Add negative keywords
Negative keywords are words or phrases you can add to your Google Shopping ad campaign to exclude certain search terms from triggering your ads. For example, if you sell men’s clothing and don’t want your ads to show up for searches for women’s clothing, you can add “women’s” as a negative keyword.
Here are some tips for using negative keywords in your Google Shopping ad campaign:
Identify irrelevant search terms
The first step in using negative keywords is to identify the search terms that are irrelevant or unqualified for your products or services. You can use tools such as the Google Ads Keyword Planner or the Google Search Console to see the keywords that are driving traffic to your website or landing pages.
Use broad match negative keywords
Broad-match negative keywords allow you to exclude a broad range of search terms that contain your negative keyword. For example, if you add “women’s” as a broad match negative keyword, your ad will not show up for searches such as “women’s clothing,” “women’s shoes,” or “women’s accessories.”
Use phrase match negative keywords
Phrase match negative keywords allow you to exclude search terms that contain your negative keyword in a specific order. For example, if you add “women’s shoes” as a phrase match negative keyword, your ad will not show up for searches such as “women’s shoes” or “red women’s shoes,” but it may still show up for searches such as “women’s designer shoes.”
Use exact match negative keywords
Exact match negative keywords allow you to exclude search terms that match your negative keyword exactly. For example, if you add “women’s shoes” as an exact match negative keyword, your ad will not show up for searches such as “women’s shoes,” but it may still show up for searches such as “women’s designer shoes.”
Utilize product reviews and ratings
Incorporating customer reviews into your product pages is a crucial marketing strategy for any eCommerce company.
In addition to the standard attributes such as title, image, description, etc., Google Shopping ads also feature product ratings. The implementation of this “social proof” feature can assist in the conversion of additional customers and the expansion of overall eCommerce sales.
You can add a review feed to your Merchant Center, even if you do not use Google Customer Reviews or an authorized third-party aggregator. In order to complete the process, you will need to upload validated XML files that contain your product reviews.
Work on bidding strategy
There are several ways you can adjust your bidding strategy for Google Shopping Ads:
Use automated bidding strategies: Google provides several automated bidding strategies that can help you optimize your Shopping Ads campaigns. Some examples include Target ROAS (return on ad spend), Maximize Conversions, and Target CPA (cost per acquisition). These strategies allow you to set a specific goal, such as increasing conversions or maximizing return on ad spend, and then automatically adjust your bids to meet that goal.
Set bid limits: You can set maximum and minimum bids for your Shopping Ads to help control your ad spend. This can be useful if you want to ensure that you are not overspending on certain products.
Use location and device targeting: You can adjust your bids based on the location and device of the person searching for your products. For example, you may want to bid higher for searches coming from a particular location or for searches coming from mobile devices.
Test different bids: It’s always a good idea to test different bids to see how they impact the performance of your Shopping Ads. You can use the data from your campaigns to determine which bids are most effective and adjust your bidding strategy accordingly.
Advertise your best-performing products
A crucial component of successful Google Shopping ad bidding is being aware of your priorities. It’s fine to experiment with promoting a large number of your products if you’re just starting out with Google Shopping.
However, once you have enough conversion data from your sales dashboard software (20-30 sales per month), you can begin prioritizing the highest-return products.
How to create a product feed from the WooCommerce back panel?
A product feed is an integral part of a Google shopping ad. By now, you must have realized how significantly important product feeds are for optimizing google ads.
However, manually creating and updating a product feed for your WooCommerce products will be a daunting and time-consuming task, especially when you have a large number of products. Fortunately, you can automate the whole process.
You can use a product feed plugin such as the CTX Feed to create a product feed file for Google Merchant Center and Google Shopping Ads with a click of a button.
After that, you can upload the file to Google Merchant Center as a CSV file to connect it via the FTP URL method.
The greatest thing about this plugin is that when you make any changes to your WooCommerce product pages, CTX Feed will automatically update the feed file. Afterward, Google Merchant Center will automatically fetch that update through that feed file.
Moreover, this plugin can create product feed files for 100+ channels, including price comparison engines, marketplaces, and social media platforms.
Wrap up
When you optimize google ads for increase sales, you can ensure that your ads are being shown to the right people, at the right time, and on the right devices. This can help improve the performance of your campaigns and increase the chances of making a sale.
Hope this article on the product listing google ads optimization will help you understand how to effectively create Google shopping campaigns and use google shopping ads to promote your WooCommerce products. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or suggestions.
Andrej Fedek is the creator and the one-person owner of two blogs: InterCool Studio and CareersMomentum. As an experienced marketer, he is driven by turning leads into customers with White Hat SEO techniques. Besides being a boss, he is a real team player with a great sense of equality.
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