What are Google Shopping Ads?
Google Shopping Ads is an online advertising campaign format that allows retailers to showcase their products on Google’s search results page. Unlike traditional text-based ads, Google Shopping Ads display product images, prices, and a brief description, making them more visually appealing and engaging for potential customers. These ads appear at the top or to the right of the search results in Google search engine, making them highly visible and effective in driving traffic to a retailer’s website.
The main goal of Google Shopping Ads is to provide users with an easy shopping experience by presenting them with relevant products based on their search queries. This means that when a user searches for a specific product, Google’s algorithm analyses the search query and displays the most relevant product ads from various retailers.
What Are Google Shopping Ads Types?
There are two types of Google Shopping Ads:- Standard Shopping Campaigns: this campaign type has become obsolete with the introduction of Performance Max. You can still run standard shopping campaigns, which allow your ads to appear on Google Search, Google Shopping, Google Partner Sites, and the Google Display Network.
- Performance Max: this utilises all of Google’s properties and the power of AI to maximise the reach of your products. Your inventory can appear on:The Shopping tab, Google Search, next to search results (separate from text ads), Google Search text ads, Google display network,YouTube, Gmail, Demand Gen, Maps (via Local Inventory Ads).
How Does Google Shopping Campaign and Shopping Ads Work?
Google Shopping Ads work in a unique way compared to traditional search ads. Instead of bidding on keywords, advertisers upload a spreadsheet containing detailed product information. This includes attributes such as title, description, image, and price. Google then uses this information to determine the relevancy of products and displays corresponding ads when relevant searches are made.
One of the advantages of Google Shopping Ads is the use of a cost-per-click (CPC) bidding system. With this system, advertisers are only charged when a user clicks on their ad. This ensures that the budget is allocated effectively and efficiently.
By using Google Shopping Ads, advertisers can reach a wider audience and create visually appealing ads that showcase their products. These ads appear at the top or to the right of search results, making them highly visible to potential customers.
Why Use Google Shopping Ads?
- Easy retail-centric campaign management: Instead of keywords, shopping ads use the product attributes you defined in your Merchant Center data feed to show your ads in relevant searches, browse your product inventory directly in Google Ads, and create product groups for the items you want to bid on.
- Broader presence: More than one of your Shopping ads can appear for a given user search and, if relevant, a Shopping ad and a text ad can also appear at the same time. This means your reach with users for a single search could double.
- Powerful reporting and competitive data: See how your products are performing at any level of detail you want. For example, you can see how many clicks a particular brand of high-heeled shoes got just by filtering your product view—no new product groups are needed. Use benchmarking data to get insights into your competitive landscape. Identify growth opportunities with impression share data and the Bid Simulator tool.
Google Shopping ads cost
Google Shopping ads costs can vary depending on various factors such as the industry, competition, and your budget. For small to medium businesses, it is recommended to start with a daily budget ranging between £20-50. This allows you to test the waters and see how your ads perform without committing a significant amount of money.
The Benefits of Google Shopping Ads
Google Shopping Campaigns offer a highly effective way for businesses to showcase their products and reach targeted customers. According to industry benchmark reports, the average click-through rate for Google Shopping listings is 0.86%, although this can vary based on your specific industry, ad spend, and optimization strategy. By leveraging Google’s powerful advertising platform, businesses can display their products at the top of search results, increasing visibility and driving more qualified traffic to their online stores.
Targeted reach to customers actively searching for products, Google Shopping ads appear at the top of search results, above organic listings and text ads. This prime placement increases the visibility of your products, making it more likely for potential customers to click on your ads and visit your website.
- Measurable ROI and easy tracking – With Google Shopping ads, businesses can easily track the performance of their campaigns and measure the return on investment (ROI). Google provides detailed analytics and reporting tools that allow businesses to track metrics such as clicks, impressions, conversions, and revenue generated from their ads. This data helps businesses understand the effectiveness of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions to optimise their advertising efforts.
- Product showcasing with images and prices – One of the key advantages of Google Shopping ads is the ability to showcase your products with high-quality images and prices. Unlike traditional text-based ads, Google Shopping ads feature product images, titles, prices, and even reviews, making them more visually appealing and engaging to potential customers.
- Increased click-through rates – When potential customers see an attractive image of the product they are searching for, along with its price, they are more likely to click on the ad to learn more or make a purchase. This visual appeal helps to grab attention and increase click-through rates, driving more traffic to your website.
- Market your products on Google’s extensive inventory – Google Shopping ads provide businesses with access to Google’s extensive network of websites, including Google Search, Google Images, YouTube, and partner websites. This wide reach enables businesses to showcase their products to a vast audience, increasing the chances of reaching potential customers who are actively searching for similar products.
Setting goals for your Google Shopping ads budget
Setting goals for your Google Shopping ads budget is important to ensure that you are making the most out of your advertising investment. Here are some best practices to consider:- Determine your advertising objectives: Before setting your budget, it’s crucial to have clear goals in mind. Are you looking to drive more sales, increase website traffic, or enhance brand awareness? Defining your objectives will help you allocate your budget effectively.
- Analyse historical data: If available, look at your past performance data to understand how your Google Shopping campaigns have performed. Identify patterns and trends to set realistic goals for future campaigns. This analysis will also give you valuable insights into how much you should allocate for your ads.
- Consider your industry and competition: Different industries have varying levels of competition, which can impact the cost of advertising. Conduct research on your industry’s benchmarks to understand the average cost-per-click (CPC) and conversion rates. This data will enable you to set a budget that aligns with your industry’s standards.
- Test and iterate: Don’t set your budget in stone. Google Shopping campaigns are dynamic, and it’s essential to continuously monitor and optimise your ads. Experiment with different budget allocations and analyses.
Understanding the Structure of Google Shopping Campaigns
A Google Shopping campaign typically consists of:- Campaign: The top-level structure where you set your geographic targets and spending.
- Asset Group: where you build your ads and audience signals.
- Product Feed: you can build multiple product feeds (supplemental product feeds). This is where the product information for your ads is shown.
Creating Google Shopping Ad Campaigns
Here are the steps to create a Google shopping campaign:- Setup and link your Google Merchant Center account to Google Ads
- Create and Upload your product feed to Google Merchant Center
- Create a new ‘Sales’ campaign on Google Ads, then choose Performance Max or Shopping as the type.
Simple Tactics to Optimise Your Google Shopping Campaigns
Optimise your product feed
Optimising your product feed is important for successful Google Shopping ads. Ensure your product feed is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. This includes:- Provide precise product details like prices and availability – imagine your customers finding exactly what they’re looking for without any guesswork!
- High-quality product images – What’s more, Google understands shoppers want to see quality imagery, so it actively blocks campaigns if the visuals aren’t good enough.
- Relevant and descriptive product titles and descriptions
- Correct categorization and attributes (e.g., brand, colour, size)
- Use custom labels, which allow you to subdivide your products with labels like “seasonal,” “on clearance,” “best sellers,” and more
With over 5,400 categories available to choose from, being extra specific will help Google trigger your ads for the right search queries. You can download Google’s taxonomy here.
Create multiple assets
Divide your products into ad groups to better target specific customer searches and improve ad relevance. This includes:- Grouping similar products together (e.g. by category, brand, or price range)
- Creating separate ad groups for top-selling or high-priority products
- Using ad group names and descriptions that accurately reflect the products within
Exclude unprofitable products
To further optimise your Google Shopping campaign, it’s important to exclude any unprofitable products. This will help ensure that your budget is allocated towards products that have a higher chance of generating sales and a positive return on investment (ROI).
Use negative keywords
Use negative keywords to prevent your ads from showing up in irrelevant search queries. Negative keywords are terms that you don’t want your ads to appear for. By including negative keywords in your campaign, you can filter out unqualified traffic and improve the overall performance of your Google Shopping ads.
To identify negative keywords, review your search term reports in Google Ads regularly. This report will show you the actual search terms that triggered your ads. Look for search terms that are unrelated to your products or have low conversion rates. These are the keywords that you should add as negative keywords.
For example, if you sell high-end designer shoes, you may want to add keywords like “cheap shoes” or “discount shoes” as negative keywords. This way, your ads won’t appear for users who are searching for inexpensive or discounted products.
Regularly review and refine your negative keywords list to ensure its effectiveness. As your campaign progresses, you may discover new irrelevant search terms that need to be added as negative keywords.
You can also use Google’s Keyword Planner to help you research your keyword list to get keyword ideas and statistics representing how competitive the keyword that you could compete for is
Bid Adjustments as part of your bidding strategy
In addition to optimising your negative keywords, bid adjustments can play a crucial role in optimising your Google Shopping campaign. Bid adjustments allow you to increase or decrease your bids for specific criteria such as device type, location, or time of day.
Use A/B testing
Another important practice to consider is A/B testing. A/B testing involves creating multiple variations of your Google Shopping ads and testing them against each other to determine which performs better.
Start by identifying the elements you want to test, such as the ad copy, images, or call-to-action. Create different versions of your ads that vary in these elements, making sure to only test one element at a time. It’s important to have a clear control group and test group to accurately measure the impact of the changes.
Once you have your ad variations set up, run them simultaneously and track the performance metrics. These metrics could include click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and average order value.
Based on the insights gained from your A/B testing, you can make data-driven decisions to optimise your Google Shopping campaign. For example, if you find that a specific ad copy performs significantly better in terms of CTR and conversions, you can implement those changes across your entire campaign.
Remember to give your A/B tests enough time to gather statistically significant data, with a minimum of 6 weeks. Depending on the volume of your traffic, it may take a few weeks or months to gather enough data for accurate analysis.
How do I succeed in Google Shopping?
In summary, to succeed in Google Shopping:- Optimise your product data feed. This means providing accurate and detailed information about your products, including titles, descriptions, and attributes such as brand, colour, and size. Remember to regularly review and update your product data feed to ensure it remains relevant and up-to-date.
- Select the right keywords for your Google Shopping campaign. Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant and high-performing keywords that align with your products. Use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to help you identify the most effective keywords for your campaign.
- Use high-quality visuals. High-quality, visually appealing images can significantly impact the performance of your ads. Ensure that your product images accurately showcase your products and use high-resolution images, show multiple angles, and include relevant details such as product variations and features.
- Additionally, you should leverage audience targeting to reach the right users with your Google Shopping ads. By understanding your target audience and their preferences, you can tailor your ads to appeal to their specific needs and interests.
If you are struggling with setting up and managing your Google Shopping Ads, book a call with our team or contact us today.
