Tips To Improve Performance in Google Shopping

If you are an online shopping store owner looking to drive sales then Google Shopping is your best bet in that endeavor. Actually the competition in this channel is pretty low due to the large volume of work involved in developing the product data and then maintaining that data. Means currently setting up ad campaigns in Google Shopping is a profitable option. Here are some useful techniques which you can apply to boost performance in Google Shopping, including tips that can help you reduce your work time.

Develop High Quality Data

In order to develop a high quality data feed you have to concentrate on 3 factors –  perfection, applicability & fine points. Fill your feed with plenty of relevant information. Try to stretch beyond minimum requirements. Put as many relevant attributes regards to your product as are feasible. In order to achieve your objective you'll have to invest a bit of time reviewing diverse websites of the product manufacturer to gather plenty of images, collecting ASINs, etc. Probably you will also have to modify titles and descriptions of items.

Here are key guidelines you need to follow to boost quality:

Images

• Go for top quality images (max file size 4mb).
• Maintain a square (1:1) aspect ratio and stick to 800 pixels height and width.
• Use all possible angles, positions, features to show the  product images.
• In case your product has variations in color, size, shape get an image of each & make a separate list of each variant.

Titles

• Make sure to insert key specifics, for example, color, size and manufacturer part numbers.
• Put the vital sections of the title to the front.
• Don't try to use irrelevant words.

Descriptions

• Keep in mind that Google is gonna use your text to locate an item.
• Write descriptions focused on pattern, texture, shape and technical aspects.
• Don't exceed the 750 characters limit.
• Avoid promotional text.
• See there are no grammar and punctuation errors.

Look for Authentic Source for Your Data

In order to improve quality keeps data fresh. Means you must keep the data feed up to date to avoid going ‘out-of-sync’ with website the after a price revision or deletion/addition of products. Of course, searching for new product info and then populating it can likely strain your resources so you must try to lessen the length of time spent on this activity. Use the following ‘shortcuts’ to collate the basic data for the feed, so that you have more time to concentrate on improving its quality.

Content API Will Make Things Easy

If your product range changes frequently then this is the best solution for merchants like you. I agree that the initial development work will be tough; however, once everything is in place it will automate the process of organizing the data and keeping it fresh. You will end up saving both cost and time. The API will deliver your product data straight to Google Merchant Center & regularly update it thus keeping the data up to date. If you cannot install the Content API for Shopping you'll have to create the data feeds manually.

Ask For Exports From The Shopping Cart’s Database

A short cut method to get the product data is to ask for an export from the shopping cart’s database & then compile it. Some merchants may deny direct access since the database can have sensitive data like history of customer transaction, contact details, etc. It's not a bad idea to ask if they can export the product table from the database, or ask whether the shopping cart incorporates an export feature. Lack of common structure to URLs means you'll have to get the product URLs manually.

Google Sheets' IMPORTXML’ Feature Can Come In Handy To Collect Data From The Merchant’s Website

It's one of the quickest ways! Use the Google Sheets'  function termed IMPORTXML to import data from an XML document. Simply make use of Xpath to discover data on a web page at a defined URL &  import the data into Google Sheets. Just develop an ‘import template’ to collect data and later re-visit this template  for updates to the info. Look within the ‘Inspect Element’ attribute of the browser to find the Xpath for each element. Make sure you repeat this for every single element of the product page that includes the Name, Description, & Price. Later populate the sheet with each product’s URL. Just drag the formulas down the columns to get info on product from varied URLs. Getting URLs is easy. Use a spider program like ‘Screaming Frog SEO Spider’ to crawl the website.

Data & Campaign Optimization

Product Groupings

After finishing the data feed work your next focus is seeing how you’re using it. Initially consider using custom labels. It's a handy attribute. This feature enables you to group and filter your products into separate Shopping Campaigns in Google AdWords. Groupings like profit margin, seasonal promotions, offers, and so on will allow you to carry out bid management and develop relevant Product Listing Ads.

Splitting Product Groups

Splitting  product groups by Item ID is another smart option. It enables you to fix Max CPC bids at a product level. Plus gives info on the performance of each product. Although the overall ROI you see from Google Shopping is positive, possibility is there that some money is being lost on specific products while profit is coming from others. So make sure to fix bids at a product level. For instance, if one of your products value is $100 while another is $1,000. To get profit you have to  spend max. 20% of the product’s sale price on AdWords. You have a Max. CPC bid of $0.50 fixed for the entire product range in your feed. All that means mere 40 clicks will be enough to lose money on your first product. While 400 clicks will mean you lose money on the second. If you go for splitting the product groups on the basis of  custom label, brand, category etc. you'll be able to see which products are not performing. Means you'll be able to spot varied problems with product data, products that are under-performing, even your website. After getting this info you will be able to adjust the data feed, modify the website, plus change product prices.

Review Your Incoming Keyword Search Reports

Your campaigns' outcome hinges on this factor. Because you can't insert vanilla keywords to your e-Commerce campaigns you can instead set up a level of control via usage of negative keywords. Google will consider a host of factors, to identify the keywords that prompt your products. However, the key ones are title and description of items. Often ‘generic’ keywords are not very effective with Google Shopping so I recommend you must exclude these at an early stage. The logic is that customers avoid buying at the beginning of the buying cycle. Means showing an image of a product together with price won't prompt a sale. What searchers usually look for is image of a product with a price underneath. Means searches specific to a product are awesome since customers are willing to buy. For instance, if you are putting Nike Trainers on sale. Probably your title of the item is “Nike Air Max 90 Men’s Trainers” and your description lends the keywords in the item title a natural boost.

On your keyword search report you see this:

As you can see the CPC of search keyword ' mens trainers' is a bit higher. Reason for this is that competition on the keyword is high compared to search specific to the item. Implying clicks are gonna cost more, while users making a search on the keyword haven't yet decided to buy.I conclude my article with the hope that now you'll be able to greatly improve your Google Shopping campaigns.