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Everything you need to know about advertising with Google Shopping

Google Shopping

Do you want to sell your products online? Then Google Shopping Ads is a good step for you. For many new entrepreneurs, understanding how it works is important for growing your e-commerce business. What does it entail? How do you get started? How to set up a shopping campaign? We discuss everything you need to know about Google Shopping.

What is Google Shopping?

What is the biggest search engine in the world? That must be Google of course. People all around the world use it everyday. It’s the perfect way for you to find new potential customers. With Google Shopping Ads online retailers advertise their products on different Google platforms. Instead of text-based advertisements, it uses image-based ads. You see them above or next to the search results. They include product images, prices, your brand name and even customer ratings. Visual ads give these customers a preview before they even visit your website. This might lead to more useful traffic and in turn, a higher conversion rate.

How to start with Google Shopping?

Starting with Google Shopping takes some time. It is not difficult; you just need some help with setting it up. 

  1. Start a Google Merchant Center account

This adventure starts with setting up a Google Merchant Center account. This is where you upload your product data so Google can display this in their search results. Start with adding basic company information, such as business name, country and the website. Don’t forget to verify this information, so that Google knows you own this domain.

  1. Prepare your product data feed

Now you can prepare your product data feed. What should possible customers know about your product? Make sure to keep this as short as possible to catch their attention. Add your product titles and a concise description. Furthermore, add images and of course the price. This is crucial information that you need to add for every product in your feed.

  1. Link Google Ads to your account

When you have your products listed in the Merchant Center you need to link this to your Google Ads account. You will use this to create shopping campaigns (more about that later), control your budget and track the results. Go to your settings, click on Linked Accounts and link the two together.

How to set up shopping campaigns?

Now that you have everything you need, you can set up a shopping campaign. This is the exciting part where you will actually see results. With these campaigns you can promote your products and create extra traffic to your website. You do this in your Google Ads account where you will find the ‘+’ and select what type of campaign you want to run. Here you can also select the Merchant Center account we linked earlier. 

There are two types of shopping campaigns: standard and smart. With a standard shopping campaign you have more control over your ads. This can all be done manually. Smart shopping campaigns or Google Performance Max automates this process. Google’s machine learning helps you optimize your ads based on their performance. This makes it a good choice for beginners that want to learn more about setting up these campaigns.

Now you need to set your daily budget and decide on the bidding strategy. For beginners, using Maximize Clicks or Manual CPC can be effective strategies. If you use Smart Shopping Google will automatically handle this step, so you just need to set your budget. Make sure to organize your products with product groups. This makes it much easier to manage your campaigns and monitor their performance. Especially the last part is important. By regularly checking the clicks, impressions and conversions you learn and improve for future campaigns.

To conclude, Google Shopping is a tool for entrepreneurs looking to expand their reach and increase their sales. So, set up your Merchant Center, prepare your product data feed and create your campaigns. Time to grow your business!