We’re going to declare something up front so there’s no accusations of hidden influences or messages: we BLOODY LOVE Google Shopping. It gives Small Business Owners just like you the chance to get your products right up there at the very top of the Google Search Results, and that typically means more dollars coming in.
While the formula for success (more interested people seeing your products = more people buying your products) is pretty simple, Google Shopping is obviously a little bit more nuanced than that.
In this Blog we’ll walk and talk through 4 of the worst Google Shopping mistakes you could be making.
Forgetting Your Targeting
The geographies your Ads are shown to, as well as when they can be shown, are pretty important factors. If you’ve gotten this far you’ve probably got a reasonable idea of who your Customers are, and why your Business appeals to them. Similarly, you should be reasonably certain on exactly which of your products you’re moving the most of.
For instance, if you’re selling retail lawn care products, your biggest buyers are going to be homeowners with gardens… we’re not going to charge you for that piece of insight. With this knowledge, you probably want to be targeting suburbs where your average house comes with at least a bit of land. Sydney CBD might be full of people with money to spend, but if they haven’t got a blade of grass to their name, then there’s really not much point in you paying to get your product seen by them.
Neglecting your Scheduling
In a similar vein, you should have a rough idea of when your potential Customers are most likely looking to buy. It might be that you get a steady stream of sales throughout the week, but Saturday is always your best day, as people have more time to get out into their garden and see what they need. If this is the case, you need to ensure your Ads are being shown on Saturdays. To go a step further, you might realize that nobody gets home after a tough Monday at work and restarts work on their lawn. In this scenario you might actually pause your Ads on a Monday so you can increase your weekend spending without having to raise your budget.
Putting a bit of thought into your Ad scheduling can have a massive impact on your ability to get those people with their hand already in their pocket viewing your products.
Ignoring Your Negative Keywords
You’ve probably noticed the theme here is to make sure that you’re doing everything possible to get your Ads seen by the people who are going to end up putting cash in your pocket. Negative keywords are another tool to help you do this. In a nutshell, negative keywords are those terms you select which will block your Ads from ever showing.
For example, if you’re an optometrist, you can find yourself in a bit of a tricky spot with the many definitions of ‘glasses’. To counter this, you might use ‘wine’ as one of your negative keywords. As a result, you’re not going to be wasting budget on anybody who is looking to ‘buy wine glasses online’. Have a good think about any potential confusion or crossover there might be with your product name and go from there.
Going Set and Forget With Your Mobile Budget
It’s tempting to just split your budget down the middle for mobile and desktop Ads and just be done with it. However, there is some good room for improvement if you’re realistic about the purchasing habits of your Customers.
If you’re selling products with a high ticket price, you might be somebody who benefits from a higher slice of your budget going to desktop. The likelihood of somebody spending 4 grand on a diesel generator on their train commute is pretty slim, they’re probably going to want to really research and ponder their purchase, and there’s a good chance they’re going to use a computer to do this.
Alternatively, if you’re in an industry where snap purchases are the norm, consider weighting your budget in favour of Mobile searches. It’s 2019, nobody goes home to pull up a picture of those trainers on the PC in the study, it would only mean we’ve gotta wait another day to wear them!
Google Shopping is marvellously powerful tool IF you’re using it correctly. Make sure you’re not making any of the cardinal mistakes outlined above and you should be on the right path.