We all know how prevalent Online Shopping is nowadays.
Australian Online Shopping reached an all-time high, with online purchases growing 57% year-on-year. An average of 1 million additional households shopped online every month, reaching $50.46 billion total spent at online checkouts.
It’s a market you can’t afford to be missing out on as a business!
But as every businessman and his dog is out there finding ways to sell and market their products Online, the age old question returns. How can you stand out and compete?
Website Optimisation, Pay Per Click, there are a multitude of ways to enhance your brand, but it’s in your best interest to find more ways to stand out from the crowd.
Google Shopping could be the way to stand out from the crowd.
Why Use It?
Think back to the last time you were shopping online for something specific. It’s not an easy task, moving back and forth between different websites trying to find the perfect product. It’s actually quite a clunky process.
This is where Google Shopping comes in. It’s somewhat like digital marketplaces like eBay or Amazon, letting people search for their product with a range of options from different websites and brands, without having to move between Sites. This setup is also known as a Comparison Shopping Engine (CSE), if you want to use the technical term.
The big difference is that when the Customer clicks on that product, it takes them straight to the website of that brand. That could be your business getting those sweet, sweet clicks.
Customers can use Google Shopping to easily browse through the exact product they are looking for, while also being able to filter for specific sizes, brands, price range etc. This convenience means your next Customer could be searching for your products on Google Shopping right now!
It also adds a powerful visual element to your marketing. Google Shopping is proven to have a 30% higher conversion rate than just text ads. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get visual!
Let Your Products Do The Talking
On Google Shopping, your product is what’s on display, and the image is going to be the crucial element in making that sale.
Google Shopping will even deny campaigns (more on campaigns later) if they have low-quality images, a condition they enforce through frequent quality checks. The Google sheriff is not easy to please!
Here are some tips on how to optimise your product images:
- Use good, clear, lighting and a clean background
- Make sure the image is of a high enough resolution
- Make sure you’re showing the whole product (you can add close ups and additional angles of the product as additional images)
- Show the product at the correct scale, not too big or too small
Customers are superficial when it comes to shopping around for that specific product, and they will be on the lookout for what visually pleases them. Visuals are the largest part of consumer decision making, make sure you’re treating them with the respect they deserve.
Platform Connections
There are a couple of different platforms that link up with Google Shopping, enabling you to optimise your selling.
Google Shopping can be linked to your Google Ads account, since the products you can see upon search results are actually ads that have been paid for.
When these two have been linked, you’ll be able to create a Google Shopping Campaign and advertise your products. This is where you can place bids, target and schedule your campaign, and build ad groups.
Plan how you’re going to use your budget and schedule your campaign for when your Customers are most likely to buy.
There’s a lot to learn with Google Shopping, but do use this as a brief guide into the Comparison Shopping Engine. It’s a welcome change for Customers as a visual shopping experience, and you can get a lot out of it as a Small Business Owner, opening your brand to new online consumers.