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Google shopping is the feature with a thousand names. Or maybe just three. Google shopping/Google base/Google product search offers those with an ecommerce website an opportunity to appear within the organic search results under high search volume terms. I have used the electrical industry (probably not the best example due to the competitive nature) as a focal point of my post. Dependant on the competition, the niche category of your products and the amount of products you stock it is possible to increase visibility to your product catalogue through Google product search.
Side note: You can sign up to Google product through the following url:
http://www.google.com/merchants/
Ranking Factors for Google Products
The ranking factors listed are probably the most clear and noticeable ranking factors available. You may want to test alternative factors (extra data fields) however getting the basics right will help rank quickly and effectively.
Title:
Very similar to generic organic results the title tag is extremely important for ranking high within Google products/shopping. Make sure the key phrases for each specific product are visible in the title of the product.
A typical search for a new TV. Google emphasises the use of the keywords within the title of the product feed.
Price:
Selling a product cheaper than the competition helps with appearing higher and appeals to the consumer. This seems more prominent with broader search terms. The search for ‘lg lcd tv’ brings the list separated by size of TV and model. Clicking onto one of these into Google shopping provides the list of shops stocking the TV organised by price. Consumers will be attracted to the shop with the cheapest pricing. If the pricing is right you stand a good chance of sealing the sale.
Reviews, reviews, reviews:
User generated content, the thoughts of the consumer are always high in Google’s list. Similar to how Google local rewards those with positive reviews, Google shopping adopts this approach. Brand awareness and the strength of your brand are dictated by those who deal with you on a regular basis. Google rewards this through Google shopping.
For the search ‘lg lcd 37 inch tv’ we really see how Google uses all factors to place results. Amazon feature top of the list as they seem to have a high level of reviews matched with keyword rich title tag and a competitive pricing structure.
Reviews can be sourced from a number of 3rd party websites. Below are some high authority review sites based on UK shopping market.
- Ciao.co.uk
- Dooyoo.co.uk
- Dooyoo.de
- Kelkoo UK
- PriceGrabber.co.uk
- ResellerRatings.com
- ReviewCentre.com
- SafeDirectory.co.uk
- Shopsafe.co.uk
Google Checkout reviews:
Google seems to place more emphasis onto the Google checkout reviews. Not that much of a surprise to us all really? If you have an ecommerce site which has Google checkout capability then reviews through this method will have more weight than those 3rd party examples mentioned above. Google trust their own reviews more than those of the 3rd party sites thus place more authority on these.
Regular Feeds:
Google like regularly updated feeds to the Google merchant account. The same way Google value blogs with regularly updated content this approach is mirrored by Google shopping. Inputting your feed often and enabling the scheduler to crawl you helps with keeping the data accurate. There is no page to crawl with Google shopping so regularly updated feeds are an important component which should not be missed.
If you are selling you should be using:
Ecommerce sites are increasingly becoming more competitive. If you have products on sale online then take time to understand and produce a product feed for Google products. Follow a similar strategy to the areas mentioned above and you will begin featuring within the Google shopping search criteria quite quickly. You can achieve some fantastic results which add another dimension to any SEO strategy.
Thank you for reading,
Blueclaw Ryan
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Good article, I still think that you should get a better click through rate with having an appropriate image next to the text, I’d rather click on that than the sponsored ‘standard’ ads above.
I notice in image two the three listings seem to be based on price (cheapest at the top) is that standard practice?
D
Great post very informative. Could you tell me would google products be of use if you are selling high price unique products that can’t be reviewed as they are all different?
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