How to create shopping ads in Google Ads

Author:

Creating shopping ads in Google Ads is a great way to promote your products and reach potential customers who are actively searching for what you offer. With the right strategy and setup, shopping ads can drive significant traffic and conversions to your website. In this expanded guide, we’ll take a closer look at the steps involved in creating shopping ads in Google Ads, as well as some advanced tips and best practices to help you get the most out of your campaign.

Prerequisites:

Before you start creating shopping ads in Google Ads, you’ll need to have a few things in place:

  1. A Google Merchant Center account: This is where you’ll manage your product feed and set up your shopping ads. If you don’t have a Google Merchant Center account, you can create one for free.
  2. A Google Ads account: This is where you’ll manage your shopping ad campaign and set your budget, targeting options, and bidding strategy. If you don’t have a Google Ads account, you can create one for free.
  3. Your products must be listed in your Google Merchant Center account with accurate and up-to-date information, including product titles, descriptions, images, and prices.

Step 1: Set up your Google Merchant Center 

To set up your Google Merchant Center account, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Google Merchant Center account.
  2. Click on the “Products” tab and then click on “Add products.”
  3. Follow the prompts to add your products, including product titles, descriptions, images, and prices. Make sure to include all the required fields, such as product ID, title, and description.
  4. Once you’ve added your products, make sure to review and verify your product feed. This will ensure that your products are eligible for shopping ads and that your product information is accurate and up-to-date.

Step 2: Set up your Google Ads account

To set up your Google Ads account, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Google Ads account.
  2. Click on the “Campaigns” tab and then click on “New campaign.”
  3. Select “Shopping” as the campaign type.
  4. Choose your target location, language, and bidding strategy. For shopping ads, you’ll want to choose a bidding strategy that focuses on conversions, such as “Target CPA” or “Target ROAS.”
  5. Set your daily budget and bidding strategy. For shopping ads, you’ll want to set a daily budget that’s high enough to drive significant traffic and conversions, but not so high that it breaks the bank.
  6. Choose your ad groups and product groups. For shopping ads, you’ll want to create ad groups that are specific to your products and target audience.

Step 3: Connect your Google Merchant Center account to Google Ads

To connect your Google Merchant Center account to Google Ads, follow these steps:

  1. In your Google Ads account, click on the “Settings” icon (represented by a gear) and select “Merchant Center.”
  2. Click on “Connect account” and follow the prompts to link your Google Merchant Center account to your Google Ads account.
  3. Once you’ve connected your accounts, you’ll be able to access your product feed and manage your shopping ad campaign from within Google Ads.

Step 4: Create a shopping ad campaign

To create a shopping ad campaign, follow these steps:

  1. In your Google Ads account, click on the “Campaigns” tab and then click on “New campaign.”
  2. Select “Shopping” as the campaign type.
  3. Choose your target location, language, and bidding strategy.
  4. Set your daily budget and bidding strategy.
  5. Choose your ad groups and product groups.
  6. Set your ad targeting options, such as device targeting and location targeting.
  7. Set your ad scheduling options, such as dayparting and ad rotation.

Step 5: Set up your ad groups and product groups

To set up your ad groups and product groups, follow these steps:

  1. In your Google Ads account, click on the “Ad groups” tab and then click on “New ad group.”
  2. Choose your product group and ad group name.
  3. Set your ad group bid and targeting options.
  4. Add your product images and other visual elements to your ad group.
  5. Set your ad group destination URL, which should be the URL of the product page on your website.

Step 6: Create your shopping ads

To create your shopping ads, follow these steps:

  1. In your Google Ads account, click on the “Ads” tab and then click on “New ad.”
  2. Select “Shopping” as the ad type.
  3. Choose your ad format, such as image, video, or text.
  4. Set your ad headline, description, and destination URL.
  5. Add your product images and other visual elements to your ad.
  6. Set your ad targeting options, such as device targeting and location targeting.
  7. Set your ad scheduling options, such as dayparting and ad rotation.

Step 7: Launch your shopping ad campaign

To launch your shopping ad campaign, follow these steps:

  1. Review your campaign settings and ad groups.
  2. Set your campaign start date and time.
  3. Click “Launch” to start your campaign.

Step 8: Monitor and optimize your shopping ad campaign

To monitor and optimize your shopping ad campaign, follow these steps:

  1. Track your campaign performance using Google Ads’ reporting tools.
  2. Monitor your ad metrics, such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and cost per conversion.
  3. Optimize your ads and ad groups based on performance data.
  4. Use Google Ads’ automated bidding strategies, such as “Target CPA” or “Target ROAS,” to optimize your bidding strategy.
  5. Use Google Ads’ ad rotation feature to rotate your ads and ensure that your best-performing ads are being shown to your target audience.

Advanced Tips and Best Practices:

Here are some advanced tips and best practices to help you get the most out of your shopping ad campaign:

  1. Use high-quality product images: Make sure your product images are high-quality and visually appealing. This will help increase the click-through rate and conversion rate of your ads.
  2. Use relevant keywords: Use relevant keywords in your ad copy and product titles to help your ads show up for relevant searches.
  3. Use negative keywords: Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches and reduce waste.
  4. Use ad scheduling: Use ad scheduling to control when your ads are shown and to ensure that your ads are being shown during peak hours.
  5. Use ad rotation: Use ad rotation to rotate your ads and ensure that your best-performing ads are being shown to your target audience.
  6. Use automated bidding: Use automated bidding strategies, such as “Target CPA” or “Target ROAS,” to optimize your bidding strategy and ensure that you’re getting the most conversions for your budget.
  7. Use Google Ads’ ad extensions: Use Google Ads’ ad extensions, such as site links and callouts, to provide additional information about your products and to increase the visibility of your ads.
  8. Use Google Ads’ remarketing: Use Google Ads’ remarketing feature to target users who have visited your website but haven’t converted yet.
  9. Use Google Ads’ customer match: Use Google Ads’ customer match feature to target users who have purchased from your website before.
  10. Use Google Ads’ audience targeting: Use Google Ads’ audience targeting feature to target users who are similar to your existing customers.

By following these steps and using these advanced tips and best practices, you can create effective shopping ads in Google Ads and drive significant traffic and conversions to your website.

Categories: Digital Marketing