SEO is all about increasing your chances of being discovered by potential customers. But if you own or run an eCommerce website, you don’t have to stop at optimizing for the search.
Today, we’ll show you how to use Google product feeds to reach more searchers faster!
How Product Feeds Increase Your Visibility
In standard website SEO, you create content and rely on Google’s bots to crawl, index, and rank your website. When you update your listings for product availability or pricing, bots need to re-crawl it.
(It takes time.)
But if you’re in eCommerce, you can keep your product listings updated through Google Merchant Center (GMC).
With proper optimization, your listings will soon appear to searchers who want to buy products through Google and in all the SERPs with Google Shopping features (organic and paid).
Source: RaddInteractive
How Does Google Merchant Center Work?
Hint: eCommerce product feed SEO is much simpler than standard SEO:
- Create your product feed (use Google Sheets if your eCommerce provider doesn’t offer one)
- Optimize your product feed
- Sync your product feed with Google Merchant Center
- Verify your website
- Regularly optimize your product feed SEO
Google Merchant Center is 100% free.
If you want to run Google Shopping ads, it’ll be easier once your product feed is synced with GMC.
How to Optimize Your Product Feed for Google Shopping SEO
If you’re familiar with standard parts of eCommerce SEO, like creating unique product pages and optimizing your category pages, you should have no problem optimizing your product feeds.
The principle is the same: your product listings should match the search intent.
Detailed Listings Improve Your Product Feed SEO
Since most searchers navigating the Google Shopping results come with a commercial intent (they want to buy right now), your product listings should be as detailed as possible to give them the information they need to buy your products:
Product Listing Title for Google Merchant Center SEO
Include the relevant keyword and other details searchers look for expressly.
Review your list of profitable long-tail keywords to identify the specifications searchers care about.
Note how the example below emphasizes the size and style because they’re aspects purchase-ready searchers look for.
Source: GeekSeller
The Ideal Product Description for Product Feed SEO
You don’t want to babble with "inspirational" copy (unless you sell art).
Instead, your Google Shopping product descriptions should provide helpful information:
- List the product specifications and aspects your audience needs to know before purchasing
- Highlight product features and benefits
- Mention the brand
- Mention the intended customer (Who is the product for?)
For example, if you were selling boots, you’d mention the material, brand, whether they are waterproof or not, and who they’re for (Casual wear? Heavy-duty?).
Source: GoDataFeed
The example above is excellent in contrast to the following one, which sounds too fluffy when it could have been easier to comprehend in a few seconds:
Source: GoDataFeed
Use Professional Images
Forget blurry images or images with textual calls to action. Google Shopping isn’t the time for gimmicks; when customers are ready to purchase, you want to signal credibility.
If your products are more complex, showcase the details. For example, someone looking for a hiking backpack would want to see zippers, pockets, and flaps.
How to Choose the Product Type and Category in Google Shopping Feed
The golden rule is to be specific.
(Product feed SEO is still SEO. The more specific you are, the better you’ll respond to the search intent.)
For example, if you’re selling hiking backpacks for day hikes, don’t categorize them simply as “Backpacks.”
Niche down with categorization such as:
Bags -> Backpacks -> Hiking -> Day hiking
Similarly, don’t skip the Product Type selection. It’s optional but helps Google categorize your products accurately, much like Schema markup.
Technical Product Feed SEO
How to Optimize Google Shopping Feed Attributes
Just like we use Schema for website SEO, there are additional attributes you can add to your product feed to improve your Google Shopping SEO.
There are hundreds of Google Shopping feed attributes, including:
- Installment - For installment payment plans
- Multipack - For products sold in large quantities
- Energy efficiency class - For home electronics
And more!
Planning to Run Google Shopping Ads? Use Custom Labels
Your products will be bucketed according to specifications, brands, and typical attributes. But with custom labels, you can segment and group products that are:
- New
- Best-sellers
- Seasonal
Then, you’ll be able to choose the right bidding strategy for each.
Don’t Forget about GTINs!
Finally, don’t forget about the Global Trade Item Number. GTINs help categorize your products in the right section.
If you sell a widely available product, a GTIN will display your product listing next to other similar listings.
Worried? You shouldn’t be.
GTIN categorization increases your visibility. And, with a better offer than your competition’s, you should have no problem converting the traffic.
Source: DataFeedWatch
Sync Your Promotions Feed with Google Merchant Center
If you frequently run promotions, create a promotions feed and upload it to your Google Merchant Center.
Searchers will know when your products go on sale without manually updating the product listing.
Are You Ready to Improve Your eCommerce SEO with Product Feeds?
With 98% of global consumers shopping online, now’s the right time to add your product listings to Google Shopping.
Bookmark the checklist below and optimize your product listings!
Soon enough, you’ll appear in the “Top Products” section.
How to Optimize Your Google Shopping Product Listings
- Add your product feed to Google Merchant Center
- Create detailed listings
- Add relevant information and specs in the product listing title
- Answer important questions and note product benefits in the product description
- Use professional images
- Niche down when choosing the product category
- Optimize your technical product feed SEO
- Use relevant Google Shopping feed attributes
- Prepare for Shopping Ads with custom labels
- Use GTINs to increase visibility
- Sync your promotions feed with the Merchant Center
