The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping Ads in 2025

The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping Ads in 2025

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So, you have an e-commerce business, and you're doing quite well with your online sales, but you're wondering how you can scale this specific part of your business. Well, in 2025, you need to be using Google Shopping Ads. This may come as a shock, but this is the best way for you to grow your business online in 2025. Google Shopping Ads have become an indispensable tool for businesses looking to drive sales and increase brand visibility. These visually appealing product listings appear at the top of Google Search results, showcasing your products directly to potential customers searching for keywords related to your products.

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In this article, we're going to go through the steps you need to make to ensure your Google Shopping Ads are set up correctly. We will also provide actionable insights to help you maximise your campaign success. 

Understanding Google Shopping Ads

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Okay, so first, let's ask, "What are Google Shopping Ads?" When a potential customer searches for a product, your ad will appear if it matches their query. Your ad will display the product image, title, price, store name, and even the reviews. Clicking on an ad takes this customer directly to that product on your website, increasing the chance of a conversion.

Benefits of Google Shopping Ads

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• Enhanced visibility: Shopping ads are prioritised by Google to show up first in the search results. This immediately captures the attention of a potential customer, driving an increased conversion rate.
• Increased click-through rates: Visually appealing ads with product images tend to attract more clicks, as it is easier for a user to engage with this ad. They see a product that they are looking for, and by clicking on it, they are able to buy it, rather than having to filter through a website, which takes up their time.
• Higher conversion rates: By showing these products first on the results page, Shopping Ads can lead to more targeted traffic and conversions purely based on the simplicity of a search and a click.
• Stronger brand awareness: Consistent exposure through Shopping Ads can boost brand recognition and recall. Shopping Ads not only show the product and the price but also the brand name or the company that is selling the specific product, meaning that even if a customer does not click on your ad, they have seen your brand name.

Setting Up Google Shopping Ads

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So now you know why you should be using Google Shopping Ads, but how do you get started in setting this up? Obviously, you're going to need a Google Ads account, but what you might not know is that you will also need a Google Merchant Center account where you can list these products.

Below are other steps that need to be taken in order for you to set up and correctly manage a Google Shopping campaign:

1. Create a Google Merchant Center Account: This is where you'll manage your product data feed, which contains information about your products.
2. Set Up a Google Ads Account: This is where you'll create and manage your Shopping campaigns.
3. Create a Product Feed: This is a file containing detailed information about your products, including titles, descriptions, images, prices, and availability.
4. Link Merchant Center to Google Ads: Connect your Merchant Center account to your Google Ads account to enable the use of your product data in your Shopping campaigns.
5. Create a Shopping Campaign: Set your campaign goals, budget, bidding strategy, and target audience.
6. Optimise Your Product Feed: Ensure your product data is accurate, consistent, and optimised for search.
7. Write Compelling Product Titles and Descriptions: Use relevant keywords and compelling language to attract clicks.
8. Choose High-Quality Product Images: Clear, eye-catching images can significantly impact ad performance.

I hope those steps were easy enough to follow, but now that you have it set up, you can let your campaign run and start showing ads to your potential customers. As I'm sure you are aware, this is not the end of the game. You are able to constantly optimise and update your campaigns to make sure you are hitting the right target audience.

Optimising Your Google Shopping Ads

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Optimising your campaign is like trimming the hedges around your house. Once they grow to a certain length, you need to trim them back. Just like in your Shopping Ads, once they reach a target audience that is not converting, you need to narrow that target audience. So, how do we go about doing this? Below are a couple of steps that you can take to ensure you're optimising your Google Shopping Ads in a way that benefits your campaign without putting too much restriction on the outcome or goal of your business:

• Utilise Negative Keywords: Exclude irrelevant search terms to improve ad targeting. Shopping ad campaigns allow you to add negative keywords as a way to tell Google that you do not want to show your products when someone types in the specific search term. This way, you can be sure that you won't be spending money on an audience that is not going to buy your product.

• Experiment with Bidding Strategies: Test different bidding strategies, such as manual CPC, automated rules, and Smart Shopping campaigns, to find the best approach for your business. Bidding strategies are a smart way of letting Google control where your budget gets spent. Google uses machine learning and AI to ensure that they find the perfect customer for your business. This AI continues to learn every single time someone clicks or makes a purchase. Using the right bidding strategy, you can ensure that your budget gets spent on the perfect customer every time.
• Leverage Product Extensions: Showcase additional product attributes like colour, size, and material to enhance your ads. As a business owner, I'm sure you know that the price is not the only selling point. Sometimes, your product may have better features than a potential competitor, so you need to showcase this difference or attribute so that the customers can see this at first glance and make the right choice.
• Track and Analyze Performance: Monitor key metrics like clicks, impressions, conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS) to identify areas for improvement. These key metrics will give you a much better understanding of how your campaigns are performing. If you are getting a lot of impressions but not as many clicks, then this could mean that your target audience is incorrect. You could be showing the product to the wrong audience, meaning they aren't going to click on it. However, if you are getting a lot of clicks and not a lot of conversions, then it may be your website that needs to be looked at. It could be the price is too high or the checkout process is not very smooth.
• A/B Test Ad Variations: The beauty of Google Ads is that you are able to A/B test different variations in your campaigns. This means you can get real-time feedback on what is working and, more importantly, what is not working.
• Stay Updated with Google's Latest Features: Keep up with Google's evolving Shopping Ads features and best practices.

Now, you should be a complete Google Ads master... well, just kidding, but at least you know a bit more about Google Shopping Ads. Recently, there have been some updates from Google that you should possibly know about, so let's get into that.

Update on Performance Max and regular Shopping campaigns.

Starting in October, Google will be gradually launching an update that will change how Performance Max and standard Shopping campaigns interact in the auction when they are in the same account targeting the same products.

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For these overlapping campaigns, instead of performance Max automatically being prioritised over standard shopping, normal auction dynamics will now apply and the campaign with the “highest ad rank” will serve. This brings Performance Max and standard Shopping campaigns into alignment with other campaign types, where the “highest ad rank” serves as the general behaviour, enabling more flexibility on campaign management with less complexity for testing. 

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PMax will continue to be the most sophisticated AI product to multiply conversions and capture the highest ROI opportunities during holidays across Google's channels.

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Final Thoughts

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So let's wrap this up, as you can tell Google Shopping Ads offer a powerful way to reach potential customers and drive sales. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create effective Shopping campaigns that deliver measurable results. But please remember, continuous optimization and experimentation are the key to maximising your return on investment.

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Thank you so much for reading this article. If you enjoyed it and are looking to grow your business, feel free to contact us or book a consultation with our sales team.

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At Strike Digital, the leading social media ad agency, we work with you to achieve growth and increase revenue performance.

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Have a great day!

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