Google Shopping Website Quality Policy Enforcement

Google Shopping Website Quality Policy Enforcement

As of March 27th of 2021, Google enforces stricter requirements for quality websites, i.e.: editorial guidelines and professional requirements. Since April 2020, Google has already adopted the need for quality websites with high enough trust signals. It is now going one step further.

Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/10670168

What Topics Revolve Around Website Quality

Popups

Generally, PopUps are not allowed. For example, a pop-up or banner blocks or covers important content and or information for your customers. Instead, have a small icon in the bottom corners that show/hide the newsletter subscription.

Back Button

When pressing the back button, the user needs to navigate to the previous page in its browser history. Blocking this action is not allowed.

Website Speed

Having a slow-loading website, generally, it is advised to have your website load within 3 seconds. You can use Google Search Console to check how your website is performing. More info:https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9205520?hl=en

Under Construction

Having partial or entire pages that are under construction. This also means leaving behind template images or ipsum lorem (placeholder) text.

Functionality

Complex or difficult to use website navigation. For example, no general footer links, no header links, or categories. For websites that have many products, implement a filter system.

Links

Ensure all links on the website return a 200 response code. This means no broken links. Do not use hashed links that point nowhere.

Contact Page

Include a complete contact page with address, email, telephone, business hours, and a contact form.

Shipping Information

Have precise shipping details explaining the costs, handing time, delivery time, couriers you use, etc.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a simple to use FAQ. If you have a lot of them, consider including an easy-to-use search box.

Promotions

Use grammatically correct promotional text and avoid using shorthand or unclear discounts.

Products

All products must have relevant titles and descriptions. Avoid using generic landing pages or products that are irrelevant.

Grammar

Spellcheck your text for grammatical errors. If you have translated your text from a different language, use human resources instead of automated translation services. Automatic services tend to have unreadable sentences.

Titles

Clearly describe your products and do not include any keyword stuffing, gimmicky text, full capitalized words, emoticons, or text emoticons.

Descriptions

Use proper descriptions that accurately describe the product. Avoid using copying the title as your description or only having bullet points.

Images

Do not include logos, text, borders, watermarks, or other products. Only show what you sell. Make sure all images are professional and fit the niche of your business.

Associated Domains

Any 3rd party link you have on your website needs to be 100% clean. IE are not flagged for spam or malware. If Google detects any suspicious signals, it may block your website on Google Search and some browsers.

Product Details

Listing duplicate content, showing details that are inaccurate or utterly missing information. For example, listing variants on separate pages. Make sure in this case to use canonical URLs

Is All of This Necessary?

Yes it is. As of April 2020, Google has been banning a lot of merchants that do not comply, now with the new policy enforcement, it will become even more difficult. My advice, take the time to develop a professional website, have a track record of order fulfillment, and don’t look like the next copycat drop shipper.

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Ahmed
Ahmed
3 years ago

What do you mean by “have a track record of order fulfillment”?

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