In this article I will explain what to check for when you don’t have any Google Shopping sales.
Traffic
First ensure that you have at least 500 clicks on your products, if you don’t have this yet, first focus on getting more traffic. Assuming you already have a few clicks, the quickest action you can take is to increase the bids or lower your ROAS targets.
If you have zero clicks check the following:
Check if you still have an active payment profile in Google Ads.
Check that your campaign, ad groups or asset groups are not paused.
Ensure your Google Merchant Center account is linked in Google Ads.
In Google Merchant Center check that all products are active by going to the diagnostics area. Also ensure there are no errors.
Adwords
Analyze your Adwords search the report to ensure your search terms are relevant. Generic or irrelevant keywords will have a negative effect on your advertising efforts.
For example, if you are advertising for Blue Polo Shirts and you see in your search terms, Blue T-Shirts than you know that these search terms are not relevant and must be added as a negative keyword.
Trust Factor
With every business the trust factor is a key contributor towards a purchase. Not showing your address, telephone number, certificates etc can cause the customer to leave your website. Even server issues and website design have a negative impact.
Customers are very quick to judge, the smallest negativity can lead to a quick exit.
Here are some examples what contributes towards the trust factor :
- Address
- Telephone Number
- Certificates
- Website Layout
- Navigation
- Multi Device Friendly
- Server Issues
- Checkout Issues
- Slow Loading
- Product Images
- Price
Unique Selling Point (USP)
Even when your website is perfect, why would a customer purchase a product on your website and not on a competitors. Do you have a unique selling point? If not, maybe it’s time to find one.
Checking your competitors USP allows you to analyze if your USP is still a valid offer.
Examples of unique selling points
- Free Shipping
- Free Shipping when you spend over X amount
- Discount when spending over X amount
- Free items
- Special offers
- Embroidery Service (Apparel)
- Warranty
Competitiveness
Being the cheapest is not always best, researching your competitors and price accordingly, is extremely important. There is a market for every merchant, however finding the balance can be hard. Listing all your competitors in a spread sheet with their average pricing, delivery charges, customer feedback and advertising spend can help you better understand what you need to do to compete. If for example you are very expensive, why not show the reason behind your pricing, such as high quality, special material or long / lifetime warranty.
Website Layout
The website layout is part of the trust factor and requires a nice design and functionality to encourage your customers to stay on your website and ultimately buy your products. Following landing page optimization tips are a good start. There are a ton of great articles on how to create the best landing page for both layout and UI. I recommend reading as much as you can before redesigning your website.
Seasonal
The products you are selling might be seasonal, if so try to advertise on the seasons that you know are hot cakes. And limit or pause the advertising efforts off-season.
How To Move Forward?
Making incremental changes is the best tactic when it comes to improving your website. Ensure you first establish the biggest negatives on your website by setting yourself in the shoes of your customer. This allows you to see the site from a different perspective. I always tell my clients pretend you are a child and don’t know how to use the website. Is everything self-explanatory? Can I easily see the call to action button?
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Tip :
Open your landing page, close your eyes for 10 seconds, than open them. What is the first thing you notice? Is what you notice the most important thing of the page? Are you sure this requires center of attention? Ask your colleagues in the office to do the same.
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