What is Google Merchant Center and why is it worth using?
- 04 September 2020
If you run an online store, you’ve certainly heard about Google Shopping. This is a very important promotional tool for e-commerce, which, next to social media campaigns or standard search engine ads, can increase the number of orders in your store. However, to use Google Shopping properly, at the beginning you need to get to know Google Merchant Center, which will help you maximize the potential of Google promotion. What is Google Merchant Center and how to use it?
Google Merchant Center and Google Shopping
In one of the previous articles we wrote in more detail about the Google Shopping platform. It is an advertising network for online stores that, when the user enters a phrase in the Google search engine, displays results in the form of photos, names, and prices of products available in e-shops. However, you should know that Google Shopping does not download this information from the websites of online stores. For your products to appear in search results, you must enter them into the Google system yourself. You can do this through Google Merchant Center.
What is Google Merchant Center?
Google Merchant Center is an online retailer center on the Google network, where you can add information about your products so that Google can recognize them and display them correctly in search results. If you also use Google Ads, you can link both accounts and then automatically create ads based on the product feed provided in GMC. By using Google Merchant Center, buyers will be able to easily find your offer and find the information they are looking for. Proper configuration of your Google account will also allow you to automatically update information about your product, so you will save time editing them manually.
Google Merchant Center – advantages
There are many advantages to using Google Merchant Center. The key to success is linking it with the previously mentioned Google Ads. Thanks to this, you will be able to efficiently handle advertising campaigns and reach more customers. One product campaign can be conducted for stores offering up to 30,000 products – so it is worth taking advantage of this potential and actively promoting your offer. As part of the selected campaign, you can flexibly manage the rates of individual products, categories and product groups to implement your pricing strategy as efficiently as possible. If you would like to learn more about pricing strategies in e-commerce, read our article about one of the most popular solutions – competitive pricing. It is based on an in-depth analysis of competition prices visible, among others, in Google Shopping – it is worth using and monitoring them to make the best business decisions.
How does Google Merchant Center work?
Using Google Merchant Center should start with creating a Google account and supplementing it with your company’s data – address, website and contact details. The next step is to verify your website using one of the several options available in Google. Also, don’t forget to link Google Merchant Center with your Google Ads and Analytics account. In this way, you will create a properly configured GMC account ready to receive a product feed and handle the first campaign. For more information on account creation and verification, and GMC file uploads, visit the official Google sites.
Monitoring Google Shopping – why is it worth it?
Remember that Google Merchant Center is used not only by you, but also by your competitors. Therefore, to determine the appropriate price level in your store and remain competitive on the online market, it is worth considering comprehensive price monitoring in stores and online marketplaces.
If you would like to learn more about the possibilities, functions and advantages of Google Shopping monitoring, please contact us. Every day we observe thousands of websites for our clients and provide them with valuable market information that helps them effectively optimize their pricing strategies and maximize their e-commerce profits.
Learn more about factors you should analyze when deciding about the optimal sales and promotion channels for your business: Which products to sell and promote on the most important e-commerce platforms?