to optimize free product listings on Google Shopping

You’ll want your product listings to appear in Google Shopping.

Here are some tips to help retailers optimize their listings.

What is free product listing on Google?

Google Shopping results are dominated by free listings of products since April 2021. This is a significant shift from the previously paid-for product.

The change was implemented globally in 2020.

Google, buyers, and sellers all benefit from free product listings.

The consumer now has a greater choice of products to choose from and more convenient options for purchasing.

The sellers benefit from a wider organic reach, without incurring any additional costs.

Google can now better compete against other online retailers.

Although participation in the program, as its name suggests, is free, retailers are required to follow SEO guidelines for enhancing their product listings.

You will be able to reach more potential buyers by using Google’s various destinations.

Google Shopping: Free product listings and how to get started

Displaying products on Google is a free service, just as Google does not charge businesses to be included in its search index.

Google Shopping is accessed by clicking on the “Shopping tab” at the top of a search results page.

You can also find free listings of products within:

• Google Images, including Google Lens.
• YouTube Mobile or Desktop
• Rich results types such as popular products or shopping knowledge panels.

Google Ads is not required for all retailers who have a Merchant Center Account.

Simply select the “I agree” option when creating your account. Select the Display your products in Google’s free product listings option from the Manage programs menu.

List of free products

The appearance of free listings will depend on how much product information you provide.

Free Listings Standard

Google’s free standard listings look similar to standard search results with some product-specific data.

This type of listing can include a product’s description, its price, ratings from users, reviews and stock availability.

Google can get this information either from your Merchant Center Data Feed, or, if not available, via structured data markup on your website.

Free listings with enhanced features

These richly-contented and visually appealing listings can be found on the Shopping tab as well as other Google destinations, outside of the search results page.

These listings require retailers to add additional attributes such as high quality images but can also drive more traffic and sales than standard listings.

Local product listings for free

Local listings can help you promote your store and attract customers from your local area.

Local listings are free and help local businesses reach out to shoppers who are actively looking for products in a particular category.

This is a great way to get people to visit the store to see or try products.

You can offer your customers the option to buy from free listings on your site, rather than buying at a local retailer.

The Buy on Google option, which allows shoppers to purchase products directly on Google, will be unavailable starting September 26, 2023.

Google has instead announced plans for a new streamlined purchasing journey across Search and YouTube.

No product listing requirements

Merchants must first meet certain requirements before we can optimize their products.

Merchant Center must have the following elements set up to allow for both free standard listings and enhanced listings:

Claim website

Merchants can verify ownership by adding an HTML code or using Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager.

If a website has already been claimed in Merchant Center then any feeds that have been created must be re-created.

Website Information

Google wants to give shoppers the best possible experience when they purchase a product from a listing.

Sites must contain:

• Information on contact and payment.
• Refund and return policies
• Terms and Conditions of Billing
• Secure checkout protected by an SSL certificate.

Product feeds that are approved

It can be built manually or synced automatically via options for integration with ecommerce platforms.

The list also contains the attributes for each product that are required to create free and paid listings.

Minimum product data

Standard listings must include the ID, title and price of each product, as well as its description, availability, image_link, link and attribute.

The following information is required for enhanced listings:

Additional Product Attributes

• Condition, brand, gtin, mpn, multipack, is_bundle, color, size, age_hroup, gender, item_group_id.
• Please note that the prices can vary depending on what you are buying.

Shipping

• You can specify the shipping method for your products and any associated charges and rates in Merchant Center or directly within the feed.

Tax

• Merchant Center or Feeds will show you the applicable sales tax rates for each region.

Search visibility can be improved by optimizing your free listings

Google’s product listings are free and can help you reach more customers who have shown an interest in your brand or category.

The enhanced listings are a great way to showcase your products visually.

As with traditional SEO, the Google Shopping Ecosystem optimization strategy starts with effective keyword analysis and competitor research.

Keyword research and competitor analysis

Start by identifying search terms that are relevant and effective for finding products similar to those your business sells.

Searchers use product attributes and specifics to find products in your category.

Now let’s move on to the category of jewelry.

It is possible to find volume when shoppers are searching for specific items based on color, material, brand or type.

How would a “diamond-gold necklace” compare on an impressions and clicks basis to a “stone cut gold classic diamond tennis necklace?”

Descriptors such as “artisanal” and “handcrafted” can also help you match your product with customers with a higher purchase intention.

Overall, strategically integrating keywords into product titles and descriptions will increase your chances of having relevant search results for your products.

The competitor analysis enhances your keyword research with information on what other companies do in the same industry.

You can analyze your competitors’ product listings in order to learn about their pricing strategy, keyword usage or other factors that contributed to their success.

You can build on the strategies of your competitors if you see them appearing in searches that you would like to appear in.

The most effective way to improve SEO performance is by optimizing product attributes and feed data.

Consider more than the minimum amount of information required. Highlight anyand differentiators such as color, material or technical specifications.

Use the space Google provides, particularly within the product description fields, to make your offer appealing to potential buyers.

Selecting and optimizing images for your products

Your product listing’s click-through rate can be significantly affected by high-quality images.

Google has strict requirements for size and format.

• Photos that are well-lit and clearly show your product from various angles will help customers understand what to expect.
• Use descriptive filenames and alt tags. Google uses these attributes to extract information about your images. Alt text is also a requirement in order to comply with ADA .
• Google Images supports structured data such as video, product, recipe and image metadata. If you add this information, your images will be eligible for Google rich results as long as they have the “images” attribute.

Consider using lifestyle images, depending on the category of your products, to show your products in realistic situations.

If you are selling outdoor camping equipment, for example, use images of people in a camp setting.

This type of imagery can help you stand out from your competition. This allows customers to imagine themselves using the product, and evokes emotions that encourage them to purchase.

External optimization: landing page performance and customer feedback

Google will also consider the speed of your landing pages and your experience when ranking your products.

Review your product pages regularly to improve the user experience and customer purchase journey.

• A high bounce rate can indicate that your product listings are not in line with your website’s offerings. It could be due to poor or misleading listings, uncompetitive pricing or a slow or buggy website.
• Page experience and load time correlate to user time on site and Google ranking.

You can also opt into Google reviews to expand your reach.

Third-party reviews can be a powerful tool for ecommerce retailers looking to improve their online presence and gain trust from potential customers.

Customer reviews can be a key factor in the buying decision of online shoppers. Their presence in search results can also increase the visibility and popularity of the product.

You can use star ratings to attract buyers who are looking for information on products and services.

Google allows you to show both product and seller ratings.

• Seller Ratings are sourced primarily from Google Customer Reviews (if the merchant has opted in) as well as aggregated independent review sites.
• Product Ratings requires a minimum 50 reviews across your entire product line. These can be submitted manually via Merchant Center, or through a third-party review aggregater.

Reporting and insights on free product listings

It is important to track the performance of free listings in order to understand the impact of your SEO efforts.

Google Merchant Center provides valuable metrics such as clicks, click-through rates, impressions and click-throughs in tabs dedicated to free listings and local listings.

Report Editor allows you to segment traffic by brand, product or category, and compare metrics between paid and free online shopping.

List your products free of charge alongside paid shopping advertisements is a powerful method to maximize your visibility on Google platforms, and to add value to your company.

Google’s internal data shows that since the introduction of free listing, merchants who use free listings with ads have seen a 50% increase in clicks and a doubled number of impressions.

Your marketing reports and inventory planning will be directly affected by the insights you gain from tracking your free product listings.

You can allocate your resources more efficiently by fine-tuning your paid and free shopping campaigns.

Google Shopping: An evolving experience

Google Shopping is constantly evolving, as demonstrated by the recent addition of free listings.

Google will continue to improve the shopping experience for users as consumer behavior changes and they are more willing to buy products online.

Google Shopping ecosystem is changing rapidly. The best way to meet these challenges is by optimizing your free listings.

The article How you can optimize your product listings for free in Google Shopping first appeared on Search Engine Land.