Google Ads for Ecommerce: 8 Strategies to Increase Sales & ROAS

1. Start with a Strong Product Feed.

Many ecommerce marketing campaigns start with your Google Merchant Center product feed. It comprises titles, descriptions, prices, images, availability, brands, attributes & other details about your products for Google.

Google uses this product information to decide what searches are relevant to your product. Shopping ads are quite different from traditional Search advertisements, as they are based on product data instead of manually selected keywords.

Make sure your product titles contain useful information like -

• ☐ Brand name
• ☐ Product type
• ☐ Description
• ☐ Model/product name
• ☐ Size or Color
• ☐ Relevant Category
• ☐ Salient features

For instance, a title like “Blue Running Shoes” could be improved to “Men’s Blue Running Sports Shoes - Lightweight Cushioned” for better search results.

2. Set Up Your Google Ads Campaigns.

Not all campaigns are the same, and ecommerce companies should not be alike. Shopping campaigns can display product images, prices, store names and other information to shoppers. This helps prospective customers to know what they are getting into before clicking.

You can run Performance Max campaigns to reach users on Google's advertising platforms, such as Gmail, YouTube, Display, Discover, etc. However, search campaigns capture high-intent keywords. A combination of these campaigns targets customers at various points in the ecommerce buying journey.

3. Use separate Brand & Non-Brand Campaigns.

The next important Google Ads optimization strategy is to segment branded and non-branded searches.

A person looking for your brand knows your business; a person looking for a generic product may be learning about your business for the first time. Separate audiences will make performance analysis easier. It also enables advertisers to allocate budgets based on business goals.

For instance, you could have a campaign for -

• ☐ Branded searches
• ☐ Generic product searches
• ☐ Major product categories
• ☐ Best-selling products
• ☐ Seasonal products

4. Strategically use Smart Bidding.

Google Ads ecommerce campaigns are increasingly leveraging automation and machine learning(ML). Smart Bidding strategies automatically adjust bids based on a range of signals that can influence the likelihood of conversion. When sufficient conversion data is available, e-commerce businesses can use these strategies to optimize bidding, improve campaign performance, and increase revenue.

Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) can be useful. Automation is not “set and forget”. Before making changes, businesses should track conversion volume, ROAS, product margins, search terms, and campaign performance.

The target ROAS should also be based on profitability. An ad return on product A with a 20% margin can differ quite from that on product B with a 60% margin.

5. Track Search Terms & Cut Down Wasted Money.

Broad targeting is beneficial for discovering new search opportunities; however, it can entertain irrelevant search prompts.

One should constantly monitor search terms to identify -

For instance, you could have a campaign for -

• ☐ Irrelevant queries
• ☐ Potential negative keywords
• ☐ Low & high converting queries
• ☐ New customer search queries

Discovering all of these can prevent your ad from showing for queries unlikely to result in a sale. Advertisers can also analyze Search Terms Insights to see what customers are actually searching and categorize search activities.

6. Optimize both Landing Page & Ad

Getting a click is just the first step. Even the most targeted ads can fail to convert if your product page is slow to load, information is unclear, shipping costs are not listed, or checkout is complicated.

The landing page should be as close to the promise as possible in the ad, comprising -

For instance, you could have a campaign for -

• ☐ Clear product images
• ☐ Detailed product information
• ☐ Price and availability
• ☐ Level of reviews and trust signals
• ☐ Return and shipping details
• ☐ A large “Add to Cart” button
• ☐ A straightforward checkout procedure

7. Build a Full-Funnel Ecommerce PPC Strategy.

Not every shopper is ready to make an impulse purchase. Some customers are still in the research phase while others are comparing product prices. Some customers are just looking for the best place to make their purchase.

Using research by Google, 8/10 shoppers' touch journeys are multi-step journeys. Understanding the full journey of the customer, and not just the last step, is important to be successful in your marketing endeavors.

An ecommerce marketing strategy can utilize all three stages of the customer funnel-

• Awareness: PPC marketing is used to capture customers.
• Consideration: Re-target using product ads.
• Conversion: Shopping or Search ads are used.

A complete funnel marketing strategy can help to build a client base on Google's ads platform.

8. Measure Revenue.

While clicks and impressions can give you an estimate of whether your ads are getting attention or not. Ecommerce businesses look into how much money they are making. You need to closely analyze whether the running ads are profitable.

The performance indicators could be like -

• ☐ Conversion rate & value
• ☐ Cost per conversion
• ☐ Average order value
• ☐ Revenue by product & campaign
• ☐ New v/s returning customers
• ☐ ROAS

Businesses see how their ads are performing by tracking sales and revenue from online shopping. This means companies can link their ads to actual orders and revenue, as long as they know what's in shopping carts.

Why Do Ecommerce Brands Need Continuous Google Ads Optimization?

Google Ads is not a campaign that you set and forget. Continuous analysis of factors like competitors, customer behavior, search queries, prices, & seasonal trends can change the whole output.

The facts show that about 15% of all searches are new every day. We can interpret from this that regular monitoring of online campaigns can create new opportunities and save money.

Smarter PPC Strategy to Expand Your Ecommerce Business

Instead of focusing on getting the maximum number of ad clicks, companies should target the right customers. They make it easier for shoppers to buy, ensuring they achieve a good ROI (return on investment) and build a stable business.

Want to boost your online store's ads? Hire PPC Experts in India at ValueHits who can help you create a smart Google Ads plan that gets you noticed, drives sales, and makes the most of your ad budget. Contact today!