How to create the perfect Google Shopping feed from your Shopify shop

Why even consider Google Shopping in the first place?

Chances are that shoppers have been passing by Google in one way or the other in their online searches. Some shoppers utilize Google already at the beginning of the buying process when searching for a product/solution, while others use Google at the very end to just compare prices and where to make their purchase. In other words, advertising your products on Google allows you to be right front and centre of where your potential customers are.

Things to consider before setting up a shopping feed with Shopify

In the ideal world, it would be as easy as pie to advertise your products on Google Shopping. Especially when your webshop is placed on one of the most popular eCommerce platforms on the planet like Shopify. However, even though we as a society are getting smarter by the minute, we are still not quite there yet. So, let's take a quick look at the current needs and challenges that surrounds setting up a Google Shopping feed from the Shopify platform:

1. Google Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts

To be able to advertise your products on Google Shopping you will need an account connected to the Google Merchant Center and another account to Google Ads. If you miss one of the two, then you won't be able to start advertising your products on Google Shopping.

2. Shopify product feed that meets the requirements of the Google Merchant Center

Besides the two accounts above, the Google Merchant Center also requires you to import/upload a product feed with all your product information. Since your webshop is built via Shopify it is fairly easy to produce such a product feed, but as the feed requirements from the Merchant Center often differs quite a bit from a standard/default Shopify product feed, might start to notice how challenging it is to meet the exact needs and specifications of the Google Merchant Center.

Some of the most common issues are linked to missing fields/attributes in your product feed (e.g. brand, GTIN, MPN, etc.). Or maybe the value is just not in the correct format as Google wants (incorrect pricing, gender specification). But again, there can also be other issues that prevent your Shopify product feed to meet the requirements of the Google Merchant Center.

This is where 3rd party solutions like Channable suddenly become very handy.

Advantages of using 3rd party solutions to create your Shopify Google feed

Now, before we dig deeper into the actual process of setting up your Google Shopping feed, let’s briefly take a look at some of the advantages you receive when choosing a 3rd party solution like Channable:

1. Built-in Google Shopping feed template

With Channable you get access to more than 2.500 unique feed templates, including the popular Google Shopping template. By utilizing the built-in template you can meet the demands of the Google Merchant Center in no time.

2. Daily synchronization of your product feed

When your product information changes in your Shopify backend, you most likely also want it to change within your Google Shopping feed. Channable can help you synchronize this information to ensure your product information always stays up to date.

3. Technical support

Sometimes you just have those days where nothing works out the way you want it or maybe you end up struggling to see the solution in the end. With Channable you have access to a large technical support department. Whether you need guidance, assistance, or just want to know more about categorization, rules-setting, or other Google Product feed-related questions, then the technical support is ready at your disposal.

4. Channacademy learning hub

With Channable you will get instant access to the in-depth learning centre, The Channacademy. Here you can learn about the fundamentals of feed management, setting up your first feed, rules setting, and much more about eCommerce.

How to optimize your Shopify feed for Google Shopping?

In today's eCommerce landscape you will notice multiple providers that can help you optimize your product feed to meet the requirements of Google Merchant Center. Channable is one of these providers that offers a seamless solution that does not require any IT background, Development, or any other technical knowledge.

In fact, with Channable you put yourself in the driver seat meaning you get the opportunity to create exactly the product feed you want. As a Shopify user, it becomes even easier because Channable offers a built-in integration/plugin in which you can utilize to connect your Shopify shop directly to Channable.

As soon as you have connected your Shopify shop/feed to Channable, the solution suddenly becomes your playground. To utilize your current product feed from Shopify to create an optimized Google Shopping feed you need to navigate to ‘feeds‘ (in the tool) and choose the Google Shopping template. Having initiated the setup it is now time to breeze through 6 simple steps. Let’s dig a little deeper into each of them:

Step 1: Settings

This is a basic stage to get started. Here you have to choose which country you want your feed to address and which type of market your products concern.

Step 2: Categorization

To advertise on Google Shopping you will likely need to categorize your products. With Channable you have the option to utilize the Smart Categorization functionality for this.

Step 3: Rules

Ahhh, the stage where all the magic happens. Utilize the built-in rules system in Channable to easily filter, enrich or optimize your existing product information. For example, use the rules to quickly filter out specific products you do not want to promote or use the rules to add extra information such as promotion labels or other types of custom labels. Channable’s rules system is based on the ‘IF-’THEN’ statements, meaning they can be utilized by everyone.

Step 4: Finalize

The so-called mapping stage where you map your existing fields with fields requested by Google Merchant Center. With Channable you get a clear overview over which fields are mandatory, which field recommended, and which fields are just optional.

Step 5: Preview

This is the stage where your feed-URL is placed and where you can form an overview of the product feed you have just created. Please note that the feed-URL is not visible when your account is still on trial. As soon as you are happy with your feed you can choose to push your account live and then the feed-URL becomes visible.

Step 6: Quality

And finally, the last stage where you get an instant health check over your newly created feed. If your product feed includes hundreds or maybe thousands of products it is almost impossible to form an overview of the feed-health of every product. With the quality stage from Channable, you can see exactly which products, fields, and values need some extra attention before pushing the feed alive.

By walking through all of the above steps you will in the end have found Channable´s almost secret formula on how to create the perfect Google Shopping feed when using Shopify.

This concludes the ideal approach on How to create the perfect Google Shopping feed from your Shopify shop. If you are looking for more information about how to successfully advertise on Google Shopping, then we can recommend taking a closer look at the following article: How to successfully advertise on Google Shopping.

And if you already feel like trying out Channable, then go to the Shopify App store and search for Channable or sign up via the link ‘Create trial account’ below.