These reviews form the basis of their market research resulting in a list of reputable companies that make up their annual top performer awards. This is what our Founder had to say when we received word on the exclusive club we’ll soon be joining.

“We are excited that our team’s innovative B2B advertising and reporting programs have enabled us to be recognized as a top provider in Washington state.” – Heather Darab, Founder of Blue Yarn Media.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the clients that took the time to write a Clutch review on our behalf. None of them had to do it, and their effort is greatly appreciated.

If you ever need a clear path to success, contact our team and we’ll clear one for you.

Types of Google Shopping Ads / Product Listing Ads

Shopping ads, sometimes called Product Listing Ads or PLA ads, enable you to put images of your products above the regular search links and ads. This is often referred to as 0 position. But which type of shopping ad is best for eCommerce businesses that do not have a local brick and mortar store? The answer is it depends on what you are looking for.

Best for Branding: Showcase Shopping

Showcase Shopping enables a more curated ad experience.

Pros

• CATEGORIZATION

Make different experiences for each category of your products in a high-impact brand ad.

• TARGETING SPECIFICATIONS

Multiple options for optimizing targeting (audiences, keyword, device).

• PRODUCT INCLUSION & EXCLUSION

Can select specific products to include and exclude.

Cons

• COST PER ENGAGEMENT (CPE)

You pay when someone engages with the ad or when they visit your site.

• LOWER SCALE

We have seen much lower scale for showcase shopping when compared to other shopping types.

• AVAILABILITY

Only available in certain countries.

Best for ROAS: Smart Shopping

Smart Shopping ads can show up in a variety of formats and places. Their extensive reach and low CPCs tend to maximize Return on Ad Spend.

Pros

• MAXIMIZE ROAS

Google’s programmatic bidding across placements maximizes ROAS.

• LOWER CPC

Ads show on the Organic Search Results, as well as Google Display Network (GDN) to retarget users, reducing CPCs and maximizing conversions.

• PROGRAMMATIC BIDDING

All bidding is done programmatically. (This can be an advantage or a disadvantage for those wanting more control on certain products!)

• EASY SETUP

Smart Shopping can also be an easy way to get started with Product Listing Ads to test its viability for your business.

Cons

• LEARNING PHASE

Initial learning phase for algorithm can take 1 – 3 weeks, depending on budget. During this learning phase, campaign results may have a significant degree of fluctuation.

• VOLATILE RESULTS

ROAS may fluctuate significantly after a promotion as the algorithm adjusts to post-promotional sales.

• POOR CREATIVE CONTROL

No control in how ads display across the web.

• LIMITED OPTIMIZATION OPTIONS

Optimization options limited to product feed configuration, product inclusion/exclusion, and bidding strategy adjustments.

• MINIMUM BUDGET REQUIREMENT

Budgets should be at least $100/day to provide enough data for the algorithm to learn. For higher priced products, plan on budgets approximately 1.5-2x of your average price point.

Best for Balancing ROAS & Control: Standard Shopping

Standard Shopping ads have a more predictable look and have been around for the longest.

Pros

• RANGE OF BID OPTIONS

Campaigns can be set up to leverage manual bids, enhanced CPC bids, and other programmatic bidding options.

• PRODUCT MIX

Can select specific products to include and exclude, depending on category focus, top sellers, etc.

• PREDICTABILITY

Product Listing Ad format is predictable.

• LOWER BUDGET REQUIREMENT

Individual product bids can be set manually based on their price points.

• PRIORITY CONFIGURATION

Multiple campaigns can be set up with priority given to certain campaigns. Some advertisers use this to focus their budget on top sellers first.

Cons

• HIGHER CPCS

Standard Shopping campaigns often have higher CPCs, resulting in lower ROAS compared to Smart Shopping.

• LONG TEST TIMES

Various levers for optimization means it may take longer to dial in the campaigns to meet desired results.

• HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE

The highly customizable setup options may be overwhelming to some clients or advertisers.

Google Shopping Optimization Tips

Successful Shopping Campaign management as a whole boils down to 3 main factors, including:

Product Feed Optimization

The Product feed provides the basis for which keywords your Shopping ads will serve on. It also provides the foundation for how you can segment your campaigns for optimal performance.

• PRODUCT TITLES & DESCRIPTIONS

Incorporate target keywords into titles and descriptions to increase the likelihood Google will serve your ads for those keywords.

• PRODUCT CATEGORY & TYPE

Make sure to use the most relevant version of the predefined Google product categories and format your data according to these guidelines. Although Product Category doesn’t influence the keywords your products will match to, it can help you build a better structure. For example, rather than placing Jackets with a Product Category of

Clothing & Accessories > Clothing > Outerwear

, it should include the sub-category for Jackets

Clothing & Accessories > Clothing > Outerwear > Coats & Jackets.

• CUSTOM LABELS

Custom labels do not impact which keywords you serve on; however, they are important to inform the campaign structure. Utilize custom label fields to separate products by collections, price points, gender etc.

Product Selection

Products that go out of stock will not be served in Google Shopping ads. However, you may have certain products that do not perform as well as others in Shopping. These products can be excluded to ensure your ad spend is focused on higher price point and higher ROAS opportunities.

Bidding Management

Always have a budget in place and select the optimal bidding type for your shopping campaigns. Shifting budgets and bidding amounts accordingly is also crucial. For instance, increasing bid amounts to cope with high competition during the holiday seasons or for higher return on ad spend (ROAS). In summary, the specific campaign or combination of Shopping campaigns you use will be unique for your needs and budget.

Increase Conversions to Grow Your Sales Funnel

Maximize your impact by starting with well-designed pages that follow best practices for your direct response pages. Once your demand generation pages launch, conversion rate optimization should be ongoing. This means that you should have a test plan, ongoing monitoring, and KPIs for measurement.

There are several elements to consider when designing landing pages:

What Are Gated Landing Pages?

Gated landing pages are often used in inbound marketing initiatives with long-form content. Long-form content includes various types of content, such as

• White papers
• Infographics
• Webinars

Gated landing pages are common in business to business (B2B) marketing and content marketing.

Gated pages keep site visitors focused on the action desired by the company. This is typically used for marketing campaigns where the key performance indicator (KPI) is leads generated. The only choice the visitor has is to

• Enter their information, or
• Click the logo to go to the home page (sometimes), or
• To leave the site (bounce).

Long-form content is often used in inbound marketing as a way to gather personal information from prospects, such as email addresses. Website visitors are then requested to provide personal information before the content in unlocked.

Optimize Landing Page Content

There are several ways to optimize landing page content.

Messaging

Ensure the copy on your landing page matches how people are searching for your products and services. In addition, the landing page should contain consistent call to action with any ads you are running to promote your content.

KEY ACTION

Use common industry terminology. Your landing page should not contain jargon that is mostly used internally at your company.

Call To Action

A call to action is the next step you want your site visitors to take. Always have a single call to action on the landing page, which is clearly visible above the fold and consistent throughout the page.

KEY ACTION

Mention your call to action throughout the page. This may include in the H1 heading, page copy, as well as above your lead generation form and / or on the submit button on your contact form.

Badges & Privacy Policy

Trust is important when beginning any kind of relationship. Show your potential leads that you care about them and that your company is creditable.

KEY ACTION

Include a privacy policy, industry certifications, and client logos / testimonials to establish your business.

Provide A Positive User Experience

There’s nothing worse than going to a new website only to find out that it doesn’t work on your browser, or the content doesn’t load on your mobile device. Ensure that you are putting your best foot forward to new leads by taking the following key next steps:

Mobile First Optimization

Studies have shown that 40% of users will bounce if your site is not mobile friendly. Make sure your website looks good on mobile devices by using free tools, such as:

• GTMETRIX

The performance report is an easy way to see if the web team can take steps like minifying JavaScript, or image optimization to ensure a smooth user experience.

• THINK WITH GOOGLE

Checking how your site renders on mobile and even across different browsers / screen sizes can pay big dividends. We have seen several instances where popups that functioned OK on desktop ended up blocking the ability to see and fill out the form on smaller screen sizes.

Contact Forms that Convert

There are many variables to consider when it comes to creating your contact form. For example, form placement and length, and even field names all change conversion rates. To increase your contact form conversion rates, keep the following tips in mind:

Placement of Contact Forms on Landing Pages

• RIGHT-HAND SIDE

Place your contact form on the right-hand side of the page. Internal testing with clients have shown that forms on the right convert 2x better than forms on the left – even when holding page content consistent.

• ABOVE THE FOLD

Place your entire contact form, including the submit button, above the fold. Above the fold means that visitors should not have to scroll down to see the form. Scrolling for any reason takes additional effort, leading to abandonment.

Contact Form Fields Recommendations

Form fields are where the user provides information about themselves. It’s tempting to ask for all the information you’d like to have for the sales call; however, you have to be careful to ask for only what’s needed to maximize your conversion rates.

• Remove optional fields to reduce perception of difficulty, as well as the time required to fill out the form.
• Remove open-ended fields for a message wherever possible.
• Reduce fields to only minimum of what’s required for sales qualification / lead scoring. This can be a great exercise in partnering with your sales team to improve marketing performance.

Clear & Concise Call To Action Submit Button

Replace your “submit” buttons with straightforward and concise call to action buttons, such as

• Sign Up
• Download Now
• Contact Us

Button text can then be used to confirm what visitors are signing up for prior to submission. This reduces the chance they will be caught off-guard when Sales reaches out to them after they’ve submitted a form clearly stating “Contact Us”.

Dedicated Thank-You Page

Redirect your visitors to dedicated thank-you pages to improve the user experience after form submit. Having a unique thank-you page has several benefits, including:

• MAKES TRACKING EASIER

Google Analytics goals can be set up to track your success based on URL structure. This method is often easier for other tracking pixels you may use in your advertising / marketing initiatives as well.

• CREATES ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE WITH VISITORS

Consider showcasing your top content, such as blogs, case studies, or FAQ after the confirmation message.

• SETS EXPECTATIONS

If Sales will reach out after an asset download, consider setting this expectation on the thank-you page, and / or in the email when the asset is delivered – such as “within the next business day”. Now that your initial direct response landing page is developed, it’s time to launch. Make sure you have defined ways to measure success and have a clear test plan. Of course, if you need any help – contact our team and we’d be happy to help you thrive!

Develop A / B Testing Plans

Last but not least, always test your landing pages for better conversion rates. Change only one variable each time to better understand and identify what changes worked or didn’t work. For instance, testing different call to actions at a time while all other elements on the page remain the same, such as

• “REQUEST DEMO” vs. “CONTACT US”
• “DISCOVER 3D LISTINGS” vs. “LEARN MORE”.