How to Create Google Shopping Ads [Step-By-Step Guide]

Marcus is looking for a new suit for a wedding he’s attending next month. He opts for a Google search to help him find a black suit. At the top of the search results, he sees numerous product listings for black suits and clicks on the one that fits his search query best.

If you’re not using Google Shopping ads for your business, you’re missing the opportunity to drive high-quality leads for your business. Google Shopping advertising is an excellent way for your business to put your products at the top of search results and obtain leads ready to convert. But what are Google Shopping ads?

And how can you set them up?

Luckily, we’ve got a step-by-step guide on how to create Google Shopping ads for your business. Keep reading to learn more. And if you want to get the latest tips and tricks for marketing your small-to-midsized business (SMB) online, subscribe to Revenue Weekly!

What are Google Shopping ads?

Google Shopping ads are visual product ads that appear at the top of search results when someone searches for a specific product.

These ads showcase product images and pricing to entice users to click on the ad and buy the product. Google Shopping ads are a great option to target shoppers who are ready to buy your products.  

How to create Google Shopping ads: A step-by-step guide

Now that you know what Shopping ads on Google are, let’s dive into how to set up Google Shopping ads.

We’ll break this down into two sections: Pre-setup and creating a shopping campaign.

Pre-setup: What to do before you create Google Shopping ads

Before you launch your Shopping ads on Google, you need to do three things:

1. Sign up for a Merchant Center account

If you want to get started with Google Shopping advertising, you must sign up for a Merchant Center account. You’ll use this account to add your products and launch your shopping ads. You can sign up for an account through Google.

2. Create a shopping feed with your products

Once you create your Merchant Center account, you need to create a shopping feed with your products. Google will use this shopping feed to display your products in the paid listings. You’ll need to fill out a spreadsheet for Google that contains, at a bare minimum, the following information:

• Product ID
• Product title
• Link to product
• Image link
• Price

You can find more information on setting up your shopping feed through Google Merchant Center Help.

3. Link your Google ads account with your Merchant Center account

The last step you must complete before you start creating Google shopping ads is linking your Google Ads account to your Merchant Center account. You can link these two by going into your Merchant Center account and following these steps:

1. Click the Tools icon
2. Go to Settings
3. Click Linked accounts
4. Select Google Ads
5. Click Link accounts
6. Enter your Google Ads customer ID
7. Send link request

By connecting these two accounts, you can then create and launch Google Shopping ads for your business.

Creating Google Shopping ads: How to set up your ads

Now that you’ve set up everything you need to launch your ads, let’s move on to how to create Google Shopping ads.

1. Create a new Shopping campaign

The first step you’ll take to create Shopping ads on Google is to create a new campaign. You can set up a campaign by following these steps:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account
2. Click Campaigns
3. Click the plus button and click New Campaign
4. Select Shopping for the campaign type
5. Click Next
6. Set your campaign name

Once you create your campaign, you can set your campaign name. You’ll want to choose a campaign name that’s descriptive and stands out to you, so you can quickly identify it. Using a name like “Ad 1” doesn’t describe the ad and could make it challenging to identify, especially if you’re running multiple ads.

Instead, trying using a name like “white lacey bridal dress” — it’s descriptive and tells you which ad campaign you’re seeing. If you don’t like your campaign name, you can always change it later.  

3. Choose your Merchant Center account

Once you create your campaign, you’ll choose the Merchant Center account that has the products you want to advertise. Since your Merchant Center account is already linked, you can select the account that’s linked. Note: Once you choose your Merchant, you can’t change it after creating your campaign.

4. Set your country of sale

When you set up your Google Shopping ads, you’ll also need to set your country of sale. You must set up the country where you’re selling your product from, as well as the countries that will buy your products. If you sell internationally, you’ll want to include every country you sell to in this section.

Setting up this information ensures that your ads only appear in searches for people in relevant countries.

5. Decide if you want to use an inventory filter

Next, you’ll want to decide if you want to use an inventory filter for your Google Shopping ads. You only use an inventory filter if you need to limit the number of products used in your campaigns. With this filter, you can set criteria that the products must meet to appear in your ads.

With this filter, you ensure that only certain products that meet your requirements can show up for your ads. So, for example, if you only want to advertise your bridal dresses, you could set up filters to ensure that your tuxedos and shoes don’t show up in ads.

6. Set up your bidding

When you learn how to create Google Shopping ads, you understand that bidding is a critical component of your ad strategy. You must determine what type of bidding you want to use. Google Shopping ads have multiple bidding options, including:

• Cost per click (CPC)
• Cost per thousand viewable impressions (vCPM)
• Cost per thousand impressions (CPM)

In most cases, you’ll use the CPC bidding option, but if you want to build brand awareness, you can use one of the bidding methods based on impressions.

7. Determine your budget

Next, you’ll need to determine how much you’re willing to spend on your campaigns each day. Set a daily budget that works best for your business and your advertising goals. Your budget will determine how many clicks and leads you can obtain for your business.

You must ensure you have a substantial budget, so you can get the most from your ads. There’s no set amount you have to spend, but you’ll want to ensure you choose an amount that simultaneously works for your business and drives results.

8. Determine what networks you want your ads to appear on

When you create Google Shopping ads, you must determine where you want your ads to appear. These ads can appear on:

• The Google Search Network
• Google Search Partner sites
• The Display Network

You can uncheck any boxes for places you want to exclude. For example, if you only want your ads to appear when users search, you can uncheck Google Search Partner sites and Display Network as options.

10. Determine which devices can show your ads

When you launch Shopping ads on Google, your ads can appear on all devices, including tablets, smartphones, and desktops. However, if you feel you don’t want your ads to show a specific device, you can change the settings to limit where your ads appear. Typically, you’ll show your ads on all devices so you can reach people most interested in your business.

11. Set your locations

The last step you’ll need to follow in this guide on creating Google Shopping ads is to set your location. You can set up your ads so they only appear in search results for customers located in areas you service. So, for example, if you sell products in the Northeast, you can set up your ads so they only appear for people in the Northeastern states.

Setting up your location specifics can help eliminate ad waste from people clicking on your ads in an area you don’t service. Once you set your location, you can click save and launch your ad!

Need help launching your Google Shopping ads?

Google Shopping ads (and free Google product listings) are an excellent medium for advertising your products to interested buyers. But if you aren’t sure how to create Google Shopping ads, WebFX is here to help.

We have a team of over 500 Google Ads Certified experts that can help you craft Google Shopping campaigns that drive results. In the past five years, we’ve driven over $6 billion in revenue and managed over 14.9 million transactions for our clients. You can feel confident we’ll craft an ad campaign that helps you boost sales for your business.

Ready to increase revenue for your company? Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our Google Shopping management services!