in today's show, I'm going to be showing
you how to create a Google Shopping feed
using Google sheets and using a Google
Shopping feed template that you can fill
in easily if you do watch right to the
end I'll also be covering some
frequently asked questions about Google
Merchant Center and Google shopping and
helping you avoid some of those pitfalls
Welcome to another tea time show with me
I mark to listen and the Ellison
consulting so we are an e-commerce
consultancy providing managed services
and training and consultancy to
businesses like yours to help you make
money online through Google shopping and
through your website so if you need to
hire us to help walk you through this
then you can find us at Tillison coding
The UK and the same goes if you just want to
go I've just needed someone to do this for
me so we can do that for you and run
your google shopping campaigns as well
profitably anyway enough of the sales
pitch let's get on with showing you how
to create a google shopping feed using
google-sheets so for this walkthrough
I'm going to assume that you already
have a Google Merchant Center account
set up there are a few other steps that
you will need those are in other videos
on our channel, there will be a link in
the description for you to go and find
those other videos but you need to head
into Google Merchant Center heading to
the products tab and then you'll be
presented with something that looks a
a bit like this and you need to create a
the product so this is effectively creating
an inventory file creator contains
your inventory of all of your products
your product categories your titles
descriptions of your prices the URLs the
links to the product pages themselves
the link to the images things like that
this is your way of saying hey Google
here is the inventory that I want to
advertise on Google Shopping you can
create multiple feeds if you want to for
different categories of products for
the example you could certainly do that
depends on how big your inventory is but
you could certainly do that okay so our
the first step is picking the country of
sale and this is important so I've got
this just set to the UK language English
and then shopping hands and surfaces
across
Google you want to leave both of those
ticked there's a whole other show on
surfaces across Google and how to get
free clicks with Google shopping again
I'll put the link in the description for
you so the next thing we are presented
with is whether we want to create a
Google sheet or a scheduled fetch now
one thing I would say at this point is
that generally speaking I would
recommend that you use either the
content API if you're on a system like
Shopify or using an XML file or even a
comma-separated value or a txt file
something like that that your website
creates and places on your server rather
then using a Google sheet and the reason
that I say that is that if your
inventory changes quite frequently so if
you're adding new products or removing
products as they might have stopped and
that's happening quite frequently or
you're changing prices or something like
that then using Google sheets what
you're gonna have to do is change that
on your website and then come to the
Google sheet and then update that
information again so if you have a big
inventory that changes frequently or
even a small inventory that changes
frequently that's going to become a bit
of a burden but I appreciate and I've
done lots and lots and lots of these
projects and it's not always possible to
create that feed or sometimes it's just
junk data so for whatever reason you've
arrived looking for how do I creates
this using a Google sheet and it's a bit
of a workaround, it can create some
problems but I'm going to show you how
to do that now okay so we're gonna pick
Google sheets and we're going to call
this - listen to demo okay and then we
Click continue and then we just need to
authorize that work so we're off and
running and now this will generate a new
Google spreadsheet from a template ok
now the next thing that you want to do
is also create an upload schedule ok so
for now, I'm just gonna leave this as
monthly on the first of the month and
generally speaking, I would set this to
fetch at say 3 a.m.
doesn't really
with a Google sheet but this is going to
update overnight for you so just as
inside you can manually fetch this data
as well and what I would generally say
are you probably want to set this to
daily later on once this is configured
and it's working and your data is in
there it's correct but it's up to you
generally, I do daily and if you're
updating your Google sheet will then
pick up that those changes at 3:00 a.m.
and your new data will be live the next
day okay so we then create the feed and
what this is doing is creating a Google
sheet Google shopping template for you
which has got all the columns that you
need ready for you to populate okay so
here we are we've now got our feet down
call to listen to the demo and we have a Google
sheet ready okay so this is now our
Google sheet ready to go and what I'm
going to do in here is just insert some
rows and then we need a unique ID for
each product so I mean you literally
could just say only one two three if you
have said an SKU code or something like
that
then you probably want to use that the
the important thing to think about with the
ID is that this is the kind of
primary link for all of your google
shopping data so when later on you have
your campaign and Google has worked out
the click-through rate and the response
rate and the things that kind of the ads
run better for versus others all the
things that you are getting sales on
that unique reference is the ID so
choose this carefully because you really
really really do not want to change this
later on at any point if you can
possibly help it okay so I'd probably
put your scheme code in there the next
is the title of the product so again
there's another video on how to optimize
your titles and descriptions but very
briefly into this video just think about
what people would type into Google very
specifically to find this product that
you are selling so if it is a Tassimo
the coffee maker of a particular model and
you know it does its own grinding or
whatever it might be just make sure you
using as many of those words as you can
so that people can find that product so
the same in the title
in the description same kind of thing
you want to think about the search terms
that people are going to use the unique
features of this particular product and
that will help rank it in your Google
shopping campaign so you want to put
your title in here product and then
the description so this is I think something
like 5,000 characters so you got plenty
again you could be pasting this in from
your website so description goes here
okay so the link is you want to head to
your website and grab the product URL so
grab this from here in your product URL
and you want to paste that in there okay
the condition needs to be a specific set
there are so it's used new or I think
there's a backorder as well
I'm going to assume that they knew and
then the price again there's a specific
format for this so this might be GBP 10
of something like that so it needs to be
GBP 10 or 10 GBP again clarify that in
in the link availability again there
are a limited set limited number of
options that you can choose here so
generally, this is going to be in stock I
think you can have in stock out of stock
or backorder if it's out of stock it
won't advertise on Google Shopping so
when you've got things coming in and out
of stock, if you have to use a Google
the sheet then you could just mark that as
out of stock and it won't advertise then
when it comes to back into stock you
just update it again so the image link
so this is the picture of the product
that you want to use in your Google
Shopping ads and again you just want to
place that in there
the GTIN again another video
specifically on GT ions and what they
are and why you need them but the short
the version just for this video is is
the global trade identification number
think of it like the barcode that's on a
product if this is a globally available
product most of those products like
you know mainstream phones and computers
and video games you know
Sporting Goods and anything like that
that's kind of you know a major brand
it would have a GTIN
if it does have a GTIN as in in the
the world it has a GTI in you must use
it in your Google sheet if you don't
you're gonna get your products
disapproved okay so you need to find out
what those G tins are and you must use
them the NPN is the manufacturers
partner part number so with this one
typically that could be the GT iron or
it could be like a part code for let's
say a washing machine spare or something
like that
there isn't a reference that Google uses
so you don't have to make sure these are
accurate generally speaking it will be
optimal for you to use them if you have
them the actual manufacturers part
number because users do type them into
Google and that will help that product
get found and make your sales so you
absolutely want to use the MPA and the
manufacturers partner but wherever you
can if you can't find it then you can
and I've done this I've used just the
idea and put it in there as well so if
you're making your own products you know
if you are the creator there is no GTIN
and there is no real MPN you could just
put your own SKU your own reference in
there it will work but as I say if they
are kind of more branded products then
you want to use the NPN wherever you can
the brand attribute the next one
absolutely you want to use that brand
what you'll find with Google Shopping is
that brand searches convert much better
than non branded searches so for example
if somebody is typing tumble dryer hose
the non-brand that could match any one of 50
manufacturers for different tumble
dryers right whereas if someone is
saying I have a hot point XYZ one-two
three tumble dryer hose if you have used
the attribute and that is in your title
in your description and it's much more
likely to show your ad your
cost-per-click is going to be cheaper
because it's more relevant and the whole
the thing just works a hell of a lot better
also with the brand in your Google shopping
campaigns in Google ads you will be able
to segment your products by brand or
build separate ad groups and separate
campaigns specifically for brand
but only if you've included the brand so
in here you'd want to put Hotpoint or
Bosch or Indesit or whatever the brands
of your products are let's just expand
this one so the Google product category
and so this one again there is huge
taxonomy again I'll put the link in the
description for you so you can go and
find this but Google has a specific
taxonomy a specific set of options for
Google product categories you have to
use one of their categories you cannot
make them up so you have to get as close
as you can to the product that you
are trying to advertise okay so that's
the google product category and you
populate that so that would normally be
something like hardware for example but
there are also subsets that might be
hardware and let's say it's DIY and
there might be a subset of power tools
or something like that but if you
a reference that taxonomy pick the one
that is closest that the closest match
to the product that you are trying to
advertise and then add that Google
product category in so what you what you
need to include to kind of pass the
tests in Merchant Center there are lots
of checks and you will inevitably find
that you will get some errors but you
absolutely must have two out of the
three of these so you must have two out
of three of GTIN MPN and brand so
remember the brand there is no kind of
check and balance but you should use the
a correct brand so if you are in the product
just put your own company name it's fine
or put the sub-prime whatever it is no
the problem if it is a Hotpoint product or a
Nike pair of trainers or whatever then
put Nike or put Hotpoint put that brand
in there use you know use normal
sentence k so capital n for Nike
capital a for added ass whatever the NP
and as I say you can make up if you want
but if there is a specific manufacturer
the part number then use it that would get
it found much more and if there is a GTI
in the global trade identification
the number you absolutely must find out what
that is and you must use it and there's
another
video on how to do that if there is no
GTIN then you need to include the MPM
and the brand if you do have a GTI and
you have the brand then you don't
actually need to use MPN in my
experience and I've been doing this a
long time give Google as much data as
you can if you have the GTIN and you
have an NPN and you have the brand just
use them all and in your title in your
description I would replicate
that's that brand
maybe not the plant number but if it's
an accessory that fits multiple washing
machines I might in the description
include the model numbers of the washing
machines that that hose fits because
that will help you get found as well and
then the fast the last one on the end is
the shipping so this is the shipping
the price you have to fill this in you can
set up a role in Merchant Center to
create your shipping policy if it's free
delivery then again that's a very simple
rule to set up however if you have a
variable shipping amount for this
the particular product then you can a bit
like this one here you can just put
GBP 10 so let's just put these on the
right rows just so you can see what this
looks like so now let's just stop this
wrapping just do that so now we can see
that be easier so we now have a title
optimized description optimized we have
a unique identifier we have a link to
the product we know it's new we've got
the price in the correct format GBP 10
it's in stock we have an image link
I haven't populated but you would
populate the GTIN and it has to be
correct otherwise you will get it
disapproved we have a gap for the mpa
and we have a brand we have a Google
product category according to the
taxonomy and we have a shipping price so
that's the very simple a simplest
a version of a Google Shopping Google
sheet Merchant Center feed which you can
use as a template now on from this the
more advanced stuff is you can add
additional columns for things like
type and that one works like this one
except that it's your taxonomy so if you
have categorization through your website
for example, the Google product category
might go down to the level of fashion
and dresses but it wouldn't go down to
maxi dresses or cocktail dresses or
evening dresses or something like that
so if you want to segment in Google Ads
according to your own categories then
Do you want another column in here for
product type and then you want to create
your own taxonomy to use product type
you can also add another column for
additional image links and you can
include three or four more images of
variations you know maybe you've got
different angles of you know
pictures of this product and you can add
additional image links so all of those
are possible again it depends what you
want to do with your inventory what
dating you have we can add custom labels
to help you segment things in different
ways create roles in Google Merchant
Center and Google Ads to be able to kind
of manipulate those and change bids and
things like that so there's all sorts of
weird wonderful things you can do but as
far as creating the basic fundamental
Google Shopping feed using a Google
sheet this is it that basically is done
and if I were to populate this this
would then work so now we have created
our sheet what we let's assume that it's
now complete you've got all your IDs in
there it's all working okay you would
then go okay go and fetch that now and
that will go and crawl it and it'll tell
you if you've got any problems so the
the thing we then might want to do is now
update the schedule so now I want to
change this to daily or weekly so that
when I modify that data add new products
or a change prices or I change the stock
you know in stock out of stock that kind
of stuff then basically this would pick
up say overnight now if you want to you
can leave it paused and then manually
update it every time you refresh your
data just one word of caution though the
data if you fetch this today this data
expires in 30 days
okay so if you don't refresh this within
30 days this will go out of date and
your products will stop advertising on
Google Shopping so my recommendation
would be that you enable the show jewel
at least set it monthly when you are
ready to go if you're not ready then
leave it to pause just don't do anything
and just do everything manually let it
keep going and fetching you you just go
fetch
what problems am I not fix those fetch
what problems I got Fichtner to fix
those fetch all clear great now change
your schedule to daily weekly monthly
whatever you want to do and then as you
update that product feed in future your
Google sheet you can manually go fetch
and update if you want to so those are
your two options are there so if you are
stuck with that and you're having some
problems as I say you can find us at
Tillotson code at the UK if you need some
help or do comment in the video we'd
love to hear from you or just give us a
thumbs up but certainly you know comment
and we'll try to get back to you and help
if you can describe the issue that
you're having so we did promise towards
At the end that we cover some FAQs some
common Google Merchant Center Google
feeds kind of problems so let's cover a
a couple of those now so how do I upload a
feed to Google Merchant Center so you
just saw the example of how we do that
for with a Google sheet, however, you can
also, add an XML feed so the usual
the protocol is that if you were on
WooCommerce or Magento or big commerce
something like that that you might have
a plug-in that generates an XML feed
that writes to your server let's say
it's 1 a.m. every night ok and what that
does is it queries your data in your
database and then pushes out the title
of inscription the ID the brand all of
those all of that data that we just look
to have in the Google sheet but that is
now updated from your data in your
website so that's much better than
having to edit your website editor sheet
refresh edit the website edit the sheet
refresh because your data will go out of
sync and if your data does go out of
sync and the price is different on your
website to what it is in your feed you
could get those products disapproved and
they will stop advertising
okay so it's much much more preferable
to create an XML feed using the plugin
for your e-commerce platform if you can
and then any changes you make in
the database is then reflected in the
one a.m. update on feed Google Merchant
Center then comes at 3:00 a.m. fetches
that feed every single night and then
pulls that new data in so your prices
your products the things that are in
stock the new products you added the
ones you've removed the titles you
change the descriptions you changed all
of those other things they are all up to
date within 24 hours of you changing on
the website so you don't have to worry
about changing in two places there's a
few different ways that you can upload a
feed to Google Merchant Center the same
applies to how do I add products to
Google Merchant Center it's the same
deal and then how do you update your
shopping feed so as I said if you're
creating an XML feed then as long as
that is outputting every night at say 1
a.m. that's going to update
automatically if you are using a Google
sheet or even manually uploading then
you saw just earlier in this video how
to update that that Google Shopping feed
the second question is does Google Merchant
Center cost anything the Merchant Center
itself does not a bit like Google
Analytics and Google Merchant Center is
free obviously you have to create an
account
but using Merchant Center itself is free
no charge for that no membership no
subscription no nothing like that for a
Merchant Center but if you are
advertising your products on Google use
you have to do that using Google Ads
although there is another video and I'll
put a link in the description for where
some of the Google product listing ads
some of the Google product listings that
Shopping tab those are now free you can
get some free clicks with those and then
finally what is the Google Merchant ID
so what you will find is this is the ID
here one more 5:7 under there okay and
that's the ID that you will find if
you're trying to connect Google Ads to
Merchant Center
that's the ID that is going to show up
Seuss's account number for Google
Merchant Center basically so I hope you
found that really useful as I said
before do ask questions in the comments
if you're stuck with something like I
haven't covered or something is unclear
we do try and get back to you within an
an hour or two if you are stuck if you need
some more hands-on help or want
someone to do this for you you can find
us at Tillerson code at the UK
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