Google Shopping’s Essential Metrics

Google Shopping attracts a lot of potential customers with product listing ads. Even if you aren’t familiar with them, you’ve likely seen them.
When an online shopper uses Google to search for a product, several product listings show up. These listings include a picture, price, and other relevant information.

They’re effective tools for marketers looking to promote and sell products. However, they aren’t just great ads — they also have supporting metrics that come with them.

Marketers can see exactly how well their ads are doing by checking a variety of analytics. Sometimes the biggest challenge is figuring out which metrics are the most important to watch.

To help marketers evaluate the data from Google Shopping ads, here’s a list of metrics to watch:

Conversions

As you might expect, conversion rates are one of the most important metrics. This statistic tells you how many people saw the ad, clicked on it and made a purchase. It represents the percentage of online shoppers that did exactly what you wanted.

What kind of conversion rates should you expect? Conversion rates average 2.7% for search network ads, where your ad appears in search results. Conversion rates for display network ads, where your ad appears on sites across the Internet, averages 0.89%, according to research.

Benchmark max cost per click (CPC)

As the name suggests, the benchmark max cost per click gives you a “benchmark” to compare how much you’re willing to pay per click compared to what your competitors are willing to pay to market a similar product.

This is a good budget indicator. It gives you an idea of the money you’d have to spend to be as successful as your competitors to market a specific product.

Benchmark max click-through rate (CTR)

Like the metric above, the benchmark max click-through rate is another comparison statistic that compares your click-through rate to others with similar products.

If your click-through rate is lower than your competitors’, it means your ads aren’t seeing as many clicks. Why? Your max cost per click might be too low.

Impression share (IS)

Impression share shows you how many times your ad appeared when someone searched for your product online, compared to the number of times it could have appeared.

Why doesn’t your ad appear all the time? There are two reasons. First, your ad might not be relevant, so it doesn’t show up in search results. Or, your budget might keep your ad from appearing. If a competitor is willing to spend $150 a day and you only spend $15 a day, your ad won’t show up as much, which means your impression share will be lower.

These four metrics are essential to evaluating your Google Shopping ads. If you find this advertising method difficult, reach out to a digital marketing agency for help.