Google Organic Product Listings are free product cards that appear in Google’s organic search results. They offer constant traffic and greater credibility without advertising costs. The combination with Google Shopping’s paid listings allows for immediate visibility and a sustainable traffic flow over time.
If you have an eCommerce, you know how important it is to make your products noticeable online. Thanks to Google Organic Product Listings, you have the opportunity to make your products appear in Google’s organic search results.
These listings represent a valuable tool in digital marketing and allow you to compete with large giants without advertising costs.
Here are some of the main benefits of Google Organic Product Listings:
- Increased visibility of your products without advertising costs.
- Qualified organic traffic, with a higher likelihood of conversion.
- Ability to compete with large eCommerce sites without investing in PPC campaigns.
In this practical guide, I’ll explain what organic listings are, how they work, and most importantly, how they can help you improve traffic and sales for your eCommerce.
I’ll also show you how to set them up correctly, optimize them for search engines, and make the most of them.
Keep reading and start transforming online searches into opportunities for your business right away!
What are Google Organic Product Listings and how do they connect to Google Shopping?
Google Organic Product Listings are product cards that appear in Google’s organic search results.
Unlike paid ads, these listings are free and display essential information about your products, such as images, price, and name, directly in the SERP.
How do they connect to Google Shopping?
Google Shopping is paid but also includes a section of organic results that allows users to discover products without the seller having to invest in advertising.
This means that by properly configuring your eCommerce, your products can gain visibility in both organic results and Google Shopping.
Google Shopping vs. organic listings: what’s the difference?
Both Google Shopping and organic product listings (Google Organic Product Listings) can increase your products’ visibility, but with very different approaches. Let’s look at the differences:
1. Google Shopping
Google Shopping is a feature of Google Ads dedicated to the eCommerce world, which allows you to create paid ads to promote your products using the PPC model (Pay-Per-Click).
Here, products are shown in a visible section of the search or in the Shopping tab, through paid advertising campaigns.
The main features of Google Shopping are:
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Model: you only pay when a user clicks on your product.
- Immediate visibility: your products appear in prominent positions, ideal for quick results.
- Advanced targeting: you can choose who to show your ads to based on keywords, demographics, and user preferences.
Google Shopping is perfect if you have an advertising budget and want to achieve quick results!
2. Organic listings
The organic product listings allow your products to appear for free in search results, both in the Shopping tab and in Google’s general searches.
Unlike paid ads, visibility is determined by the quality and optimization of your product feed.
The main features of Google Organic Product Listings are:
- No cost per click or view.
- Google selects products to show based on the relevance of the provided data (titles, descriptions, images).
- Excellent for creating a constant flow of organic traffic to your eCommerce.
Which strategy to choose for your e-commerce?
First, you need to have clear objectives and budget to allocate. At this point:
- If you have a budget and are looking for immediate results, choose Google Shopping.
- Do you want a long-term strategy without additional costs? Then focus on organic listings, optimizing your product feed.
Often it’s very useful to combine both, because with Google Shopping you can get immediate visibility, while organic listings allow you to build a free and sustainable traffic flow over time.
How do Google’s organic product listings work?
Google Organic Product Listings are based on the use of structured data provided through your product feed in Google Merchant Center.
This information is analyzed and used by Google to show your products in organic search results and in the Shopping tab, at no cost.
The listings can also be discovered through Google Lens, a Google visual tool that allows users to scan physical objects and find similar products online.
Let’s take a closer look at how they work:
- To use organic listings, create a Google Merchant Center account and upload a product feed containing detailed information, such as product name, description, price, availability, high-quality images.
- Google’s algorithm selects the most relevant products to show in organic results based on the quality and optimization of the provided data. Products with clear and accurate information are more likely to be displayed.
- Once accepted by Google, your product can appear in the Shopping tab, in the organic section separate from paid ads, or in classic organic search results as a product listing.
- It’s important to regularly update the product feed to ensure that information is always accurate and up-to-date. This improves the likelihood of Google showing your products.
How organic results improve your eCommerce visibility and traffic
Organic product listings increase traffic and visibility for your eCommerce, also because users click on organic results before paid ads.
If your eCommerce has a physical location, organic listings can also appear in Google Maps, increasing the local visibility of your products.
Keep reading to better understand this fundamental step:
- Increased visibility: organic listings allow you to promote your products without investing in advertising. By appearing in organic results, your items are visible to thousands of users searching for products similar to yours.
- Qualified traffic: Google favors well-optimized and relevant content, so take care of your product feed, so organic listings can rank high in search results, bringing more traffic to your site.
- Greater credibility: users tend to perceive organic results as more authentic than paid ads. This can translate into a higher likelihood of clicks and conversions.
- Savings on advertising costs: organic listings reach users who are actively searching for products like yours. This means that the traffic you receive is highly qualified, with greater chances of turning into sales.
If your eCommerce has a physical location, organic listings can also appear in Google Maps, increasing the local visibility of your products.
The role of keywords in optimizing organic listings
To optimize organic listings, you must identify the right keywords. This is the only way to maximize their visibility in organic results, attracting more qualified users and improving sales opportunities for your eCommerce.
Indeed, Google uses the keywords present in titles, descriptions, and other fields of your product feed to determine which items to show in search results.
Using relevant and specific terms improves the likelihood that your product will be displayed for the right searches!
1. Where to insert keywords?
- Product title: must include precise and descriptive keywords. For example, “Men’s Nike Running Sneakers” is better than “Running Shoes”.
- Description: use clear phrases and details that explain the main features of the product.
- Categories and attributes: ensure that dedicated fields such as color, size, material are correctly filled out and contain relevant keywords.
2. Long-tail keywords
These are more specific phrases, like “waterproof 15-inch laptop backpack”, which help reach users with more precise purchase intentions, increasing the chances of conversion.
3. Avoid keyword stuffing
Don’t overdo it by inserting too many keywords! The quality of the content is more important than quantity. Keep the text natural and useful for the user.
4. Useful tools for finding keywords
Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest to identify the most relevant keywords for your products.
Focus on terms that have significant search volume and moderate competition.
How to enable Google Organic Product Listings: step-by-step guide
Requirements to appear in Google’s organic results
First, you need to create an account on Google Merchant Center, which acts as a bridge between your eCommerce and Google search results.
Your product feed must contain essential information, such as:
- Title.
- Description.
- Price.
- Availability.
- High-quality images.
- Identifying codes like SKU, GTIN, or MPN, if available.
Remember that your products must comply with Google Merchant Center regulations, which include:
- Legal and permitted products.
- Transparency in pricing and shipping conditions.
- Reliable user experience on your eCommerce.
How to configure your product feed with Google Merchant Center
- Log in to your Google Merchant Center account that contains your store name, eCommerce site URL, and business information (e.g., shipping and taxes).
- Upload the feed, which contains all the data related to your products. It can be created in CSV, XML, or Google Sheets format.
- Fill in all required fields for each product: name and description optimized with keywords, price and availability (e.g., in stock, out of stock), image URLs.
- Connect your site to Merchant Center. This step is essential to ensure that Google correctly associates your eCommerce with the product feed.
- Once the feed is uploaded, make sure to select the
Free product listings
option to activate visibility in organic results.
Verification and optimization of product data for optimal results
Use Google Merchant Center’s diagnostic feature to identify any errors or warnings in the feed. Common issues include missing data (e.g., incomplete descriptions), errors in prices or availability.
Regularly update information related to price, availability, and new products to prevent Google from removing your items from the results.
Use the Merchant Center dashboard to monitor clicks, impressions, and other metrics related to organic listings.
Step by step how to optimize organic listings for your eCommerce
Titles, descriptions, and keywords: how to optimize them?
- Titles: Include the main keywords and don’t be vague. For example: “Waterproof 15-inch laptop backpack” is much more effective than “Laptop backpack”.
- Descriptions: Write clear and detailed descriptions, including technical features, benefits, and long-tail keywords.
- Keywords: Avoid inserting too many and in an unnatural way (keyword stuffing). Use relevant terms that reflect what users are searching for.
The Importance of High-Quality Images in Organic Results
Images are crucial for capturing users’ attention, so I recommend you:
- Use high-quality and professional images with a white background.
- Ensure that photos are in high resolution (minimum 800×800 pixels).
- Show the product from multiple angles to provide a complete view.
High-quality and well-optimized images not only improve the visibility of your products in search results but can also appear in Google Images, increasing traffic to your eCommerce.
Use of Structured Data and Technical SEO to Improve Ranking
Implement markups using Schema.org, thus providing Google with detailed information about your products, such as price, reviews, and availability.
Ensure you have a fast site that improves user experience and increases ranking possibilities.
And remember to use clear and readable URLs that include relevant keywords (e.g., yoursite.com/waterproof-backpack).
Frequently asked questions
How Long Does It Take to See Results?
It depends on the quality and optimization of your product feed, the competition in your industry, and the relevance of your data to user searches.
In general, with well-optimized feeds, you might notice an increase in organic traffic within 4-6 weeks.
If you publish incomplete or outdated feeds, your products may not appear at all.
What to Do If My Products Don’t Appear in Organic Results?
Check that the required fields (titles, descriptions, images, prices) are filled out correctly. Make sure there are no errors or warnings in your Google Merchant Center account.
Pay attention to titles and descriptions that should contain keywords and use high-quality images.
If you can’t get visibility, consult the diagnostics section of Google Merchant Center or contact support.
Do Google Product Listings Work Without Google Shopping?
Yes, Google Organic Product Listings work independently of paid Google Shopping. However, both tools are linked to Google Merchant Center, so you still need to set up a product feed to activate organic cards.
Conclusions
Google Organic Product Listings are a great opportunity if you know how to make the most of them. They allow you to increase the visibility and traffic of your eCommerce without having to invest in advertising.
Thanks to these cards, your products reach a wider audience, generating qualified traffic and increasing conversion possibilities.
The key to success is the quality and optimization of your product feed: titles and descriptions rich in relevant keywords, high-quality images, structured data, and a technically well-optimized site.
If you want to configure and optimize your product cards or need more information, our team is here to help you!
Contact us today to discover how we can support you in making your eCommerce more visible and competitive online.
