Why am I not seeing traffic improvement or sales despite my marketing efforts?

[thebluerosebath]

So I’m doing Facebook/Instagram ads, am posting content there, on TikTok and even a YouTube channel. I have a pop-up greeting, I’m using abandoned checkout and other automations, etc.  I’ve even announced a Black Friday through Cyber Monday 10% off sale store wide. I am still not seeing much traffic improvement or sales.  Is there something I’m doing? Or not doing well enough?

I will say my Shopify admin says there are 34 of my 70+ items not on Google but when I click on their “how to fix it” it doesn’t tell me how to fix it. But I don’t think that alone is the problem.

Any insights?  Thank you!!

Mark/Shannon

[MikeDavey]

Are your products not pulling through to Google Shop? Or your Google Business Profile? Are you running a single ad or testing multiple? Are you using a funnel for your ad structure to sell a specific product, or is the ad structured to bring them to your website? 

[thebluerosebath]

It’s nothing I’ve set up actually.  I think when you add a description for Google at the bottom of a product listing, it uses that to make all your items Google searchable, or Google may suggest them based on search terms. So Shopify is telling me that “there’s an error” on 34  of my products. The exact language is:

”You have products that are not listed on Google.  Some of your products have errors and aren’t published to Google.  Get more products in front of customers by resolving errors.”

I click on the option and it doesn’t tell me what’s wrong or how to fix it. I don’t actually have a Google shop though. I think it’s just the ability for your products to display on Google search results. May be wrong. I’m new to this. 

thank you!

[yy0z]

Shopify syncs to Google Merchant Center, and the errors they are referring to can be viewed in detail there. It sounds like you don't have Google Merchant Center set up, I would suggest to start there.

https://www.google.com/retail/solutions/merchant-center/

You manage the Google shopping feed (the free one) in merchant center, and Google Ads uses the same feed from Merchant Center. This is a very powerful tool, please take your time to understand what you can do there. There are some basic Youtube videos by Google Search Central that is a good intro to the shopping feed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIUQolZDecM&t=414s

[GerWalk]

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Hey, Mark and Shannon. I see that you got lots of great tips already. I just wanted to ask if there are any updates on solving the "products not listed on Google" issue. And to agree with what someone mentioned, screenshots would be a good idea, when having a problem one of us could help with. 

[Aryanali]

Hello mate, Sorry to hear about your Plea but with joy I can refer someone for you who is capable of helping with your current situation and proffer a better ideal to boost your store sales and also give you some financial tips to take note

[soleseriouss]

Just share a screenshot of the same, it will help others to understand the situation better.

[QuickCEP-]

Hi, @thebluerosebath 

I’m very sorry to see such information. According to your description, I think your problem is not only on Google's side. According to our experience in serving thousands of customers, you can troubleshoot the problem from the following two aspects.

Problems with traffic and store description

You've advertised on your website, but if you don't see a boost in sales or traffic to your website. Then you need to do some research on your ad.

Display of advertising content

Whether the content of the advertisement can attract the interest of the customers, or at least give the customers the impulse to click, otherwise it will be difficult for the traffic of the website to come up.

How fast is the website

If the link of the website opens very slowly, the customer has left before opening the website, so you can check the opening speed of the website.

Are the pictures on the website attractive to customers?

Whether the content description of your website can attract the attention of customers does not mean that we can convert customers by making the website well according to our own ideas. It must be based on the needs and demands of customers to describe these contents.

All marketing methods must: pop-up windows, coupons, etc. They are all based on your website's better performance and can only be meaningful if they can meet the needs of customers.

Google collection problem

Inclusion can bring you more traffic, but it can't bring conversion.

There is no way to get feedback on Google for the content that is not included. You can submit links that are not included through the Google website management platform, and you can publish some external link content through other people's blogs, forums, etc., and see if you can add some content to the page to increase the chances of Google's inclusion.

The content of these two pieces is what you need to check and rectify. If you still have doubts, you can communicate again, and I will be happy to serve you.

Hope these suggestions could help you out. Thank you

Good luck

[Brendan-Optily]

Hey Mark/Shannon, I checked out your store and social channels and here are some quick tips. (Please take them as constructive 😊)

• Your product imagery is blurry. I'd suggest getting someone to review all the images and bring them to life. Invest in a lightbox if you're going to do it yourself.
  
  
• You have a newsletter popup but no real compelling reason for people to add their email - offer a 10-15% discount off first purchase and you'll be building a list of customers with high purchase intent which you can remarket to via email and ads.
  
  
• It's great that you're active on the social channels, however I'd suggest that you create short and snappy videos - 15 seconds with music. Check out the Happybathbar on TikTok as I think they do a good job.
  
  
• I see one ad on your Facebook/Insta, sending people to your YouTube channel. Build out a full-funnel strategy there if you can. Short videos targeting broad audiences to help you identify people who are engaging with your brand. Then remarket to those people with your product catalog and compelling offers. More on full funnel marketing here.
  
  
• You don't have the Facebook, TikTok or Google pixels installed on your store. So essentially, any advertising that sends people to your store won't work. The ad channels need the pixels in order to know who is clicking on ads and who is then view products, adding products to the basket and ultimately purchasing. 
  
  

You've got a great product and a lovely backstory so I believe you can be successful. Hopefully some of the above bits will help. Good luck!

[BrianFawkes]

I would also suggest posting more content around these products, all while focusing on a cluster of keywords. Since your niche is moderately busy, perhaps you can start by targeting low difficulty keywords like "best handmade soups giftbox in (town/place)". Next, you should track your performance regarding organic traffic and SERPs rating for those keywords. Of course, you should work on correctly pairing your ads with your page first of all...