- I run a high-end sneaker and streetwear resale site. We have strong celebrity and athlete social proof, but how can I better communicate ‘Authenticity’ signals to Google’s Merchant Center to avoid the ‘Misrepresentation’ flags that often hit the sneaker niche?
- For high-demand sneakers like Kobe 6 Protro or Travis Scott Jordans, what is the ‘Golden Formula’ for product titles in the feed? Should I prioritize the SKU, the year of release, or the specific colorway name to rank higher in the ‘Shopping’ tab versus the standard search results?
- My inventory moves extremely fast and often consists of 1-of-1 items. How should I manage my Google Shopping feed for ‘dropped’ items or products that sell out in hours to ensure I don’t get penalized for ‘Out of Stock’ landing pages?"
- As a boutique reseller, I’m competing with StockX and GOAT for the same keywords. What ‘Product Type’ or ‘Custom Label’ strategies can I use in my feed to find ‘pockets’ of traffic that the big marketplaces might be overpaying for or missing?
Hello Blake, thank you for great question and welcome to the Shopify AMA. I’m your host Emmanuel from FeedArmy.
1 - That is indeed a big problem, I have seen so many sneaker merchants come to me asking to get their accounts approved. And it’s very hard. So the key is indeed to avoid getting suspended in the first place. I would start by adding the celebrity messaging on the website, and have a link to where this was said. Every claim needs proof. Once this is done, slowly start adding them in the description for Google Merchant Center, however without any links, as that is not allowed.
2 - Titles should be based on how your consumers are searching. Consider checking your Google Search Console data for that specific product landing page and include the keywords in the title. The order of keywords is also dependent on how much the search volume is. For example if you see lots of SKU searches, add this more to the front. If other keywords are getting more impressions then change it to these.
3 - You do not get penalized for out of stock products. Simply remove products that are not coming back in stock, from the data feed.
4 - Custom Labels will not do anything in terms of more traffic. This is just a labeling system to structure your campaigns in Google Ads. However product type values are very important. To improve the product type values, include your google search console keywords for that specific product, alongside the website breadcrumbs in the product type value. Aim for around 10 keywords and each keyword separated by a > (angle bracket). Please the most important keywords and more categorized keywords near the front.
Hope this helps Blake.