Introduction

The first point that is important to understand is that the virtual store is a specific type of website, that is, it is a website with sales functionalities. So, in addition to the specificities of the virtual store, it is necessary to meet the same requirements as a website.

What does every website that indexes on Google need?

Be accessible to Google: The starting point is to be accessible to Google, that is, to be published on the internet with a quality infrastructure. 

Websites that go offline are not competitive for Google, so it is important that the choice of hosting and cloud is made responsibly to ensure that the website is stable and secure. Nowadays, no website without a security certificate (padlock on the browser for using HTTPS) is unable to participate in rankings.

Browsing experience: The browsing experience encompasses all devices (computer, cell phone, tablets, TVs) and in general the visitor needs to navigate in a simple and intuitive way. Google has a metric called Web Vitals, which consists of evaluating the user experience according to 3 principles that can be summarized and simplified as: loading speed, response time to events and how much the website "shakes" while loading or browse.

The most important thing is the content: It is very important to understand that the technical part needs to meet all the requirements, however, the content is the most important. Having interesting, original, exclusive content that generates visits to the website is above the technical part and is the great divider between sites that have the technical part ok.

SEO techniques: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the term used for techniques that aim to appear more and better in search engines, specifically Google. Again, in a highly competitive environment it is necessary to be creative in terms of content and apply techniques that better deliver the site to Google. Among the various techniques, we can mention, for example:

Submitting the sitemap to Google: Using tools like Google's own Search Console to submit the sitemap is essential to showing Google all the links on your website. The sitemap is nothing more than a file in XML format.

Know your search terms: Knowing how your users are searching for what you offer can be a huge game-changer. For example, people use the word "distributor" much more than "distributor", so whoever uses "distributor" will be ahead with the same content just by adding an A to the end of a word.

Share your website and have lots of links: In principle, the more links, the better. It is important that the links talk to each other, as if your website were a network where you can always go to different places. In addition to external links, receive visits through links on social networks and applications in general (Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Whatsapp, among others) is always favorable, as it shows Google that people are interested in the link.

How do I show Google that my website is an online store?

The online store has specific characteristics in its content and knowing how to work with it can generate more engagement by having a privileged display on Google. The main item that makes an online store an online store is having products.

Since what differentiates the virtual store from other websites is the product, it is necessary to inform Google which products these are, following their characteristics and format.

After all, what makes a product a product?

Google provides a service called Mercant Center for retailers to understand how their store is indexed on Google and also how to configure and improve the store according to the search giant's specifications.

According to Merchant Center, the product must have several mandatory pieces of information to be classified as a product, which (as per October 2023):

According to Merchant Center, the product must have several mandatory pieces of information to be classified as a product, which (as per October 2023):

Identifier or ID: It is the code that your product has in your online store. Normally used as SKU.

Degree: The name of your product, basically. The name cannot be very long (more than 150 characters).

Description: The description is a text of up to 5000 characters and comprises a textual transcription of what the product is like, its material, specifications, technical characteristics and more.

link: Very important and it is where we want visitors to go. The link is the URL of your product in the online store.
Availability: Google prompts you to specify whether the product is available, out of stock, or for pre-order only.

Availability: It is necessary to inform whether the product is available (in stock) or not (out of stock). If your product is to order, it is mandatory to notify when it will be available.

Condition: Is the product new or used? Informing the condition is also essential and helps to indicate the product to the correct audience.

Price: How much the product costs. It is important to specify the exact amount the customer will pay when choosing a payment method. If the product is on discount, for example, its price is lower than normal.

Brand: It is mandatory to write the brand name, even if you are the manufacturer.

GTIN and MPN: It is very important to add these values ​​to the products. They are manufacturer identifiers and their use, according to Google itself, maximizes indexing as the item is standardized across the web.
Condition: Whether the product is new or not.

Adult: It is necessary to answer whether or not the product is for people over 18 years of age.

Age: Mandatory for, mainly, clothes. In other words, what age is the clothing suitable for.

Color: It is also a must for clothes.

Genre: Required for clothing and other gender-segmented products.

There are more specifications, especially when working with products of a specific type.

Well, for each product it is necessary to pass the information to Google to ensure its effective indexing. As previously stated, you need to follow Merchant Center and ensure everything is working using Google Search Console. 

Once Google understands that your website works with products and starts displaying them, the Merchant Center tab is unlocked in Google Search Console to monitor product indexing.

When everything is correct, your products are displayed through Google's features, especially as product cards in searches.

Products are also displayed on Google My Business and the Google Shopping tab. As the card has an image, name, price and evaluation of the product, its presentation is much more attractive to the user than a conventional result.

Boosting the online store that indexes on Google with Google Ads campaigns

Google has its own paid ad network and we call this type of advertising Google Ads campaigns. In simple terms, it is the insertion of credits (like a prepaid cell phone) to take visitors to your website. Credits are spent with each visit.

It is possible to create campaigns for specific products in your online store through Google Merchant Center and display them massively on networks such as Google Shopping, however, the most important thing is to understand that Google likes sites that follow its guidelines and have advanced SEO . 

The logic is simple, Google already displays websites naturally (or organically) when their content and technical part are good. Now, these websites will also pay less when running Google Ads campaigns as they need to appear fewer times on Google to receive visits. In other words, good websites pay less in Google Ads campaigns.

There are several benefits to becoming a Google Ads customer when running outreach campaigns. Advertisers can be more detailed in relation to the terms they want to appear, configure regions, times, days, among many others. And it's not just that, it is also possible to have reports and more reports on research and detailed control of the ROI, from the English return of investment, is the calculation of the return on investment to know which products are worth advertising the most, since the Google Ads also understands your products and values.

Conclusion

The virtual store that is indexed on Google follows the same standards as websites, which must meet the requirements of WebVitals, Search Console in general and have great content. Furthermore, online stores need to be careful to correctly follow technical issues regarding product delivery and all its specifications. Just like the conventional website, the online store can also monitor its performance in searches via Google Search Console.

To boost indexing on Google or appear more in searches, online stores can run Google Ads campaigns, where there are more settings and detailed data about how, when and who is visiting your store.

Did you like the article? Want to know more? Contact us to understand more about indexing online stores on Google and how to sell more. Thanks for reading.