Optimising for Google Shopping: How to get your Product Descriptions right

Are poor product descriptions holding back your Google Shopping campaigns? 

If your descriptions are too vague, you’ll lose clicks. If they’re too bloated, you’ll get cut off mid-sentence. Worse still, if your Google Shopping description doesn’t align with your eCommerce site’s product detail page (PDP), you risk confusing customers, losing trust, and tanking your conversion rates.

So, what’s the right approach? How should you tailor your product descriptions for Google Shopping? How do you balance brand consistency with platform-specific optimisation? 

This guide has the answers. Packed with practical, no-nonsense best practices, we’ll walk you through how to optimise your Google Shopping feed for maximum visibility, better click-through rates, and more sales. 

Google Shopping product descriptions should match your PDPs 

First thing’s first, it’s important to prioritise a high-level of consistency between your Google Shopping descriptions and your PDPs. This is because…

1. A consistent description helps build trust with customers. If potential shoppers see one description on Google Shopping and another on your website, it might cause confusion or mistrust.

2. Matching descriptions can improve your SEO and search engine ranking. It’s always a good thing to avoid conflicting information.

However…

Google Shopping descriptions shouldn’t be exact copies of your PDPs 

At the same time, your Google Shopping descriptions shouldn’t be word-for-word replicas of your website PDPs. When creating your Google Shopping descriptions, keep in mind…

Pay attention to character limits in Google Shopping.

1. Platform-Specific Optimisation:

   Google Shopping descriptions should focus on concise, keyword-rich text designed to grab attention and improve CTR (Click-Through Rate). These descriptions might be shorter than your product page description and include top keywords upfront.

   Product Detail Page descriptions can be longer and more detailed, focusing on storytelling, additional benefits, and features that guide the customer to purchase.

2. Character Limits:

   Google Shopping has specific character limits for product titles and descriptions, so you may need to tailor your content to fit within these constraints.

   Google Shopping titles can technically be up to 150 characters, but because only 70 characters are typically displayed on Shopping ads and free product listings, Google strongly encourages titles to include the most important information within these first 70 characters. 

   When it comes to descriptions, Google Shopping imposes a limit of a maximum of 5000 characters. However, again because Google only displays a limited number of characters for product descriptions in Shopping ads and free listings, it’s recommended that you submit only around 500 to 1000 characters. List the most important details, such as size, material, intended age range or special features in the first 160–500 characters.

   No such hard constraints exist for Product Detail Pages on your website. 

3. Focus on Performance:

   Google Shopping is more about driving clicks, so descriptions might lean more toward "value-first" messaging rather than extensive product detail.

4. Policies and Penalties:

   Keep in mind Google’s platform-specific prohibitions and policies to ensure compliance. 

   For example: 

   It's generally not recommended to include symbols such as ® (Registered Trademark) and ™ (Trademark) in product descriptions for a Google Shopping feed. This is because, while Google does not explicitly prohibit the use of these symbols, they can cause issues with product approval and ad performance.

Avoid overuse of special characters such as trademark symbols.

• Overuse of special characters, including trademark symbols, can sometimes trigger disapproval for using "unnecessary characters" in Google Shopping Ads.

• Some shopping platforms strip out special characters or encode them incorrectly, leading to formatting errors in your feed.

• They take up valuable space in product titles and descriptions, which could be better used for keywords that enhance visibility.

• Symbols like ® and ™ don’t add SEO value and may not be meaningful to shoppers.

• A cleaner title without these symbols is more user-friendly.

  You also shouldn’t use capital letters for emphasis within your description, because capitalised text is common in spam and untrustworthy ads. However, you should still use capitalisation where it's appropriate, including for abbreviations, phone numbers, countries and currency. For example, 'ADHD', 'UNICEF', '1-555-CALL-NOW', 'UK' and 'USD', should all be capitalised. 

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In summary… 

• Use the same core information to ensure consistency but tailor for the platform.

• Emphasise key features and benefits in the first 500 characters for Google Shopping descriptions.

• Ensure both descriptions align with your brand tone and message.

• Always check Google Shopping’s Ads policies to ensure compliance.

For effective optimisation of your Google Shopping product descriptions, you’ll need to find a balance between mirroring the content of your on-site PDPs and tailoring content to the platform’s specific requirements. Clear, concise, and well-structured descriptions improve both visibility and click-through rates, helping customers find the information they need quickly.

By prioritising key details in the first 500 characters, avoiding unnecessary symbols, and aligning with Google Shopping’s feed policies, you can create product listings that perform effectively without compromising brand integrity. Keeping these best practices in mind will help you make the most of Google Shopping as a valuable sales channel.

Good luck! 

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