BOSTON – An executive from Blinds.com at eTail East 2015 explained the importance of testing and customizing paid search results for individual products on Google, making sure to adjust a strategy based on what works for a particular item and platform.

During the session, Google Shopping: The Next Frontier In Paid Search, the executive stressed that to achieve success when foraying into paid Google search, it is vital to be flexible with each post. Testing is key in making sure that a product will do best through paid searches for Google Shopping.

“There is no hard and fast rule you have to keep testing, what we found was that it depends on the category,” said Mosheh Poltorak, data-driven marketer at Blinds.com, Houston, TX. “Some products needed that up close picture to show the texture, some products you do not care about the texture you want to see how it plays out in the space, how the drapery sits on the window.

“You just have to test it,” he said. “Every retailer is different.”

Mobile importance
Although Blinds.com does not boast a substantial number of mobile purchasing, many consumers are still searching through this platform, and learning about various products and competing price options. It is important to make sure product search looks good on each respective channel.

Paid search is a tool that marketers use for their products to appear above the search results, relevant to what a specific consumer is searching for. For instance, in terms of Blinds.com if a consumer is searching on Google for wooden blinds, a wooden blind product from the brand will appear within the sponsored area, Google Shop.

Through testing, Blinds.com realized that to increase sales and streamline a positive consumer experience it was helpful to add relevant products within the landing page, directed by Google. The retailer noticed the influx of consumers accessing the Web site through numerous paid searches and registered that it would be easier for the user not to have to click back-and-forth, adding multiple products on one page solved this issue.

What works best for images varies as well, depending on the product. Many products look better in a wider angle, featured in a specific setting, where as others a showcased more effectively close up.

For instance, the set of wooden blinds will look best from a wider angle, shown within a room. But a diamond ring may look better close up, or featured with many different angles.

Marketers need to experiment with which images are leveraged best with their product. However, it is imperative that all images must be high quality and stand out from the rest.

Serving relevant content
Another significant tactic to note is to leave out extraneous details in the title. There is finite amount of words that will show up for a product page title, and marketers should steer clear from entering information that is not relevant.

For instance, a product search for Old Navy shows a list of Old Navy products. Within the product title the brand name is listed, but Old Navy is also listed at the bottom of the icon.

This takes up valuable space and can cause consumers to look over products.

Also, retailers should focus on what these consumers are searching for. Leveraging helpful tools such as Google Ad Words can show marketers which words to list within a description or title, by listing what consumers are searching for.

“You want to look at the competition but do not copy,” Mr. Poltorak said. “Just because someone is doing it, even if they are a brand name, you do not need to copy them because it does not mean that they are right and it does not mean that it is going to work for you, and that specific product.”

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Commerce Daily