Google has a free certified program available that eCommerce stores can make great use out of. Getting your online store recognized by Google is a great idea. You receive a badge which confirms to your shoppers that your have been verified by Google. More importantly your customers will be offered free buying protection covering eligible orders up to $1000. Google also helps you with store ratings and reviews which are shown on your text ads on Google helping increase your click through rate.
Current requirements to be eligible for Google Trusted Stores
- SSL certificate.
- Your store must be based in US, Germany, Japan, France, Australia or UK.
- The ability to implement Javascript code on all your web pages within your store site.
To get the ball rolling head over to Google Trusted Stores.
Confirm your eligibility
Create your Google Trusted Stores Merchant account. If you have multiple stores it’s a good idea you look a bit more into which option best suits your circumstance. Select your country where your website is based and where your store will operate in. You then can start the verification process.
Verify your eligibility and let Google know about your store. Google will review and verify your store and make sure you are meeting all the Google Trusted Stores Merchant Guidelines and key store requirements. Key store requirements are available through Google.
Important Key store requirements will confirm your eligibility
- Including more than 200 orders per store per month.
- Ensuring you do not sell restricted products such as weapons, tobacco, pharmaceuticals and certain other products.
- Making sure your customer service is high generally responding to all customer service issues in less than 24 hours.
- Being able to provide an accurate shipping date for non back ordered items.
After you have verified your website eligibility and provided Google with your primary contact representing your trusted store with Google you can sign the legal program agreement. You then will provide store information for a minimum of one of your stores. You need to supply the URL and select categories for your store.
After you have completed this part of the setup you can move onto the technical Trusted Store integration.
Technical Requirements
First you will need to add JavaScript code provided by Google to all pages of your site including checkout and order confirmation pages. You must make sure your store’s shopping cart pages, checkout pages, and confirmation pages are all hosted on the same domain.
If you use a third party checkout platform you must redirect back to your order confirmation page on your store’s domain. Paypal, BillMeLater, Amazon Payments, eBillMe and Google Wallet will temporarily redirect your customers away from your store to enter in and process their payment details. You can not include your Google JavaScript code on 3rd party platforms so Google deems it acceptable to use the above 3rd party payment gateways as long as you redirect back to your store’s domain after payment processed.
Google’s mandatory requirements in all cases are fairly simple.
- Include code for the visual elements on the landing page when your customer is redirected back to the store’s domain.
- Transmit the order confirmation details to Google, this gives your customers the chance to opt in for Google’s buyers protection.
Google’s trusted store badge code must be implemented on each page of your website. The badge will not be visible until after you are fully qualified as a verified Trusted Google Store.
After the customer has completed an order your customer will be offered to opt in and take Google’s free purchase / buyer protection. The order confirmation code should be placed on your store’s confirmation page. An example of the code is below
Code Validation
After your code integration you need to run a JavaScript test to validate your integration across all 3 of the major browsers. This test will simulate your customers shopping experience.
Qualification Period
Once you have completed all the the above including completed code implementation, validation and application submission Google will place you into a qualification period for a minimum of 30 days. Google will asses your eligibility during this period. As mentioned previously your Google badge will not be visible during this period. Once Google has qualified your store you will receive a email notification and the Google Trusted Store Badge will appear on your site.
Getting your site qualified as a Google Trusted Store is an investment. Getting your site up to Google’s high standard and meeting the eligibility criteria set out by Google may appear difficult but the initial work proves fruitful in the end with many Google Trusted Store partners seeing an increase in sales. Customers are comforted knowing Google has vetted the site they are about to purchase from and the buyers protection that Google offers on the back end for shipments.
Have a look at some success stories.
If you are unsure whether you qualify for a Google Trusted Store get in contact with the team@airmygroup.com and we can help you.
