Have you searched something on Google lately and found the word “Sponsored” mentioned on top of a result? These are Google’s pay-per-click ads, aka Google Ads, which let businesses put them in front of people searching for products or services on Google.
These ads can be used to drive leads or traffic to your website. Google Ads are an important part of any ecommerce search marketing plan. Ecommerce platforms such as Shopify have built-in tracking parameters to track conversions and traffic from Google Ads.
How Does Google Ads Work?
The Google Ads platform works through an auction system. Businesses create advertisements and choose relevant keywords. When someone searches on Google using those keywords, an automated auction process determines which ads appear on the search results page.
The ads shown are based on the bid amount that advertisers are willing to pay for clicks. You only get charged when someone actually clicks your ad. This pay-per-click model allows you to control costs by setting a maximum daily budget.
The goal is to have your ads appear prominently for search terms that are highly relevant to your Shopify products or services. If you bid high enough on those ideal keywords, your ads can show at the top of Google, which leads to higher click-through rates.
Is Google Ads Good for Shopify?
Just like any other business, creating effective text, images, and video ads that make people want to learn more once they arrive at your Shopify store is crucial. The content of your ad & the content of the landing page play a big role in driving traffic and increasing conversions, respectively.
So, in summary, your Shopify Google ads success revolves around:
- Bidding enough to consistently appear for your target keywords
- Advanced matching and negative keywords to refine visibility
- Compelling and dynamic ads that generate interest
- Conversion tracking to optimize campaigns
With the right bidding strategies, keyword targeting, campaign optimization, and Shopify Google ads conversion tracking in place, you can drive highly qualified traffic to your Shopify store efficiently.
There are a few key Google Ads components to understand:
Keywords
The keywords and phrases that trigger your ads to show. Choosing highly relevant, high-traffic keywords is crucial for success with Google Ads.
Ad Groups
You organize keywords into ad groups around a theme, product line, or service. Keeping ad groups focused helps ads and landing pages stay relevant.
Ads
The text, image, or video ads themselves. Good ads motivate searchers to click and land on a relevant page.
Landing Pages
The webpage people arrive at when they click your ad. Your Shopify product or collection pages make ideal landing pages.
Now, let’s explore tips specifically around unleashing the power of Google Ads for your Shopify store.
10 Google Ads Best Practices for Shopify Stores
Follow these 10 best practices to get the most out of Google Ads for your Shopify business:
1. Set Up Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is vital for understanding what actions people take after clicking your ads. For Shopify stores, you’ll want to track purchases as conversions within Google Ads.
The easiest way to enable conversion tracking is to install the Google Ads conversion tracking Shopify app. This connects your Google Ads account with your Shopify store, allowing you to track conversions easily. There are 400+ apps on the Shopify app store for tracking Google ads conversions. These apps are paid, though.
For the free options, you can simply follow Shopify’s official guidelines here (click here). You have to create a conversion action and then add a Google Ads tag to your store. & on your store. Now, when someone clicks on an ad and makes a purchase, that conversion data flows back to Google Ads so you can see your revenue directly within your Google Ads account. Tracking conversions allows you to optimize campaigns to maximize sales.
2. Drive Traffic to Specific Products
One of the biggest advantages of Google Ads is the ability to drive laser-targeted traffic to specific products. This both increases conversion rates and allows you to determine the true return on investment from ads.
Getting granular with campaigns centered around specific products you want to promote is extremely powerful. The Shopify Google Ads app makes conversion tracking at this product level easy.
3. Optimize for Mobile
Did you know that over 50% of Google searches now happen on mobile devices? And that’s not even accounting for YouTube and Discover ad inventory only available on mobile.
With the majority of traffic shifting to smartphones, it’s essential to optimize Google Ads for mobile users:
- Prioritize mobile-friendly landing pages
- Enable call extensions allowing tap-to-call
- Design responsive search ads ideal for small screens
- Use ad extensions like location targeting
Optimizing for mobile improves click-through rates and conversions. Be sure to analyze performance by device type and tweak campaigns to perform best across desktop, tablet, and mobile.
4. Retarget Site Visitors
Retargeting allows you to reconnect with people who previously visited your Shopify store by showing them ads across Google’s network. Using custom audiences in Google Ads, you can target visitors based on their previous site behavior:
- Abandoned cart – Target people who added items to the cart but didn’t purchase
- Product viewers – Show ads to people who viewed specific products
- Page visitors – Re-engage those who visited certain site pages
5. Promote Best Sellers
Identify your top-selling items and create dedicated ad groups around those specific products. This targeting will result in higher relevancy, conversion rates, and ROI.
Many Shopify stores run into issues trying to promote their entire catalog within a single ad group. With thousands of products, relevancy drops significantly. Instead, analyze your store’s data to see which products drive the most sales and focus Google Ads efforts around pushing those best-sellers.
6. Analyze Search Terms
One advantage of Google Ads is getting insight into the actual keywords and phrases driving clicks and conversions in your account. Within the search terms report, you can see queries people are using to find your ads and landing pages.
Analyze this search query data frequently to find new relevant keywords to target, as well as identify terms that might not be a fit. Adding new high-performing search queries as keywords will increase impressions and clicks over time.
7. Use Negative Keywords
Equally as important as targeting relevant keywords is adding negative keywords to prevent irrelevant clicks. Analyzing search terms will uncover queries not actually relevant to your products.
As a best practice, build out a robust negative keywords list over time to refine targeting and avoid spending money showing ads to the wrong searches.
8. Write Compelling Ads
Your ad copy has to capture attention and motivate clicks in just a couple of short sentences. Effective Google Ads tap into what a searcher is looking to accomplish and show how your
Ad testing is also key – try different headlines, descriptions, and call-to-action phrases to see what generates more clicks and conversions. Over time, you build up a library of high-performing ad copy.
9. Automate Bidding
Trying to manually set bids and budgets across campaigns, ad groups, and keywords can be extremely overwhelming as a Shopify store’s Google Ads account grows.
Luckily, Google Ads’ automated bidding streamlines management through machine learning, dynamically optimizing bids to hit your targets. Types of automated bidding include:
- Target ROAS – Bid to achieve a goal return on ad spend
- Maximize Clicks – Bid to get the most clicks within budget
- Enhanced Cost-Per-Click (ECPC) – Automatically adjusts manual CPC bids to improve performance
10. Regularly Review Reports
While automating campaigns, you still need to actively monitor and analyze performance. Set aside time every week to review key Google Ads reports, including:
- Search terms – See what queries are triggering your ads
- Top performing keywords – Double down on best-converting keywords
- Conversion tracking – Evaluate ROI across products
- Demographics – Analyze performance by age, gender, location, etc
Regularly checking in on metrics allows you to catch any issues early and identify optimization opportunities, helping you maximize your Google Ads investment.
FAQs
1. How much does it cost to run Google Ads for my Shopify store?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, as it depends on factors like your target keywords, competition, and budget. However, you can set daily or campaign budgets and only pay for actual clicks on your ads. Start small and experiment to find what works best for your budget and goals.
2. Can I run Google Ads myself, or do I need an agency?
While Google Ads may seem complex at first, the platform offers plenty of resources and tutorials to get you started. You can manage your campaigns yourself if you’re willing to invest time in learning the ropes. However, if you have a large budget or want faster results, partnering with a Google Ads agency can be beneficial.
3. How long does it take to see results from Google Ads?
It depends on factors like your goals, competition, and ad quality. Some stores see results within weeks, while others might take a few months to see a significant return on investment. Be patient, test different strategies, and continuously optimize your campaigns for the best results.
4. What are some common mistakes to avoid when using Google Ads for Shopify?
- Not setting up conversion tracking properly.
- Targeting irrelevant keywords
- Using generic ad copy that doesn’t resonate with your audience
- Neglecting mobile optimization
- Overspending without a clear budget strategy
- Set unrealistic expectations and abandon campaigns too quickly
5. Where can I find more resources to learn about Google Ads for Shopify?
Google Ads provides extensive documentation, tutorials, and even live webinars: https://support.google.com/google-ads/?hl=enShopify App Store offers relevant apps and integrations: https://apps.shopify.com/
