Setup Tips for Successful Google Ads on Shopify

This article is aimed at Shopify merchants who want to make the most of Google Ads. It introduces setup tips that, with just a little effort before launching Google Ads on Shopify, can help improve your ad performance.

Even without advanced marketing expertise, simply implementing the setup tips in this article can boost your Google Ads performance. Please read through to the end and use it as a reference for running effective ad campaigns.

Note that this article covers a selection of setup tips. If you want a step-by-step guide to setting up Google Ads on Shopify from the basics, please refer to the article below.

StoreHero leverages its proprietary growth platform to support businesses with granular operations that manual management cannot achieve, and to drive business growth through the large-scale execution of growth initiatives. If you are facing challenges in increasing sales on Shopify, feel free to reach out. =>Download our free service overview here

Connecting Shopify with Google

First, use the Google & YouTube app to connect Shopify with Google Merchant Center, Google Ads, and Google Analytics. If you operate a YouTube channel, you can also connect it.

Setting the Conversion Measurement Window

Next is the conversion setup. There are two ways to configure conversions in Google Ads: importing conversions from GA4, or setting them up using a Google tag.

When configuring conversions, the measurement window setting is also important. If the attribution window is too short for high-ticket items with long consideration periods, or too long for low-priced products where the purchase decision is made almost immediately at first touch, you will end up over- or under-attributing conversions, and proper optimization will not function correctly.

To find the right measurement window for your business, use GA4 to measure the time from first touch to conversion completion. This will allow you to set an attribution window that is well-suited for effective optimization.

When using GA4, the click-through conversion measurement window for attribution depends on the settings configured in GA4.

To change the attribution window in GA4, go to GA4 "Admin" > "Data Display" > "Attribution Settings."

Slightly off-topic, but under "Channels credited with conversions," you can choose whether to distribute attribution credit only among Google Ads paid channels or across other channels as well. Regardless of which option you choose, the conversion count and value displayed in the Google Ads dashboard will only reflect the credit attributed to Google Ads.

In the "Key event lookback window" section below "Channels credited with conversions," you can set the attribution window. There are "User acquisition key events" and "Other key events" — purchases fall under "Other key events." The default is set to 90 days, but you can also choose 30 or 60 days.

Configuring the attribution window directly on the ad platform allows for more granular settings than importing GA4 data. To set it on the ad side, open the conversion goals list in the Google Ads dashboard, select the target conversion, and click "Edit settings." You can then configure attribution windows such as the click-through conversion measurement window.

If you want to measure conversions directly in Google Ads rather than importing from GA4, you will need to set up a Google tag and an event snippet in your store. For Shopify, the Google tag should be placed either directly in your theme files or via Google Tag Manager, and the event snippet for the purchase completion event must be configured using Shopify's Custom Pixels. While the event snippet can also be set up via the additional scripts on the order status page, this method is now deprecated and will likely become unavailable in the future.

Setting this up via Custom Pixels can be somewhat challenging, but we recommend using Google Tag Manager as described in this article (Free Shopify Enhanced Conversion Tracking Pixel For Google Ads + Micro Conversions).

Setting Up Product Metafields

Shopify product data includes metafields for Google Ads feeds (age group, color, size, condition, etc.). These feed metafields can be bulk-imported using Matrixify or registered through apps that customize your feed. It is best to fill in as many fields as possible, as this improves the precision of your ad delivery. Each feed attribute has its own rules, so be sure to follow them when entering data.

Grouping Products with Custom Labels

In Google Ads, you can use custom labels — a field within your feed data — to group products. You can create listing groups based on custom labels such as high-margin products, sale items, or priority products, and link them to Performance Max (P-max) asset groups or use them to adjust bids by product group.

At StoreHero, we sometimes apply custom labels to the top products in the first-purchase ranking of repeat customers to attract new customers with a high likelihood of becoming repeat buyers. We also apply custom labels to top-selling products from recent periods, enabling ad campaigns that reflect current trends.

Since these types of initiatives are difficult to manage manually, we leverage the StoreHero platform to execute them.

Structured Markup

When you connect Shopify with Merchant Center via Google & YouTube, Google will conduct a product review.

Products are reviewed against various criteria, but one common reason for rejection is that Google's crawler misreads the price on a product page, causing a discrepancy between the feed data and the displayed price.

To prevent this, structured markup is used to accurately communicate the information on product pages to Google — not just via the feed. You can verify whether your structured markup is correctly implemented using a schema markup validation tool.

Structured markup itself can be implemented easily using a structured data markup helper tool. You map the information on your product page to the markup fields on screen, and when you generate the HTML, it produces the corresponding JSON-LD or microdata source code. Simply copy and paste it into your Shopify theme file to complete the structured markup.

Structured Data Markup Helper Tool

Audience Data Integration

You can sync Shopify customer data to Google Ads customer lists through CRM tools like Klaviyo.

By syncing customer lists, you can use them as audience segments for Search and Shopping ads, or as audience signals for Performance Max (P-max) campaigns.

Using customer data that is unlikely to convert as audience segments or signals will introduce noise, so it is important to limit usage to customers who have already purchased or loyal customers (those who have made multiple repeat purchases).

If the loyal customer dataset is too small, you might also consider identifying potential customers who share similar attributes and behaviors with your loyal customers, tagging them accordingly, and syncing this broader audience to Google Ads for audience targeting.

Researching Competitor Ads

Just as Meta's Ad Library lets you view competitors' ads, Google Ads also allows you to view other ads from a specific advertiser by clicking the three dots near a running ad. Use competitor ads as a reference to craft ads that effectively communicate the appeal of your own brand.

Using search analytics tools enables even deeper analysis. For example, with a tool like Ahrefs, you can see not only competitors' search ad keywords and ad copy, but also estimated traffic figures. Keywords and ad messaging that competitors are focusing on are likely to have good CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) and ROAS (Return On Ad Spend). If you are starting new search campaigns, this information can be very useful as a reference.

Maximizing Google Ads Performance with StoreHero

StoreHero supports merchants on Shopify who face challenges in growing their sales, helping them execute growth initiatives with precision and at scale.

For Google Ads specifically, we leverage the StoreHero growth platform to automatically generate feed data based on each product and SKU's performance and inventory data, as well as audience data derived from customers' purchase history and attributes. This enables granular campaign management that would be impossible to achieve manually, and supports sustained growth through the large-scale execution of initiatives.

We are currently offering a free store diagnosis. If you have challenges with Google Ads or growth initiatives in general, please feel free to contact us. => Learn more about the free store diagnosis here

Summary

In this article, we introduced initial setup tips for achieving strong Google Ads performance. Did you find any areas to revisit in your Google Ads configuration? With the right setup in place, Google Ads' machine learning can work correctly and help you achieve better results more consistently.

We have also written other articles related to Google Ads in the past, so please feel free to check them out if you're interested.

StoreHero helps businesses introduce automation and workflows for growth initiatives across the entire sales process — from customer acquisition through Google Ads to Shopify store improvements and inventory management — building the foundation for continuous growth from day-to-day operations.

If you're interested in working with StoreHero to tackle Shopify growth together, feel free to reach out.