Welcome to one of our free Shopify Marketing tutorials. Now that we have shown you how to configure your Google Analytics and Google Ads accounts, set up conversion tracking for your Shopify store, and create Facebook and Google Search campaigns, it’s time to take your online store to the next level.
Before launching your Google Shopping ads, you must ensure you properly set up Google Channel in your Shopify store. Google Channel is a Shopify app that lets you automatically sync your products and relevant information about your Shopify store with the Google Merchant Center.
Afterward, you can easily update your Google product feed directly from Shopify and create paid Google Shopping campaigns to advertise your products across various Google-owned platforms and ad formats.
And while Shopify tries to make this setup process as straightforward as possible, there are still a few things you might need to keep an eye on to avoid some rookie mistakes. But no worries, as always, we’ve got you covered.
Here’s Zima Media’s quick tutorial on how to set up Google Channel in your Shopify store, step by step!
What Can You Use the Google Channel App for?
Previously, to gather remarketing audiences and run shopping ads on Google, you needed to add a piece of code to each website page manually – into the Shopify store separately. The introduction of the Google Channel App means that Google Ads remarketing tag is automatically added to your Shopify store.
Now, you can use all the great benefits of Google remarketing audiences without touching the code itself. This will help you create tailored dynamic remarketing Google shopping campaigns and show your past website visitors the most relevant product ads.
Ultimately, Google Channel App will help you:
- Configure tracking and goals
- Create remarketing audiences
- Sync products
Without the Google Channel, your Google Shopping campaigns might not be performing to their full potential because you would need to update your feed manually whenever you make any changes to the product availability and features.
How to Set up Shopify Google Channel
Before you start the setup process, keep in mind that only the owner of the Google account will be able to access the marketing features on Shopify, so make sure that the business owner completes the setup.
Also, remember that your online store must meet certain requirements for the new Google channel to work. Please, make sure you provide all the necessary information to avoid any roadblocks later on.
1. Install the Google Channel from the Shopify App Store
2. Connect Your Google Account
From your Shopify admin panel, go to Sales channels → Google. Click Connect Google Account, and then select a Google account or create a new one. You need to allow Shopify to access your Google account information. Review the setup requirements for your online store, and make any required changes.
Please ensure that your Google account has admin access to your Ads Account and Merchant Center.
3. Connect the Google Merchant Center
Go to Google → Settings
Select a Merchant Account from the drop-down list. The Merchant Center IDs listed are the ones associated with your Google account. To avoid misconfigurations, make sure to double-check your Merchant Center ID and connect the right one.
If you don’t have a Merchant Center account, then click Create new, and then complete the account creation process from Google Merchant Center.
4. Connect Google Ads Account
Select Google Ads from the drop-down list. The Google Ads IDs listed are the ones associated with your Google account. To avoid misconfigurations, make sure to double-check your Google Ads ID and connect the right one.
If you don’t have a Google Ads account yet, please follow our Google Ads tutorial to create a new account.
5. Configure Product Feed Settings
Click Select beside Target market to set up where you want to sell your products, and then select a target market and the language.
Click Select beside Shipping settings, and then click the dropdown and select Automatically import shipping settings to sync your shipping rates from Shopify, and then click Save.
6. Configure Product Settings
Set your product title and description preferences for products synced with Google. We recommend opting for an SEO product title and SEO product description. Learn more about optimizing your product titles and descriptions for SEO in our free tutorial.
7. Go to Google Channel App → Settings → Overview → click Get Started for one of the program options:
- Set up Free Product Listings
Show your products in relevant search results on the Google Shopping tab. This option includes product feed sync.
- Set up Product Feed Sync
Sync your Shopify products to Google Merchant Center.
Review Conversion Tracking for Google Ads With the Google Channel
The Google channel automatically adds conversion tracking events to your Google Ads account when you set it up. However, since we have already walked you through the proper conversion tracking setup for your Shopify store, you need to pause the newly appeared conversion events to prevent duplicate data reporting.
Log into your Google Ads account → Tools → Measurement → Conversions → Go to each conversion action settings and exclude all conversion actions from “Include in Conversions” except for Transactions with the Google Analytics (UA) source and phone calls if applicable.
Also, make sure all conversion actions have the same attribution model. We recommend using a position-based or, even better, a data-driven attribution model.
Review Google Ads Audience Sources
Active parameters are crucial for the success of your remarketing Google Ads shopping Performance Max campaigns. To ensure your account receives all the important information about the user behavior on your website, you need to confirm that the Google Ads tag is sending these required parameters properly.
Log into your Google Ads account → go to Tools & Settings → Shared Library → Audience Manager → Audience Sources
You should see no error messages in the Google Ads tag and Google Analytics (UA) audience sources. If you notice any, then it means you need to review your website and double-check whether you connected the Google Channel and installed Google Analytics tracking correctly.
You’re all set. Congrats! Now, you can run personalized remarketing ads for your website visitors based on the products they viewed, added to the shopping cart, or purchased. And of course, don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need further help with setting up and launching profitable ad campaigns.
