Are you someone who wants to run Google Ads for your Shopify store?  Do you feel unsure about how to implement conversion tracking? Then you’ve come to the right place. Google Analytics when combined with Google Ads, has a tremendous potential to boost your Shopify store conversions. Linking both Google Analytics and Google Ads will help you track what your prospects do after interacting with your ads. In this article, we’ll tell you how to set up Google Analytics for your Shopify store and effectively pull transactions to Google Ads. Read on to find it out!

Before we start, if you still find it difficult to set up Google Analytics for your Shopify store and pull transactions to Google Ads, even after reading this detailed article, worry not, we’ve got you covered! We’ve got a team of digital marketing experts to help you out. Feel free to connect with us.

How to Set Up Google Analytics in Shopify?

Step 1: Google Analytics Account + Check Whether Google Analytics was Installed Previously

The first thing you’ll need is a Google account that is signed up with Google Analytics. But, before you set up Google Analytics on your store, ensure that you haven’t done this step in the past. This is an important step because multiple setups can result in inaccurate data.  

For that, go to your Shopify admin, and click on  Online store > Preferences. Now, ensure that there is no code placed at the textbox that comes under Google Analytics. But if there is a piece of code already placed inside the field, it simply means that you’ve already enabled Google Analytics in your store.  Otherwise, click on Themes > Actions > Edit code, and go to the Layout section to find  {/} theme.liquid to check if you’ve enabled Google Analytics previously. In the theme.liquid section, look for the tags ga.js, dc.js, gtag.js, or analytics.js which indicate Google Analytics tracking tags. The presence of these tags also indicates that you have Google Analytics enabled already.

Step 2: Setting Up Google Analytics + Some Best Practices

The Google Analytics Setup

Start by signing on to Google Analytics. Choose your account if it has been already created or simply click on Add account to create a new one. Now, choose your website and submit related information. Click on Get Tracking ID and accept the terms of service. Further, copy the Tracking ID to the clipboard, you’ll need this to paste in Shopify. For that, open your Shopify Admin and go to Online store > Preferences. Finally, paste it on the field provided under the Google Analytics section. 

Best Practices

• • Use Correct Property Per Domain: If you deal with multiple websites that aren’t related, it is better to maintain different analytics accounts for them. The same ID can be used at instances when the websites belong to the same business that serves different regions (regardless of their domains). For this, simply set up cross-domain tracking to retain the original user information like source and medium. 

• • Maintain One Raw View: It is always better to maintain a view with no filters applied. You can use it as benchmark data that can be referred to whenever you want. All other views have some form of filters or goals applied to it, altering the way you get to see the raw data. So, it’s advisable to configure the view using the raw data for setting up the tracking User ID.

• • Track All Pages: Always remember to include every page of your website in Google Analytics even if it is a support desk or WordPress blog. 

• • Use the Same Currency and Time Zone as Shopify: It is ideal to use the same currency and time zone used in Shopify for Google Analytics as well. For this, simply go to Settings > General in Shopify to see the currency and time zone. Otherwise, inaccurate analytics could even push your sales differently between days due to the disparity in these settings.

Step 3: Enable eCommerce Tracking

Finally to enable eCommerce tracking on your website, access the View menu in the Google Analytics Admin, and click on Ecommerce Settings. Further turn ON the Enable Ecommerce toggle. This step has turned on your website for basic eCommerce tracking that deals only with transaction and revenue data. But, detailed tracking information can be accessed by enabling an enhanced eCommerce tracking on your website. 

An enhanced eCommerce tracking can be enabled on your website by accessing  Online store > Preferences from the Shopify Admin. Tick the Use Enhanced Ecommerce checkbox under the Google Analytics section and Save the changes. Now, simply click on the  Enable Enhanced Ecommerce Reporting toggle switch in Google Analytics to complete the process.

Google Conversion Tracking – How to Pull Transactions to Google Ads?

1. Linking Google Analytics & Google Ads

Linking Google Analytics and Google Ads can be completed in a few simple steps. But, before you start, ensure that the Google account has the edit permission for Google Analytics and administrative access for Google Ads. You can change the permissions once the linking process is complete.

Firstly, sign in to your Google Analytics. You can also open it from your Google Ads account by accessing the Tools & Settings icon and selecting Google Analytics and then proceed as per the instructions. From Analytics, go to Admin and choose the property you want to link to. Remember, Analytics can have different accounts with multiple properties that can have as many views as you want, so select the one you want to link from them. 

Now, click on Google Ads Linking in the Property column to find + New link group. Here, select the Google Ads accounts you want to link. Further, enter a link group title and enable the linking for each view in the property in which you want Google Ads data. Additionally, if you want data from each view, select Enable Google Display Network Impression Reporting.  Finally, click on the Link Accounts button to complete the linking process.

2. Auto-Tagging

Auto-tagging is a feature that allows you to see how effectively your ad clicks lead to valuable customer activity, such as website purchases, phone calls, app downloads, newsletter sign-ups, and more. It works using a parameter called GCLID (known as the Google Click Identifier), which is added to the URL a person clicks, just to track (or maybe spy) their online activities that could concern your ads. It is stored in a new Google Analytics cookie on your site’s domain and is created at the time of an impression, rather than a click. This feature will help you track offline conversions as well as follow the performance of your ads using the link with Analytics. To ensure that the information from every click on your ads is transferred to Analytics, check if the auto-tagging feature is switched on. For that, sign in to Google Ads and select Account Settings to go to the Auto-tagging section. Further, enable it by ticking on the Tag the URL that people click through from my ad checkbox and Save the changes.

3. Importing Google Analytics Goals & Transactions into Google Ads

Once you’ve linked Google Analytics with Google Ads and enabled the auto-tagging feature, the Analytics goals & transactions can be imported into Ads. For this, sign in to Google Ads, access Tools, and go to  Measurement > Conversions. Further click on + and Import. Now, select Google Analytics and click Continue. Based on your needs and preferences, select each goal or transaction you want to import by clicking IMPORT AND CONTINUE and you’re done!

Remember, the import doesn’t include historical data, and the data from your Analytics account starting from the day you clicked Import will only get imported. The goals will appear next to the existing conversion data on the Conversions page after the import.

Conclusion

Google Ads are intended to boost the store’s reach and conversions. All the time, money and effort spent on your ads go into good use when your store works just like the way you want it to, converting the website visitors into a buyer or a newsletter subscriber. Setting up Google Analytics on your Shopify store is basically aimed at bringing you data about your store. And when both these amazing Google services combine, you’ll get to know how many of the clicks actually resulted in sales.  

So, take points from this article and start using Google Analytics for Google Ads conversion tracking for your Shopify store today!

Still confused? Worry not! We’ve got a team of digital marketing experts to help you out. They’ll be glad to help you out!