The Google Ads Remarketing Pixel is a small piece of code that you can add to your website. It allows Google Ads to build remarketing audiences based on information from visitors to your website The pixel fires when someone visits a page on your site, allowing Google to add that visitor to relevant remarketing lists. So how to add it to Shopify? This article will help you.
Methods for adding the remarketing pixel
There are two main ways to add the Google Ads remarketing pixel to your Shopify store. Shopify’s built-in customer events tracking or by adding directly to your theme files. You’ll need to have the re-marketing tracking code from Google Ads in the first place. So here’s how to get it:
- First, in the Google Ads dashboard, go to “Tools” -> “Shared library” -> “Audience manager” then click “Your data sources”
- The “Google Ads tag” box appear and you need to click “..” to edit source.
- Then choose “Collect data on specific actions people performed on your website to show personalized ads.” in the Remarketing and select your business type, since you are running a Shopify store “Retail” is probably the most relevant.
- Next, in the “Tag setup” choose “Install tag yourself’, then you can copy the “Google tag” below.
1. Using Shopify’s built-in customer events tracking
Shopify now offers built-in integration with Google Ads, making it easy to add the remarketing pixel. Now when you have the Google tag, just follow these steps:
- Go to Shopify admin > Settings > Customer events
- Click “Custom pixel”
- Then name the pixel the way you want.
- It will open up a dashboard where you can add the tag to configure settings then click “Connect”
2. Adding the tracking code to theme.liquid
This requires strong technical knowledge of Shopify. The reason is that adding code to your theme can break your website if you don’t know exactly what you are doing. As a Shopify owner or marketers, you may have prior experience of this and might feel comfortable adding snippets yourself. Otherwise you should consult a developer. And at the very least: backup your code first.
After you have the Google Tag,
- Go to Online Store > Themes
- Click “Actions” > “Edit code” on your live theme
- Open the theme.liquid file inside the layout folder
- Paste the Google Ads remarketing code inside the tag
- Customise the code with your Google Ads ID to make it works on your site
- After finishing the code, add to between the opening and closing head tag. <head></head>
How to adapt the Google tags to work on your Shopify site
The more you know, the better you can run your Shopify store. A few things to take note:
- Start by copying the Google Ads remarketing tag into a text editor. This allows you to make necessary modifications before adding it to your site.
- In the code, locate the part that looks like ‘AW-XXXXXXXXX’. Replace XXXXXXXXX with your actual Google Ads audience tag ID.
- If you’re targeting a country other than the United States, you may need to adjust the country code in the tag. Look for a section in the code related to country or region settings.
- The product ID format is crucial for effective remarketing. You’ll need to ensure it matches the format used in your Google Merchant Center. Check your product feed in Google Merchant Center to determine which format you’re using. Common options include:
- Shopify’s default product ID
- Shopify’s variant ID
- Custom SKU
- A combination of the above
- To make your remarketing more effective, you might want to add dynamic parameters that capture information like product ID, price, or category. This allows for more targeted remarketing campaigns.
Remember, the exact customisation needed can vary depending on your specific Shopify setup and Google Ads campaign goals. It’s important to carefully review your product feed, Google Ads settings, and Shopify configuration to ensure all elements align correctly.
If you’re not comfortable with coding or are unsure about the correct setup, it may be worth consulting with Shopify experts or Google Ads specialists to ensure the remarketing pixel is implemented correctly for your specific needs.
Once you’ve customised the code, you can proceed with adding it to your Shopify store using one of the methods described earlier (either through Shopify’s built-in system or by adding it to your theme.liquid file).
How to check if your Google Ads pixel is working correctly on Shopify?
To check if it works on your site, you can try one of two different methods.
Using Google Tag Assistant
Google Tag Assistant is a Chrome browser extension that helps you verify if tracking tags, including Google Ads pixels, are correctly installed and functioning on your website.
You can run a quick test by installing the Google Tag Assistant extension to Chrome then follow this guide
- Go to your Shopify store in Chrome
- Click the Tag Assistant icon in your browser
- Look for a green indicator for Google Ads
Use Chrome Developer Tools
- Open Chrome Developer Tools (F12)
- Go to Network tab
- Filter for “collect”
- Refresh your page
- Look for requests to Google servers. What it means is
As the page loads, observe the list of network requests displayed in the panel. Look for requests that have URLs containing google.com, gstatic.com, or other Google-related domains. These requests may include:
- Google Analytics: Look for requests like https://www.google-analytics.com/collect which indicates data being sent to Google Analytics.
- Google Tag Manager: Requests to https://www.googletagmanager.com/ may indicate tags being fired.
- Google Ads: URLs containing https://www.googleadservices.com/ can indicate tracking for Google Ads.
Clicking on a request will provide additional details in the right panel, including the request method (GET/POST), response headers, and any data being sent.
The benefits of adding a remarketing pixel
Adding a Google Ads remarketing pixel to your Shopify store allows you to:
- Show targeted ads to people who have previously visited your site
- Remind potential customers about products they viewed but didn’t purchase
What’s the overall point of adding it? Increase conversions by bringing interested shoppers back to your store to buy.
Online advertising costs can be very expensive, and leave little margin for error. With remarketing you can reach people who have already shown a positive interest in your products, at a much lower cost than trying to reach them with broad targeted advertising. It’s rare to see a remarketing campaign that doesn’t result in a positive ROAS, and so it’s something we recommend all clients setup as standard when running any type of paid advertising campaign.
Key takeaways
If you’ve followed our guide, your Google Ads remarketing pixel should now be running on your site. Remember to be cautious about what you add to your site, as it can affect web performance if the code or tag is too heavy. For further assistance, contact Kahunam Shopify experts to see how our retainer services can help you with any Shopify matters, making it easier to run your store more efficiently.
