Root Cause Analysis: Shopify + Google Ads
Why did this number change? askotter reads Shopify and Google Ads together and answers it for your business, by text.
How does root cause analysis with Shopify and Google Ads work for a small business?
askotter reads Shopify and Google Ads side by side so it can test each explanation against your connected accounts and find the cause. A ranked list of likely causes, each with the evidence behind it.
Read the full answerShow less
The owner asks follow-up questions by text.
- From Shopify
- Orders and revenue, Product performance, Customer profiles and segments.
- From Google Ads
- Campaign performance, Keyword data and quality scores, Ad group and creative performance.
- Status
- Both connect today.
- Not for
- Replacing Shopify or Google Ads. Both keep working exactly as they do now.
Why did this number change?
Bookings dropped 23%. The ad, the website and the weather all get blamed. Without your accounts side by side, it stays a guess.
How askotter handles it
askotter reads Shopify and Google Ads side by side, so it can test each explanation against your connected accounts and find the cause.
A person checks the result before it reaches you. This is part of our conversion rate optimization work.
How Shopify and Google Ads records line up
Shopify and Google Ads can both hold the Google click ID that Google Ads adds to the landing page URL when auto-tagging is on. That ties one paid click to what the same visitor did afterwards.
Shopify and Google Ads both keep the UTM source, medium and campaign values from the visit, so activity lines up campaign by campaign even when no single person can be matched.
Shared between the two: the Google click ID (gclid) and the UTM campaign tags.
What root cause analysis uses from each
Root cause analysis needs timestamps precise enough to put events in order.
From Shopify that means order timestamps, discount codes and refund dates. From Google Ads it means the change history for bids, budgets and ads.
What each tool sees on its ownShow less
Shopify on its own
Shopify sees the order and the landing page. It has no view of the ad impressions, emails or searches that came before that session.
Timing. Shopify writes each order the moment it is placed, including the landing page and referring site of the session that bought.
Access. Read-only access through the Shopify Admin API, approved from the store admin.
Google Ads on its own
Google Ads counts the conversions it can see through its own tag. It cannot tell a refunded sale from a kept one, or a junk lead from a good one.
Timing. Google Ads credits a conversion back to the date of the click, so yesterday's conversion count can still rise for days.
Access. The Google Ads API with read access to the account.
Related guides
- Which Integrations Are Worth Connecting. An integration earns its place when it changes a decision. Most of them just move data from one screen you ignore to another.
- Why Your Google Ads Aren't Converting (And How to Fix It). Clicks without conversions is the most expensive problem in marketing.
Services that use these connections
Other analyses: Shopify + Google Ads
Questions about Shopify + Google Ads
Do I need a developer to connect Shopify and Google Ads?
How is askotter's Root Cause Analysis different from what Shopify shows on its own?
Connect Shopify + Google Ads. Five minutes.
Plans are on the digital marketing pricing page.
Self-managed is $99/mo and scales with the compute you use. Our team runs it from $600/mo.