Today, I’m sharing my updated Ecommerce Google Ads campaign structure and strategy, broken down into three actionable levels:
Beginner, Intermediate, and Pro.
Whether you’re just starting out or running a multi-million-dollar ecommerce store, this guide has something for everyone.
Let’s get started.
Beginner Level: Start Simple, Play It Safe
If you’re new to Google Ads or working with a smaller budget, the goal is to keep your structure simple and efficient while maximising return.
Here’s the recommended setup:
1. Performance Max (PMax) for All Products
Start with one PMax campaign to target all your products. Avoid over-segmenting at this stage—this lets Google optimise effectively with limited data.
Tip: Connect your ecommerce platform (e.g., Shopify) to Google Merchant Center and ensure your product feed is in good shape.
2. Google Display Network (GDN) Retargeting
Set up retargeting ads to re-engage visitors who’ve shown interest but didn’t convert. These ads show up as banners across the Google Display Network.
Why?
It’s low-risk, high-reward traffic that improves your overall conversion rate.
3. Search Brand Campaign
Create a branded search campaign targeting your store’s name. While not fully incremental, this will still drive high returns by capturing people already searching for you.
4. Dynamic Search Ads (DSA)
Launch a DSA campaign with a low budget to identify valuable search terms that convert well. Use this data later to refine your campaigns.
Intermediate Level: More Granularity, More Control
At this stage, your ecommerce store is growing, and your campaigns need to scale accordingly. Here’s how to level up:
Adjustments to Performance Max
Segment your PMax campaigns based on product categories. This allows for tailored creatives (images, headlines) and better control over performance.
Additional Campaigns
1. Search Product Campaigns
Use insights from your DSA and PMax campaigns to target non-brand product keywords. These keywords should indicate purchase intent (e.g., "sleep mask for blackout").
2. Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)
Combine retargeting with search by targeting high-intent users who visited your site but didn’t convert. Add broad "head terms" like "sleep" to capture relevant searches.
3. YouTube Ads Retargeting
If you can, create simple video ads, YouTube retargeting can outperform display banners. A 15-30 second video is enough to re-engage visitors effectively.
Pro Level: Optimisation and Advanced Scaling
The Pro level is all about maximising profits, scaling aggressively, and getting precise control over your campaigns.
Refined Performance Max Strategy
1. Segment by Performance
Break campaigns into buckets based on ROAS (return on ad spend) and spend:
Profitable Products: Low cost, high ROAS items.
Costly Products: High-cost, low-ROAS products with adjusted bid strategies to improve performance.
Low Volume/Zombie Products: Products with little to no conversions that need separate attention.
2. Brand Negation and Separate Standard Shopping Campaigns
Remove branded keywords from PMax and funnel them into a Standard Shopping campaign. This allows precise control over branded ROAS targets.
Expanding Campaign Types
1. Generic Keywords Campaigns
Target problem-aware but not solution-aware users with broader keywords. For instance, "better sleep solutions" for sleep-related products.
2. Competitor Keywords Campaigns
Target competitor brand terms to capture their audience. These campaigns often have low volume but deliver incremental profits.
3. Prospecting on GDN and YouTube
Run cold traffic campaigns targeting new audiences. Use:
Custom Intent and In-Market Audiences for GDN.
Dedicated Video Campaigns on YouTube, where each video has its own campaign for focused optimisation.
Scaling ecommerce Google Ads requires starting with a simple structure, learning from your data, and iterating as your budget and results grow. By the time you reach the Pro stage, you’re running a data-driven, profit-optimised machine.
No matter where you are in your ecommerce journey, these strategies provide a roadmap for optimising your Google Ads campaigns.
From setting up your first Performance Max campaign to implementing advanced segmentation and scaling, the focus is always on data-driven growth and profitability.