How to connect Google Merchant Center to Shopify?
Are you a merchant selling your product on Shopify? We recommend a highly effective marketing strategy for your e-commerce store: promote your product across Google! Yes, you heard right! You can connect your Shopify store with Google in just a few steps. You must have a Google Merchant Center account for that.
Google Merchant Center helps you to leverage and optimize your data, while Shopify is a commerce platform to manage your products and businesses. You can set up Google Shopping Campaigns this way.
Stay tuned to our blog and learn how to connect Google Merchant Center to Shopify.
Steps to Connect Shopify to Google Merchant Center
You can showcase your products across the Google platform only if you connect your Shopify store to the Google Merchant Center. To do so, follow these steps:
1. Create and Set up a Google Merchant Center Account
You must have a Google Merchant Center Account to connect it with your Shopify store. You can sign in to your existing GMC, or you can create a new account. For this, go to Google Merchant Center and sign in with your Google Account. Enter your Business details and agree to the Terms and Conditions. Then you will verify your website and configure your tax and Shipping Details.
You can learn in detail about the account creation of GMC in our article here:
2. Install ‘Google & YouTube’ in Shopify
You link your Shopify store with Google accounts so that these platforms can work together. Your Google Merchant Center will gain access to tour products and data from Shopify directly.
- Go to Apps and Sales Channels.’
- Select your Shopify store and install the ‘Google & YouTube’ Channel. Search for ‘Google’ and Choose ‘Google &YouTube.’
- Click on ‘Overview page’, select ‘Product Status’
- Navigate to ‘manage Products’ to check your synced products
- Update desired options and save
- If you have a custom product and do not have GTIN or MPN, click this as a custom product.
- Add a Google Product Category in the Product Categorization section.
- You also have custom label options like gender, condition, or age.
- Click save
You have the choice of how you want your information to be synced with Google Merchant Center. You can choose automatic sync, or you can also choose manual sync. We recommend you choose an automatic option.
Manual Sync: You have to manually send your product to the Google Merchant Center when you want to sync your product manually. Google will not sync your Shopify store to the Merchant Center for you. For Manual sync, you must have products in the Merchant Center.
Automatic Sync: Your Shopify products will appear on Google when you select the automatic sync option. You will be able to view your product status on the Shopify store.
3. Connect Shopify to Google Merchant Center
Connect your GMC when you’re installing ‘Google and YouTube’ in Shopify. You can also connect your Google Ads and Google My Business accounts. When you sign into your Google accounts using your email address, your Google platforms will become available to link to your Shopify store.
Your Google email must have all of the required information. If you do not have, you will need admin access or its support. When you connect a Google Merchant Center to the Google & YouTube channels, your domain of the Shopify store will be automatically claimed. It will be a verified domain in GMC. You must have a verified domain as this is a GMC requirement.
Google Merchant Center must be linked with a verified domain that is not associated with another account. This means you can link your Shopify store and domain with one Google Merchant Center account.
If you’re going to promote your product in more than one country, you do not need to have multiple Merchant Center accounts. This is managed at the product feed level.
4. Link GMC to Shopify
You can add Shopify as a linked account when you set up your Google Merchant Center Account. Select the country in which you want to sell your products. Go to ‘Settings’ and choose Linked Devices.’
Go to ‘Partners & Platforms’ and choose the ‘Link’ tab. You can link Shopify directly with the Google Merchant Center.
5. Get Shopify Products on Google Shopping
You have to give your product information to the Google Merchant Center Account. You will need to have Google Shopping Ads that must be linked to your merchant account if you haven’t done that already. Shopify will then ask you whether you want to sync all the products or just a specific collection. Follow these steps to get your Shopify products on Google Shopping manually:
- Click ‘products’ from the Shopify admin panel
- Select ‘all products’
- Select the product that you want to push to the merchant center
- Navigate to ‘export’ when you have selected all of your desired products
- You must export it to either .XML or .TXT
- Upload the file to GMC
6. Verify and Claim Your Shopify Website
Shopify will verify and claim your website automatically as you have the Google & Youtube app. To check this
- Go to Google Merchant Centre Account, click on business information, and navigate to the website
- Check whether your Shopify Store URL is marked as Verified & claimed
- If not, click ‘Verify & Claim’
6. Review ‘Product Status’
When you have linked Google Merchant Center ad Shopify, Google & YouTube in Shopify will review all of your products and determine whether or not your products are eligible for Google. If you wish your products to be eligible for the GMC, you must follow Google’s Policies. These policies include all the product data requirements.
You can import existing products from Shopify into GMC mostly; however, sometimes you may need to add some additional information on Google Merchant Center Feed. This includes Google Product Category and Unique Product Identifiers, etc, mainly based on the product category you are about to sell. For instance, for apparel and accessories, you need additional requirements such as color, size, age group, and gender, as some of these may not be included in your Shopify store by default.
Google Merchant Center Diagnostics
Google will review your product feed. You can check the Diagnostics section in Google Merchant Center. It shows the status of your products. You will see how many items are active, pending, or disapproved. The system uses a traffic light method, similar to Shopify.
When this process of syncing Shopify with Google Merchant Center is complete, your product may be included in any of these three categories.
Approved: This means all the information about your product is complete and it is ready for promotion. You can now set up your Google Merchant Center Feed and Google Ads campaigns to promote them.
Not Approved: your products do not meet the Google requirements and hence are not eligible for Google. Learn the Google policies and resolve the issues.
Pending: This shows your Shopify Products are still under review, you can get back to them later. Whenever you update your product data for a given product, that product will appear in pending status.
If products are disapproved, review the issues in the Diagnostics section. Common problems include promotional overlays on images, broken landing pages, and missing product details.
To fix disapproved products, click on the ‘Not approved’ section. Check the specific reason for the rejection. This will help you understand what needs to be corrected. The issue may be a missing required attribute or an incorrect format. Once you identify the issue, update your product data in Shopify. After changes, Google will re-review your products. This process takes 3 to 5 working days. Having more approved products it increases your reach on Google. More approved products help you get better results in advertising. Try to have as many approved listings as possible.
Set up a Product Feed in your Google Merchant Center Account
Once your Google Merchant Center and Shopify are connected, you can create a product feed.
You can add your products to the merchant Center manually. You can also add product feed via Google Sheets or a hosted file on your website. Your feed will be optimized by using third-party feed management & optimization tools and need feed updates regularly.
You can also upload your products using Content API in the Merchant Center. This is a very efficient method as it pulls data directly from Shopify. However, it does not have some optimization product data before sending it to Google.
Use SFTP Connections
SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is a secure way to transfer files between computers over a network. It protects data during transfer using encryption. SFTP does not physically move files; instead, it duplicates them from one system to another. If you update product data frequently, SFTP for product feeds is recommended.
You can set up SFTP for Google Merchant Center by following these steps
- Access Google Merchant Center and click the tools icon.
- Select SFTP / FTP / GCS and create a new SFTP account.
3. Save your SFTP login details for future use.
4. Select your feed target country.
5. Name your feed, choose the Upload option, and name your file.
6. Go to Shops > “Your shop’s name”.
7. Click Edit Channel from the drop-down menu next to your channel.
8. Go to FTP Connection and paste the required details.
9. Select FTP Upload to send your feed to the channel.
If you are using FTP, we recommend that you switch to SFTP, which enhances security. To do this, update your connection settings. Select SFTP instead of FTP and enter the new credentials.
You can also use Content API instead of SFTP
You can also update feeds using Content API if you don’t need third-party tools. This allows direct product updates in Google Merchant Center but with limited optimization features.
- In Google Merchant Center, go to Products > Feeds.
2. Click the + button to add a new feed.
3. Select your target country and language, then click Continue.
4. Name your feed and choose Content API as the feed type.
5. Click Create Feed to finalize the setup.
Google will review your product feed within 3 to 5 working days. Plan your feed updates accordingly to avoid delays in launching campaigns.
Bulk Edit Google Shopping Field in Shopify
You can use the Bulk editing Feature of Shopify when you have multiple products to edit in Google fields. Follow these steps to do so:
- Click on the admin page of your Shopify account and click on products
- Navigate to ‘sales channels’ and select Google from the drop-down menu
- Choose from approved products, pending products, or not-approved products
- Tick the boxes next to each product that you wish to edit
- Choose edit products that need to be taken to the bulk editor
- Save when you have made changes
Add structured Data to Shopify for the Merchant Center
Structured data is a special type of code that helps search engines understand and display website content more effectively. It provides detailed product information, such as price, availability, Ratings & Reviews, Brand & SKU. Google uses this data to create rich snippets in search results and enhance visibility. It also allows for automated product feeds in Google Shopping ads.
If you add structured data, it improves your Shopify store’s performance in multiple ways:
- Higher Click-Through Rate (CTR): Rich snippets with ratings from Google Merchant Centerand prices attract more clicks.
- Better SEO: Google understands your content better, improving rankings.
- Automated Product Listings: Your product details sync directly with and reduce manual updates.
Google prefers JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) over other formats like Microdata and RDFa. JSON-LD is easy to implement and less prone to errors.
How to Add Structured Data to Shopify
You can add structured data in three ways:
1. You can use a Shopify App
Shopify apps like Smart SEO automatically generate structured data in JSON-LD format. This method does not need any coding, reduces errors, and keeps the schema up to date.
2. You can hire a Shopify Expert
You can also get expert help for advanced customization. Hire a certified Shopify expert who can set up structured data correctly, troubleshoot errors, and ensure compliance with Google’s requirements. This option suits businesses that lack technical expertise but need custom solutions.
3. Manual Implementation
If you’re experienced in JSON-LD, Shopify Liquid, and schema.org, you can add structured data manually. This involves editing the theme. liquid or product. liquid files define schema types (e.g., Product, Offer, AggregateRating) and validate your code using Google’s Rich Results Test. Incorrect schema can break your site’s SEO and Google Shopping integration. If unsure, use an app or expert.
Final Words
Shopify is one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in the world. If merchants integrate it with your marketing channels, you can get most of your online campaigns. You must understand how to connect Google Merchant Center to Shopify to promote your products via local inventory Ads, Google Shopping, Google Maps, and YouTube. You will surely get the most out of your ad spend. It’s a good practice to have a fully optimized product feed, which will increase sales and revenues. You should also consider regularly reviewing the diagnostics of your feed and stay acknowledged of any feed issue that arises.