A Strategic Overhaul of Technical SEO, Data Analytics, and Google Ads for a High-End Auto Parts Retailer. (2023-2024)
The Business Challenge
European Auto Source (EAS), a leading retailer of premium aftermarket automotive parts, faced a critical business challenge: despite having a Shopify Plus store launched in February 2023, they were getting very little traffic and their Google Ads campaigns were delivering a poor return on investment.
In the client’s own words, the problems were clear: ‘Mostly product not approved errors for products missing GTIN and other items… we’re getting very little traffic’. They had a complex digital ecosystem across Shopify, Google Merchant Center, AdWords, Search Console, and Analytics that was not working cohesively, resulting in stalled leads and underperforming ads.
My Role & Strategic Approach
As the lead Digital Strategy Consultant, I was brought in to diagnose the entire digital funnel and execute a full-stack turnaround. My initial assessment revealed a series of disconnected data streams and technical SEO issues.
My strategic approach, outlined to the client on June 22, 2023, was to:
- Unify the Data Ecosystem: Establish a single source of truth by correctly linking Google Analytics to Merchant Center and Search Console, and fixing the broken conversion tracking between Shopify and Google Ads.
- Overhaul Ad Strategy: Pause underperforming responsive ad campaigns and create new, highly efficient Dynamic Search Ad campaigns synergistic with their product feed and SEO efforts.
- Execute Technical SEO & CRO: Conduct a full audit of the site to fix foundational issues, from 404s and sitemaps to Core Web Vitals, to maximize organic visibility and on-site conversion.
Process & Execution: A Deep Dive into the Turnaround
The turnaround required a meticulous, hands-on approach.
Phase 1: Foundational Data & Technical Fixes (July 2023): My first priority was to fix the broken data infrastructure. As detailed in my communications with the client, this involved debugging inconsistent conversion data between Shopify and Google Analytics, diagnosing issues with third-party payment processors, and consolidating multiple rogue analytics tags into a single, reliable stream via Google Tag Manager. I worked directly with both Shopify and Google support teams to resolve these deep-rooted data discrepancies.
Phase 2: SEO and Content Optimization (September 2023): With a stable data foundation, I turned to organic growth. I performed a technical audit, identifying and creating 301 redirects for over 1,000 URLs that were producing 404 errors in Google Search Console. I also established the foundation for their email marketing program by creating a Mailchimp account and preparing their customer list for a scrubbing campaign.
Phase 3: Google Ads Campaign Overhaul & Scaling (September – November 2023): I took control of the AdWords campaigns, adding over 100 new keywords, refining geotargeting, and systematically increasing the budget from $16/day to over $50/day ($1,500/month) as performance improved. A critical breakthrough came in November when I led the effort to resolve an advertiser verification issue with Google, which had paused all campaigns. My direct intervention with Google’s ad specialists unlocked the account’s full potential.
The Result & Quantifiable Business Impact
This integrated strategy of fixing the foundation, optimizing organic channels, and intelligently scaling paid advertising delivered transformative results.
- 10x Growth in Ad-Driven Traffic: By March 2024, the new Google Ads strategy had skyrocketed product impressions from under 100,000 per month to over 1.1 million per month, with clicks surging from ~2,500 to over 11,000.
- Significant Uplift in Sales: During the initial 30-day period following my strategic changes (June 26 – July 26, 2023), total online sales increased by over 25% compared to the previous period, from ~$37k to over $46.5k.
- Established a Scalable Growth Engine: By resolving core technical and data issues, we built a reliable and scalable digital marketing engine that allowed the client to confidently increase their ad spend to $4,500/month based on a proven, positive ROI.