Solved: Track 'Add to Cart' as Conversions in Google Ads

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Happy to give you some of my initial thoughts on your situation. It's a common problem to run into, especially with a slightly more complex website setup like yours. The short answer to your question is yes, you can and absolutely should tell Google what a real conversion is. Just getting that bit right will put you miles ahead of most people starting out.

Getting your measurement and campaign structure right from the beginning is the bedrock of everything else. If you get it wrong, you're basically just guessing and throwing money away. Let's get into how you can build a proper foundation for your ads.

We'll need to sort out your conversion tracking first...

Right, let's get straight to the biggest issue. You asked how to let Google know what a conversion is beyond just a click. This isn't just a good question; it's the only question that matters right now. Without accurate conversion tracking, Google's algorithm has no idea what you want it to do. It'll just find you people who like to click on ads, not people who want to buy concrete furniture. You're basically telling a taxi driver to 'just drive' without giving them a destination.

Your setup with a Webflow site and an embedded Shopify 'buy button' creates a technical hurdle. The buy button likely runs inside what's called an 'iframe'. Think of it as a little window on your Webflow page that looks into a completely different website (Shopify's checkout). Your main page (Webflow) can't easily see what's happening inside that window. So when someone clicks 'Add to Cart' or completes a purchase, Google Ads, which is sitting on your Webflow page, is completely blind to it. This is almost certainly why you're only seeing clicks.

The solution here isn't a quick fix in Google Ads; it's a tool called Google Tag Manager (GTM). If you haven't used it, GTM is basically a container that you put on your website. Then, instead of adding lots of different tracking codes (Google Ads, Analytics, etc.) directly to your site, you add them all into GTM. It gives you much more power and control over what you track and when.

To fix your specific problem, you'd need to set up a system where the Shopify button 'talks' to your Webflow page, and your Webflow page then tells GTM that a conversion happened. GTM then passes this information to Google Ads. It's a bit of a chain of command. It's a bit technical, but this is the proper way to do it. You'd be looking at using something called 'event listeners' and the 'data Layer' in GTM to capture the button clicks inside the iframe.

Here’s a simplified look at the data flow you need to build. Without this, your campaigns are running on guesswork.

Most importantly, you need to decide what your *primary* conversion action is. For your B2C kampagne, you want to optimise for purchases, not 'add to cart'. Why? Because if you tell Google to find people who add to cart, it will do exactly that... and many of those people will never complete the purchase. It's a classic mistake. You want to set up tracking for both, but tell Google that 'Purchase' is the main goal to optimise for in the campaign settings. 'Add to Cart' can be set as a secondary, 'observation' goal. This gives you data without confusing the algorithm's main objective.

For B2B, the primary conversion will be a lead form submission or a phone call. Again, this needs to be tracked perfectly.

I'd say you need two completely separate strategies...

Your instinct to split B2B and B2C campaigns is spot on. It's not just a good idea, it's the only way this will work. They are two different businesses that happen to sell a similar product. You need to treat them as such, which means separate campaigns, separate ad groups, separate keywords, separate ad copy, and separate landing pages.

For your B2C Shopify Campaign:

The goal here is a direct sale. The customer sees a product, likes it, and buys it. The sales cycle is short and emotional. Your best bet for this will likely be a combination of Google Shopping ads and Performance Max (PMax).

• -> Shopping Ads: These are crucial for eCommerce. They show your product image, title, and price directly in the search results. When someone searches for "minimalist concrete side table", you want your product showing up right there. To do this, you'll need to set up a Google Merchant Center account and create a product feed with all your furniture details.
• -> Performance Max (PMax): This is Google's all-in-one campaign type. You give it your assets (images, videos, text), your product feed, and your conversion goal (Purchases!), and it uses machine learning to run ads across YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, and more. It works well for eCommerce once it has enough conversion data to learn from, which is why fixing your tracking is so vital.

The B2C customer journey is all about visual appeal and trust. Your product photos have to be exceptional. Your product descriptions need to evoke a feeling – how will this table transform their living room? You need social proof like customer reviews and photos. The whole experience needs to be seamless, from ad to purchase.

For your B2B Lead Generation Campaign:

This is a completely different kettle of fish. A business owner isn't impulse-buying a £5,000 set of tables for their new cafe. They are making a considered investment. The sales cycle is longer and based on logic, ROI, and trust in your expertise. Your goal is not a sale; it's to start a conversation.

• -> Google Search Ads: This will be your workhorse. You want to capture people who are actively looking for a solution. They are problem-aware. These people are searching for things like "commercial grade concrete tables", "custom restaurant furniture supplier", or "durable office reception desk". These keywords show commercial intent.
• -> A Dedicated B2B Landing Page: Do NOT send B2B traffic to your Shopify product pages. It will kill your conversion rate. You need a specific page on your Webflow site that speaks directly to a business owner. It should focus on durability, customisation options, your process, case studies of other businesses you've worked with (even if it's just photos), and a clear call-to-action. The CTA should NOT be "Buy Now". It should be "Request a Quote", "Schedule a Consultation", or "Download Our B2B Catalogue".

The conversion action you'll be tracking here is the form submission from that landing page. I've worked on many B2B campaigns, including one where we helped a client reduce their cost per lead by 84% simply by refining their targeting and landing page offer. It's about qualifying the lead before they even speak to you.

You probably should expect different costs and results...

It's vital to understand that the metrics for success in these two campaigns will be totally different. Trying to judge them by the same yardstick will just lead to frustration. B2C is a numbers game about volume and Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). B2B is a precision game about lead quality and Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

In B2C, you might pay, say, £1.50 per click and have a 2% conversion rate. That means your cost per purchase (CPA) is £75. If you're selling a table for £500 with a 50% margin, your profit is £250. Subtract the £75 CPA, and you've made £175. That's a ROAS of 6.6x on the ad spend (£500 revenue / £75 spend), which is great. I remember one eCommerce client in the apparel space; we got them a 691% return by focusing relentlessly on optimising their shopping feed and creative.

In B2B, the maths are different. A click might cost £5 because the keywords are more competitive. Your landing page might only convert 5% of visitors into a lead. That's a Cost Per Lead (CPL) of £100. That sounds expensive, right? But what if you close 1 in 10 of those leads, and the average B2B project is worth £10,000? You've spent £1,000 on ads (£100 CPL x 10 leads) to make one £10,000 sale. That's a fantastic return. You can't be scared of a high CPL in B2B if the backend value is there.

To help you get a feel for this, I've built a simple calculator. Play around with your own numbers – your average order value, your estimated conversion rate, and your ad spend – to see how the potential ROAS changes. This should help you set realistic goals.

You'll need to think about your customer's mindset...

This is where the art comes in, and where most people go wrong. They use the same message for everyone. Your product isn't just concrete; it's a solution to two very different problems for two very different audiences.

The B2C customer is buying a piece of art for their home. Their pain point is having a boring, generic living space. They want something unique, a conversation starter. Your ads and website copy need to use emotional, aspirational language. You're not selling a table; you're selling a lifestyle, a design aesthetic.

The B2B customer is buying a durable workhorse for their business. Their pain point is furniture that chips, stains, or breaks under heavy use. They need something that looks good, but more importantly, will last. They are thinking about cost over the long term, maintenance, and how it reflects their brand to their own customers. Your message has to be about reliability, customisation to fit their space, and ROI.

This difference has to be reflected in every single word you write. Here are a couple of examples of how you might approach the ad copy.

Notice how the B2C copy talks about the home and making a statement, while the B2B copy focuses on the business application and offers a quote. These are small changes that make a huge difference in attracting the right kind of customer and repelling the wrong one. Getting this messaging right is just as important as the technical setup.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below as a summary of the actionable steps you should probably take.

As you can probably tell, getting this right involves a fair bit of technical work and strategic thinking. The tracking setup alone can be a real headache if you've never done it before, and it's very easy to set it up incorrectly, leading you to make bad decisions based on faulty data.

Honestly, this is where working with someone who's done this hundreds of times can save you a huge amount of time, money, and stress. An expert can get the foundations like tracking and campaign structure built correctly from day one, which means your budget goes towards finding customers, not fixing mistakes.

We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation where we can have a proper look at your website and accounts together. It'd give you a chance to ask more specific questions and we could give you a clearer picture of the path forward. It's often really helpful for business owners to get that expert pair of eyes on their setup.

Hope that helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh