This case study describes how I ran PPC (Google, Bing & Meta Ads) for a recovery and wellness Shopify brand and helped take the business from roughly £1M to £3M+ in revenue in just 12 months.
Disclaimer: Because I’m sharing sensitive information, no brand names will be mentioned. Most case studies are sh*t. They either don’t share numbers or say “revenue up by 277% in 30 days” with no context of before and after or sales trends over time. They conveniently highlight the stuff that looks good. My case studies are different. You can see both the good and the bad, although lucky for me it’s mostly good.
Industry: Health & Wellness / Home Recovery Products
Platform: Shopify
Duration: September 2024 – Present
Services: Google Ads, Bing Ads, Meta Ads, Demand Gen, SEO.
Overview
| How long have we worked for? | Since September 2024 – Present (~23 months) |
|---|---|
| Monthly Revenue (Shopify sales) | Up from £74K to £451K (avg last 3 months) |
| Monthly Net Profit | From -£15K to £147K (avg last 3 months) |
| Average Profit Margin | Up from 25% to 44% |
| AOV | Up from £195 to £467 |
| Markets | UK (80%) Ireland (20%) |
| Blended ROAS (sales/total spend) | Up from 222% to 861% |
| Google Ads ROAS Total | Up from 259% to 852% |
| TACOS (total spend/sales) | Down from 45.1% to 11.6% |
| Google Ads ROAS Non-Brand | Up from 290% to 582% |
| Monthly Google Ads Spend | Up from £13.3K to £31.1K |
How it started
A guy let’s call him Chandler booked a 30-minute consultation on Upwork 10:46 AM on a Friday, 2 hours later we wrapped up a call that lasted just over an hour. Chandler was experiencing some issues with his Shopping listings where his products weren’t showing on key terms and missing reviews I explained what the most likely issue was and fixed what we could live on the call then looked at the Google Merchant Center account and found a few possible reasons for why the reviews weren’t pulling through.
Shortly after he shared access to his account and Shopify store, I followed up with a video review, and we agreed that I would be better at managing his account than his current freelancer. Settled on £700 + 1% of ROAS, and I got to work.
Account Audit
Rough summary of what I found during the review:
- Strategy – Lacking clarity and focus, a mix of campaigns with no clear targets and execution plan.
- Profit – Track and optimise for profit. Account for all paid media spend and measure blended performance, not just Google Ads attributed revenue.
- Budgets – Search campaigns were stopping in the evening. PMax needed a target that matched the daily spend recommendation.
- Feed & GMC – Missing GTINs and MPNs, weak shipping estimate setup, incomplete cost of goods for profit reporting.
- Structure – Lots of duplicate targeting. Same products in multiple campaigns.
- Geo – Ireland was spending too much and auction insights didn’t justify that spend while the UK was down with a lot more potential and aggressive competitors.
- SEO – Thin collection content, almost no long-form topical content, weak organic profile.
Client feedback after the review and quick fixes we’ve done on the first call:
“…definitely agree with what you have said, the account is lacking direction. I would like to try and maintain at least a break even ROAS and try to keep up with Competitor X.“
And later: “It’s mad this freelancer I have has never mentioned that the campaigns were stopping in the evenings. Shopping ads seem to be running well again now!“
The challenge
No clear direction, a freelancer who wasn’t flagging basic delivery issues, Shopping underperforming on the terms and products that mattered, and a budget setup that quietly switched the lights off every evening. SEO was nonexistent. Stock issues meant we had to control budgets in the account and adjust our targets.
Approach / Strategy / How
Month 1 (September 2024)
- Fixed what we could on the live call and in week one (Shopping / GMC visibility, reviews path).
- Populated GTINs and MPNs on all products.
- Built a simple competitor price and offers sheet so we weren’t blind when Competitor X discounted.
- Added COGS so we could track profit in Shopify.
- Fixed shipping estimates and set up full conversion tracking.
- Tested Google promotions on high-stock SKUs.
- Launched Bing Ads.
- Cleaned duplicate product targeting across campaigns.
- Shifted budget from over-served Ireland to the UK.
- Started rebuilding campaign structure around core products.
Two weeks in, the account was already responding:
Then stock issues forced us to pull back and stay patient for a while.
Month 2 (October 2024)
- Rewrote product titles into a consistent formula (examples below).
- Kept offer parity when Competitor X ran promotions.
- Continued feed / GMC hygiene.
- First SEO notes on core collections: H1, intro copy, FAQs, internal links.
- Signed up to a Google CSS to take advantage of the 20% discount on CPCs.
Month 3 (November 2024)
- Installed on-site product guidance (Tolstoy) to lift conversion rate and related-product discovery.
- Scaled the spend on Shopping / Search.
- First SEO changes went live.
Month 3+ (December 2024 – Present)
December 2024 was the first clear step-change month on Shopify (£226K total sales). From there the work compounded:
- Premium assortment – Pushed higher-quality lines that competitors couldn’t easily clone. AOV trends followed.
- Brand defence – CSS / affiliates bidding the brand name, served notice we can convert that traffic for much less.
- Demand Gen – One Demand Gen campaign with multiple ad groups segmented by product, over time we took over our main competitor. Blue is my client, red is his #1 competitor.
- Post-purchase survey – Set up a post-purchase survey and tweaked the question to “How did you hear about us?” to get a better idea of where people first came across the brand.
- Profit Metrics – In August 2025 implemented Profit Metrics and changed primary conversion action to profit a month in.
- SEO – Collection page patterns + long-form content that earned organic backlinks.
- Current focus – Creative testing and pushing high-margin and new launches.
Feed titles: before & after
Don’t overcomplicate, sometimes it varies depending on what you’re selling, but if it looks anything like this you should be good.
Template: Primary Keyword – Feature + Secondary Keyword – Brand Name
Here’s an example if you were to sell hot tubs:
| Before | After (structured) |
|---|---|
| Garden Tub Red | Wood Fired Hot Tub – Outdoor Garden Hot Tub With Stove – Brand |
| Hot Tub 6 Person | Wood Fired Hot Tub – 6 Person Outdoor Hot Tub With Heater – Brand |
What this does: lead with the query people type, add the feature they filter on, keep brand at the end for branded Shopping matches.
SEO: collections and content
Paid gets you traffic. Collection pages and content decide whether organic can carry some of that demand, and whether paid landings feel trustworthy.
What a strong collection page looks like
Not a thin product grid with three sentences. Structure it like a landing page:
- H1 = the primary commercial keyword for that category.
- Intro SEO copy under the H1 (what it is, who it’s for, proof points).
- Product grid.
- Supporting SEO copy further down (comparisons, use-cases, objections).
- FAQ with real questions.
- Internal links into related categories and guides.
Category strategy
Instead of dumping everything into one catch-all collection, split commercial intent:
| Approach | Why it works |
|---|---|
| One collection per primary keyword / intent | “Keyword one” (e.g. a distinct product class people search) deserves its own URL, H1, and copy. Burying it in a catch-all means you never own that SERP. |
| Separate modifier categories | Materials, locations (indoor/outdoor), buyer type (home vs commercial), or use-case modifiers are different searches. Same products can appear in more than one collection. |
| Bundle / paired-product category | If you sell complementary products, a dedicated “use them together” collection captures a query cluster single-category competitors struggle to own. |
| Long-form blog / guides | Answer popular questions above the buy. Those posts earn organic backlinks and internal links into money collections. |
I helped brief and write long, detailed posts on hot topics and popular questions. Those pieces gained organic backlinks and improved the organic profile. That is unpaid compounding next to paid.
Google Search Console (last 3 months vs same period last year)
| Metric | Last 3 months | Same period last year |
|---|---|---|
| Total clicks | 14.3K | 13.6K |
| Total impressions | 843K | 784K |
| Average CTR | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Average position | 9.3 | 16.1 |
Clicks and impressions are up. The standout is average position from 16.1 to 9.3 (into the top 10).
Nerdy stuff
1. Merchant Center and Shopping recovery
GTINs, MPNs, shipping estimates, reviews, promotions. No historic GMC screenshots (Google doesn’t keep that UI forever; we didn’t capture them at the time).
2. Budget mechanics
If Search dies every evening, fix delivery before you debate ROAS targets.
3. Campaign structure: simple, product-led
- Each core product gets its own campaign (budget, targets, creative follow that product).
- Demand Gen: one campaign, multiple ad groups by product.
- PMax: same idea visually:
4. Geo rebalance
Ireland #1 on auction insights while UK visibility lagged. Moved spend toward the bigger commercial prize.
5. Feed titles + Competitor X offer sheet
See hot tub examples above. When rivals discount and you don’t, paid traffic window-shops.
6. Profit Metrics
Primary conversion moved to PM Gross Profit so Smart Bidding saw margin. Side-by-side vs the old Shopify purchase tag is in Results.
7. Brand, Demand Gen, surveys
Protect brand from CSS freeloaders; one Demand Gen campaign with product ad groups; post-purchase surveys as a truth check.
Results
Channel mix by month (media spend)
| Month | Total spend | Meta | Bing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-09 | £33,350 | £13,270 | £20,080 | £0 |
| 2024-10 | £29,472 | £13,525 | £15,946 | £0 |
| 2024-11 | £29,253 | £14,193 | £15,060 | £0 |
| 2024-12 | £64,074 | £32,099 | £31,923 | £52 |
| 2025-01 | £53,415 | £23,688 | £29,445 | £281 |
| 2025-02 | £42,596 | £21,555 | £20,751 | £290 |
| 2025-03 | £53,714 | £27,720 | £25,597 | £397 |
| 2025-04 | £62,256 | £28,935 | £32,883 | £438 |
| 2025-05 | £57,763 | £29,814 | £26,883 | £1,066 |
| 2025-06 | £62,160 | £33,013 | £27,965 | £1,182 |
| 2025-07 | £53,579 | £35,816 | £16,386 | £1,377 |
| 2025-08 | £58,753 | £38,986 | £18,080 | £1,686 |
| 2025-09 | £45,049 | £26,912 | £16,559 | £1,578 |
| 2025-10 | £49,936 | £24,439 | £24,187 | £1,310 |
| 2025-11 | £94,142 | £35,234 | £57,038 | £1,871 |
| 2025-12 | £111,225 | £38,358 | £71,046 | £1,821 |
| 2026-01 | £115,100 | £45,288 | £68,026 | £1,786 |
| 2026-02 | £79,400 | £27,316 | £50,303 | £1,781 |
| 2026-03 | £73,776 | £28,367 | £43,181 | £2,228 |
| 2026-04 | £64,010 | £27,241 | £34,556 | £2,213 |
| 2026-05 | £74,432 | £38,706 | £33,290 | £2,437 |
| 2026-06 | £45,700 | £24,525 | £19,422 | £1,753 |
| 2026-07 | £37,041 | £29,995 | £5,008 | £2,038 |
Shopify total sales by month
| Month | Shopify total sales | Gross profit | AOV | Media spend | Blended ROAS | TACOS | Profit after ads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-09 | £73,906 | £18,450 | £195 | £33,350 | 222% | 45.1% | -£14,900 |
| 2024-10 | £69,760 | £38,597 | £156 | £29,472 | 237% | 42.2% | £9,125 |
| 2024-11 | £106,174 | £54,874 | £139 | £29,253 | 363% | 27.6% | £25,621 |
| 2024-12 | £226,441 | £133,227 | £130 | £64,074 | 353% | 28.3% | £69,153 |
| 2025-01 | £143,659 | £72,502 | £124 | £53,415 | 269% | 37.2% | £19,087 |
| 2025-02 | £103,640 | £48,534 | £149 | £42,596 | 243% | 41.1% | £5,938 |
| 2025-03 | £177,832 | £83,995 | £159 | £53,714 | 331% | 30.2% | £30,281 |
| 2025-04 | £197,990 | £89,807 | £187 | £62,256 | 318% | 31.4% | £27,551 |
| 2025-05 | £231,709 | £100,608 | £240 | £57,763 | 401% | 24.9% | £42,845 |
| 2025-06 | £236,288 | £126,596 | £292 | £62,160 | 380% | 26.3% | £64,436 |
| 2025-07 | £269,180 | £150,524 | £268 | £53,579 | 502% | 19.9% | £96,945 |
| 2025-08 | £247,021 | £136,011 | £240 | £58,753 | 420% | 23.8% | £77,258 |
| 2025-09 | £195,697 | £97,864 | £253 | £45,049 | 434% | 23.0% | £52,815 |
| 2025-10 | £365,711 | £175,549 | £595 | £49,936 | 732% | 13.7% | £125,613 |
| 2025-11 | £754,270 | £375,660 | £392 | £94,142 | 801% | 12.5% | £281,518 |
| 2025-12 | £563,504 | £270,597 | £225 | £111,225 | 507% | 19.7% | £159,372 |
| 2026-01 | £754,741 | £339,632 | £415 | £115,100 | 656% | 15.3% | £224,532 |
| 2026-02 | £433,046 | £201,358 | £484 | £79,400 | 545% | 18.3% | £121,958 |
| 2026-03 | £528,613 | £216,540 | £599 | £73,776 | 717% | 14.0% | £142,763 |
| 2026-04 | £423,572 | £161,062 | £566 | £64,010 | 662% | 15.1% | £97,052 |
| 2026-05 | £568,684 | £247,288 | £603 | £74,432 | 764% | 13.1% | £172,856 |
| 2026-06 | £428,618 | £195,167 | £434 | £45,700 | 938% | 10.7% | £149,468 |
| 2026-07 | £356,070 | £156,877 | £364 | £37,041 | 961% | 10.4% | £119,836 |
Shopify by calendar year
| Year | Months | Shopify total sales | Gross profit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12 | £966K | £251K | Management from Sep; earlier months are pre-takeover |
| 2025 | 12 | £3.49M | £1.73M | First full calendar year of the rebuild |
| 2026 | 7 (Jan–Jul) | £3.49M | £1.52M | Already matching full-year 2025 sales with 5 months left |
Google Ads conversion rate by month
| Month | Clicks | Conversions | CVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-09 | 14,501 | 185.7 | 1.28% |
| 2024-10 | 15,350 | 208.4 | 1.36% |
| 2024-11 | 13,249 | 414.6 | 3.13% |
| 2024-12 | 27,420 | 940.6 | 3.43% |
| 2025-01 | 30,243 | 693.1 | 2.29% |
| 2025-02 | 22,154 | 426.7 | 1.93% |
| 2025-03 | 28,262 | 662.8 | 2.35% |
| 2025-04 | 29,987 | 606.9 | 2.02% |
| 2025-05 | 29,006 | 586.3 | 2.02% |
| 2025-06 | 35,171 | 493.9 | 1.40% |
| 2025-07 | 38,175 | 610.1 | 1.60% |
| 2025-08 | 44,361 | 693.0 | 1.56% |
| 2025-09 | 28,087 | 468.0 | 1.67% |
| 2025-10 | 23,648 | 341.0 | 1.44% |
| 2025-11 | 30,727 | 993.5 | 3.23% |
| 2025-12 | 38,071 | 1,254.9 | 3.30% |
| 2026-01 | 55,105 | 985.8 | 1.79% |
| 2026-02 | 34,893 | 481.7 | 1.38% |
| 2026-03 | 29,232 | 510.3 | 1.75% |
| 2026-04 | 35,315 | 443.3 | 1.26% |
| 2026-05 | 51,723 | 588.5 | 1.14% |
| 2026-06 | 38,120 | 614.1 | 1.61% |
| 2026-07 | 31,819 | 698.2 | 2.19% |
| 2026-08 | 21,960 | 253.9 | 1.16% |
Tracking uplift: old purchase tag vs PM Revenue (monthly)
Profit Metrics first reported on 20 Jul 2025. August was the ramp month. From September the side-by-side is steady.
Old tag = Shopify (web) purchase. New = PM Revenue (Browser + Conversion Booster).
| Month | Old purchase conv. | Old purchase value | PM Revenue conv. | PM Revenue value | Conv. uplift | Value uplift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-07 | 565.4 | £148,754 | 4.8 | £958 | Ramp | Ramp |
| 2025-08 | 620.0 | £157,123 | 501.0 | £133,773 | Ramp | Ramp |
| 2025-09 | 406.6 | £118,381 | 513.2 | £170,164 | +26.2% | +43.7% |
| 2025-10 | 269.3 | £159,629 | 341.0 | £208,664 | +26.6% | +30.7% |
| 2025-11 | 786.7 | £319,075 | 995.5 | £389,034 | +26.5% | +21.9% |
| 2025-12 | 981.9 | £250,209 | 1,267.7 | £358,929 | +29.1% | +43.5% |
| 2026-01 | 744.7 | £366,295 | 982.3 | £509,185 | +31.9% | +39.0% |
| 2026-02 | 381.2 | £169,409 | 484.0 | £228,427 | +27.0% | +34.8% |
| 2026-03 | 402.1 | £226,975 | 511.7 | £279,497 | +27.3% | +23.1% |
| 2026-04 | 359.1 | £206,592 | 461.3 | £315,192 | +28.5% | +52.6% |
| 2026-05 | 458.9 | £238,139 | 592.5 | £343,040 | +29.1% | +44.1% |
| 2026-06 | 419.5 | £121,531 | 607.4 | £229,853 | +44.8% | +89.1% |
| 2026-07 | 433.1 | £121,213 | 692.3 | £221,969 | +59.9% | +83.1% |
| 2026-08 | 165.1 | £65,546 | 254.2 | £110,149 | +54.0% | +68.0% |
Profit Metrics monthly (Google spend vs PM)
| Month | Google spend | PM Revenue | PM Gross Profit | Profit after Google spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08 | £38,986 | £133,773 | £62,963 | £23,977 |
| 2025-09 | £26,912 | £170,164 | £83,116 | £56,204 |
| 2025-10 | £24,439 | £208,664 | £98,916 | £74,477 |
| 2025-11 | £35,234 | £389,034 | £194,228 | £158,994 |
| 2025-12 | £38,358 | £358,929 | £171,171 | £132,813 |
| 2026-01 | £45,288 | £509,185 | £217,884 | £172,596 |
| 2026-02 | £27,316 | £228,427 | £103,130 | £75,814 |
| 2026-03 | £28,367 | £279,497 | £109,723 | £81,356 |
| 2026-04 | £27,241 | £315,192 | £121,915 | £94,674 |
| 2026-05 | £38,706 | £343,040 | £128,488 | £89,782 |
| 2026-06 | £24,525 | £229,853 | £103,814 | £79,289 |
| 2026-07 | £29,995 | £221,969 | £121,893 | £91,898 |
| 2026-08 | £19,696 | £110,149 | £54,008 | £34,312 |
Where we are now
Creative tests, high-margin high-AOV products, Profit Metrics guiding bids, product-level campaign control, and SEO/collections still compounding.
—
So there you have it. If you’ve read this far, you’re awesome, thank you!
If you have any questions or thoughts to share, I’d love to hear from you, just send an email to victor@victorserban.com
Cheers