If you are running Google Ads without conversion tracking, you are essentially driving with your eyes closed. You know you are spending money, but you have no idea what is actually working.
Conversion tracking tells Google when someone who clicked your ad did something valuable on your website. That might be making a purchase, filling out a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, or calling your business. Once Google knows what works, it can optimize your campaigns to get more of those results.
What Counts as a Conversion?
Before setting anything up, you need to decide what actions you want to track. This depends on your business model.
For ecommerce businesses, the main conversion is usually a purchase. You want to track when someone buys something and how much they spent.
For lead generation businesses, conversions are typically form submissions or phone calls. When someone fills out your contact form or calls your business, that is a conversion.
You can track multiple types of conversions. Most businesses track their primary goal (like purchases or leads) plus some secondary actions (like newsletter signups or adding items to a cart).
Important: Only track actions that have real value to your business. Tracking page views or time on site as conversions will confuse the algorithm and lead to worse results.
The Two Main Ways to Track Conversions
There are two common approaches to setting up conversion tracking. Each has its advantages.
Option 1: Google Ads Conversion Tag
This is the most direct method. You create a conversion action in Google Ads and install a small piece of code on your website that fires when someone completes that action.
This method gives Google Ads the most direct data and tends to work well for most advertisers. The downside is that you need to install separate tracking for Google Ads versus other platforms.
Option 2: Import from Google Analytics
If you already use Google Analytics and have goals or events set up there, you can import those into Google Ads as conversions. This is convenient because you only have to set up tracking once and it works across multiple platforms.
The downside is that this creates a slight data delay and can sometimes result in different numbers than direct Google Ads tracking. For most businesses, the difference is small enough that it does not matter.
Setting Up a Google Ads Conversion Tag
Here is how to set up conversion tracking directly in Google Ads.
Step 1: Create a conversion action
In Google Ads, go to Goals in the left menu, then click Conversions, then Summary. Click the blue plus button to create a new conversion action. Choose "Website" as the source.
Step 2: Choose your conversion category
Select what type of conversion this is. For purchases, choose Purchase. For lead forms, choose Submit lead form. For phone calls from your website, choose Contact. This helps Google understand what you are optimizing for.
Step 3: Configure conversion settings
Give your conversion a name you will recognize, like "Contact Form Submit" or "Purchase." Set a value if you know what each conversion is worth. For purchases, you can use dynamic values that track the actual order amount. Set the count to "One" for leads or "Every" for purchases.
Step 4: Install the tag
Google will give you a code snippet to install on your website. The global site tag goes on every page. The event snippet goes only on the page that loads after a conversion, like a thank you page or order confirmation page. If you use Google Tag Manager, there are specific instructions for that.
Step 5: Test your tracking
After installing the code, complete a test conversion yourself. Then check your conversion action in Google Ads. It might take a few hours to show up. You should see the status change from "Unverified" to "Recording conversions."
Tracking Phone Calls
Phone call tracking is a bit different. Google offers a few options.
If you want to track calls from call extensions in your ads, you can set that up directly in Google Ads with no additional code needed.
If you want to track calls from your website, you need to use a Google forwarding number. This replaces your phone number on your website with a Google tracking number that forwards to your real number. When someone calls it, Google knows they came from an ad.
Some businesses use third party call tracking software instead, which can provide more detailed call data and integrate with CRM systems.
Common Problems and Fixes
Here are issues we see regularly.
Conversions not recording. Usually this means the code is not installed correctly or is installed on the wrong page. Use the Google Tag Assistant browser extension to verify your tags are firing.
Too many conversions. This often happens when the conversion tag fires on every page instead of just the thank you page. Double check where your event snippet is installed.
Conversions show with a delay. This is normal. There can be a lag of several hours between when a conversion happens and when it shows in your reports.
Different numbers in Google Ads and Analytics. This is also normal due to different attribution models and counting methods. Do not expect them to match exactly.
Using Conversion Data to Improve Results
Once you have conversion tracking working, you can start making smarter decisions.
Look at which campaigns, ad groups, and keywords drive the most conversions. Shift budget toward what works. Add negative keywords for searches that get clicks but no conversions. Test new ads against your best performers.
You can also use smart bidding strategies like Target CPA or Target ROAS. These use machine learning to automatically adjust bids based on how likely each search is to convert. They require conversion data to work well.
The more conversion data you have, the better these automated strategies perform. That is why we recommend starting with a reasonable budget that will generate enough conversions for the algorithm to learn from.
Need Help Setting This Up?
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