Google Ads conversion tracking: how to set it up
If Google cannot see which clicks became leads, it spends your budget on the clicks that look busy. Conversion tracking fixes that.
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What Google Ads conversion tracking does
Google Ads conversion tracking records what people do on your site after they click your ad, such as sending a form or booking a call.
Smart Bidding, Google's automatic bidding, learns from the actions you mark as primary. What you count is what Google chases.
Google Ads can count actions from five sources.
- Website actions such as a form or a booking.
- Phone calls.
- App installs.
- Offline sales you import.
- Events imported from Google Analytics.
For a service business, start with website actions and phone calls.
This guide starts once the account exists. No account yet? Start with the account setup. Campaigns, keywords and budget are in how to advertise on Google Ads.
Primary: counted and bid on
- Booked call
- Sent form
- Phone call
Secondary: reported only
- Page view
- Email address click
Decide what counts as a lead
Mark the actions that bring revenue as primary: a booked call, a sent form, a phone call. Keep the rest as secondary, so they are reported but not chased.
A page view or a click on your email address shows interest. It is not a lead yet.
Give each kind of lead its own conversion action. A sent form, a booked call and a phone call each get one, so you see which one your ads bring in.
Pick how to track each one
How you track an action depends on what happens after the click.
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Thank you page
If the form sends people to a thank you page, Google counts the page load. No code needed.
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Form submission
A form that stays on the same page can be tracked too. Pick form submission as the trigger, with no code.
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Button click
A click on a call or booking button needs the Google tag, added as a small piece of code or through Google Tag Manager.
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Phone calls
Calls from your ads count directly. Calls to the number on your site need a Google forwarding number and a phone snippet.
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Google Analytics key events
Already measure leads in Google Analytics? Mark the event as a key event, then import it into Google Ads.
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Deals that close later
When a lead becomes a customer weeks later, send the closed deals back to Google.
The Google tag and Google Tag Manager both work. Add the tag to your site yourself, or let Tag Manager place it, which keeps several forms and buttons in one place.
Imported Analytics events arrive as secondary. Link the accounts with auto tagging on, the setting that labels each ad click, then switch the event you bid on to primary in Google Ads. Track each lead from one source, the tag or Analytics, or every lead counts twice.
Calls count once they pass a minimum length you set. That keeps short calls and wrong numbers out of your lead count. Google forwarding numbers on your site come at no cost.
Rather have the tracking set up and tested for you? Book a call.
How to set up conversion tracking in Google Ads
A website conversion takes five steps, all inside the Goals menu.
- Open Goals, then Summary, and select Create conversion action.
- Enter your website and select Scan. Google checks for a Google tag or Google Analytics property already on the site.
- Choose the conversion category that matches the lead.
- Pick how to track it. A page load or a form submission works from the URL with no code. A button click or a sale value needs code through the Google tag or Tag Manager.
- Save, add the Google tag if the site has none, then check the Status column.
Each kind of lead gets its own pass through steps three to five. Set the conversion settings below before you save.
Source: Google Ads Help
In your Google Ads account
- Goals
- Summary
- Create conversion action
- Scan your website
- Pick how to track
Turn on enhanced conversions
Enhanced conversions make your lead count more accurate. When someone sends a form, the tag sends hashed details such as the email address. Hashed means scrambled one way. Google matches them to signed in Google accounts that interacted with your ad.
The details are hashed before they are sent. Google uses SHA256, a one way hash, and accepts an email address, name, home address and phone number.
It takes one switch at setup. In the enhanced conversions section of the setup, turn the switch on for your account.
Enhanced conversions for leads ties later sales back to the first form. It matches the deals you import with the details collected on your website. For long B2B sales, see how closed deals feed back to Google.
Settings for a lead form
- Goal
- Primary
- Count
- One
- Window
- 30 days
- Attribution
- Data driven
Check the conversion settings
Four settings decide what Google counts and what it learns from. You find them inside each conversion action.
Primary or secondary: mark only real leads as primary. Primary actions feed Smart Bidding. Secondary actions are reported only.
Count: one conversion per click for leads. Website actions default to every conversion. Switch it, or a person who sends your form twice counts twice. The change applies to new conversions only.
Conversion window: 30 days by default, with 1 to 90 days possible. Google recommends at least 7 days for a richer set of data. A buyer who takes two weeks to decide is still counted inside a 30 day window.
Attribution: data driven is the default for most new actions. It shares credit across the ads a buyer clicked. Last click is the other option, and first click, linear, time decay and position based models are no longer supported.
Test it before you spend
Send one test lead through every form and booking link, then check it shows in Google Ads. After you link Google Analytics or mark a new key event, allow 24 to 48 hours before the numbers show.
No test lead in Google Ads means the tag or the action is off. Fix it before the budget goes live.
Read the Status column: Active means it works. Awaiting conversions means nothing was recorded in the last 7 days. The usual causes: an action under 48 hours old, paused campaigns or low traffic.
Tag Assistant shows whether the tag fires. In Goals, then Summary, hover over the status and select Troubleshoot. Then trigger the conversion on your site and read the result.
Before the budget goes live
- Send a test form
- Make a test booking
- Run Tag Assistant
- Find both in Google Ads
Fix common conversion tracking errors
A broken setup usually shows one of six signs, and each has a first fix.
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Needs attention
Conversions still record, but something needs fixing. Open the status to see the action item.
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Misconfigured
A setup error or a broken tag stopped conversions. Run Tag Assistant from the status and send a test lead.
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Awaiting conversions
Nothing recorded in the last 7 days. Check that the action is older than 48 hours and the campaigns are running.
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More conversions than leads
One lead counts twice. Count one conversion per click and track each lead from one source.
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Calls missing
Calls to your site number count only with the Google forwarding number and the phone snippet on that page.
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Analytics events missing
Imports need linked accounts and auto tagging on. Allow up to 24 hours after you import a key event.
Test again after every site change. A new form, theme or booking tool can drop the tag without warning.
What a missing setup costs
One services business had run four months of paid ads with zero conversions recorded when we took the account over. Nothing had been wired to count them.
The month after we rewired it, 8.6 percent of clicks turned into conversions.
Ads running and no leads counted? Contact us and we find the gap.
Check it every month
Once a month, compare the leads Google Ads counted with the leads in your inbox or CRM. A gap means a form, a tag or a duplicate count is off.
The free Google Ads audit checks that every lead reaches your CRM and that closed deals feed back to Google.
Know what every click bought
Get tracking that counts real leads.
One free 30 minute call. You leave knowing what your account counts today and what it should count, with nothing to buy.
- What you get
- A free Google Ads audit with every leak in your account priced per month.
- How it is priced
- The audit is free. We quote after the first call.
- What you bring
- Read access to one Google Ads account.
Prefer to write? Send us a message.
Google Ads conversion tracking: common questions
Do I need Google Tag Manager for conversion tracking?
No, a thank you page or a form submission can be tracked with no code. Tag Manager is one way to add the Google tag when you track button clicks.
How long until conversions show in Google Ads?
Allow 24 to 48 hours. The wait starts after you link Google Analytics or mark a new key event.
How do I check if Google Ads conversion tracking is working?
Open Goals, then Summary, and read the Status column, where Active means it records conversions. For any other status, select Troubleshoot to test the tag with Tag Assistant.
Why does Google Ads show more conversions than leads?
Usually one lead counts twice: once from the tag and once from Google Analytics, or once for every form send. Count one conversion per click and track each lead from one source.
Can I set up conversion tracking myself?
Yes, for a thank you page it takes one conversion action. Once forms, calls and closed deals all need to count, it is time to hand it over.