Google Ads is one of the most effective ways to drive new leads and customers, but only if you're doing it right. In the pay-per-click (PPC) world of Google Ads, every click on your ad costs you money so ensuring you’re tracking success and passing that data back to Google is essential.
The problem is, many business owners launch Google Ads campaigns without really understanding how to track their success.
But it’s not just about measuring success, it’s about telling Google what you want it to deliver more of.
You see, when you set up and track conversion actions correctly, you then feed those data back to Google to act on. Without doing this, Google really doesn’t know how to optimize your campaign for success which means lower returns, and higher costs.
So, if your Google ads aren't performing as well as you expected, or your results have dropped, it's possible you're missing this crucial step.
And without proper conversion tracking set up, your ads are essentially flying blind.
You'll keep spending money without knowing if your ads are actually achieving your business goals, and most importantly, Google Ads won’t know how to deliver more of what you want.
The good news is that there's a solution - in this blog post, I will walk you through the basics of setting up conversion tracking in Google Ads. Setting up your digital plumbing before you launch a campaign will build rapid Google Ads Success.
Here’s what I will cover:
Prefer to watch a video on the topic?
Step 1
Identify Conversions Most Important to Your Business
Think of a conversion as any action that helps your business move forward or grow sales.
But how do you know which actions are most important to track?
Here's a breakdown of the common types of conversions you can track for your business:
Types of Conversion Actions
Website Conversions:
Phone Call Conversions:
Store Visits (if relevant to your business):
If you have a physical storefront, track when people who interact with your Google Ads actually visit your location.
Step 2
Implement the Conversion Tracking Tag on Your Website
This step is where we tell Google Ads to keep an eye on those important actions (conversions) we talked about above.
Here's how to get the tag implemented:
Don't Worry About the Tech Jargon
If "code" and "tag manager" sound intimidating, don't worry! Many business owners feel that way. If you need help with implementing this, please reach out to us.
Step 3
Implement the Conversion Tracking Tag on Your Website
Let me walk you through an example of setting up a conversion action. Within Google Ads, depending on the interface you have, go to the section for Goals / Conversions. [in addition to the steps below, you will need to set up the conversion linker on all pages of your site, you can learn more about that here]
Create New Conversion Action
Click “New Conversion Action.”
Google Ads New Conversion Action
Then, to track conversions on your website, click on Website:
Google Ads New Conversion Action - Website
Choose “Website”...once you do that, you’ll have to enter your domain for Google to scan.
Google Ads New Conversion Action - Scan Your Website
Then, scroll down and click “Add a conversion action manually.”
Google Ads New Conversion Action - Add Conversion Action Manually
Then, choose your conversion type - for this example, I’ll choose “Book Appointment,” then give it a name, and for this purpose, for Value, check the radio button, “Use the same value for each conversion.”
Later, you can change the conversion values, which will signal to Google which actions are worth more to you, and it will optimize for more of those (if you have Max Conversions or ROAS or a similar bid strategy set).
You will also see a carrot icon drop-down below “Goal and Optimization” - open that up and make sure “Primary” is chosen. If you want to track less important “secondary” conversions, you can - and in that case, choose “Secondary.” For example, perhaps certain page views are important, but not worth a “primary” conversion label. Google won’t optimize for secondary conversion actions, but it will collect data on them which can be helpful for understanding customer actions on your website.
Google Ads New Conversion Action - Choose Conversion Type
Finally, select Count as “One,” and leave the other settings for the click-through conversion window as the default (you can always change these later).
Then click Done, then “Save and Continue.”
Google Ads New Conversion Action - Conversion Value and Count
So at this point, all we’ve done is create the conversion action name. But Google has no idea what actions on the website represent that action. Now we have to tell it the actual conversion actions that represent, in our example here, Book Appointment. And this is where we now use Google Tag Manager that was installed earlier on your website.
So while you’re still in Google Ads, you will see the screen below. Click “Use Google Tag Manager.”
Google Ads Conversions Set Up - Use Google Tag Manager
The next screen is where we’ll grab the Conversion ID and Conversion Label to use in Google Tag Manager - so copy both numbers to save for later.
Google Ads New Conversion Action - Grab the Conversion ID - Conversion Label
Step 4
Create Tags and Triggers in GTM for New Google Ads Conversions Actions
Now, head on over to Google Tag Manager, click on Tags on the left-hand side, then click on “New” in the upper right-hand corner.
Create Tag Google Tag Manager
Now, let’s create this tag in Google for recording “book appointment” behaviors - give it a name, then click on Tag Configuration.
Google Tag Manager - Tag Configuration
Once you click on Tag Configuration, you will see a screen similar to this - click on Google Ads
Create Tag Google Tag Manager - Google Ads Tag
Now, click on Google Ads Conversion Tracking…
Create Tag Google Tag Manager - Google Ads Conversion Tracking
Now, this is where we enter our Conversion ID and Conversion Label that we saved earlier from Google Ads. Paste both those numbers in each respective field. The rest of the options here can remain default.
Create Google Tag Configuration
Scroll down and click “Triggering.”
Google Tag Manager - Triggering
Now click the “+” sign to choose a trigger.
Google Tag Manager - Choose Trigger
Name your Trigger and click Trigger Configuration.
Google Tag Manager - Trigger Configuration
Next, you will see something similar to the below for the Trigger options (if you do not, see further below for steps to take). Now in this example, I want to track people who want to book an appointment which is a link on a button on my website (see screenshot below).
Google Tag Manager - Choose Trigger Type
The Book A Call button is a link, and it’s that link we’re tracking as the Book Appointment conversion we created in Google Ads.
Tracking Book Appointments Clicks
If you do not see all the Trigger options as I have, or the one you need, you will need to enable these by clicking on Variables in the left-hand menu and enabling the ones you want. You can see there are quite a few options, but in this case, as highlighted below, “click URL” was already enabled.
Google Tag Manager - Enabling Trigger Variables
So back to choosing our Trigger Type, click on Just Links as I showed above, and you’ll then click on the radio button “Some Link Clicks.” Then paste part or all of your URL and click save.
Google Tag Manager - Trigger Configuring
You should now see something like this:
Configuring Book Appointment Conversion Action
Now, click on Submit to publish your new tag and trigger configuration within Google Tag Manager.
Google Tag Manager Tag Trigger Configuration Completion
We have now created a conversion action in Google Ads and linked it to the behavior on the website.
Step 5
How To Test Google Ads Conversion Tracking
Next, we want to test that the conversions are firing when we click on them.
Click on Preview in the upper right corner within GTM.
Preview Google Tag and Trigger on Website
You will then be prompted to enter your website URL or landing page. Click on Connect next and your website will show in a new window.
Connect Tag Assistant to Website
Then, in this case, click the appointment button on the website to fire the trigger.
Tracking Book Appointments Clicks
Head back to GTM, we can see that the trigger in fact fired. So now, we have tested and confirmed the conversion action we set up in Google Ads is working. Yay!! 🙂
Check Did The Tag Fire
Using Conversion Data to Boost Campaign Performance
Now for the fun part – using that data you've collected to make your Google Ads campaigns even stronger!
View Your Data at The Campaign and Keyword Level
Let’s look at Google Ads data at the campaign level.
Below is at the campaign level - we can see we are getting quite a few Book Appointments and Phone Call Leads and the cost per conversion at the campaign level is $3.70.
Viewing Conversion Actions Campaign Level
But, let’s drill down.
At the keyword level we can see the term, “massage places near me” that we have a total of 16 conversions - 2 calls from ads, and 14 Book Appointments, and the cost per conversion is $5.84.
This is helpful because it’s actionable data - now we can remove keywords that are not performing well, and adjust our strategy and improve our results. We’re not flying blind anymore.
Conversion Actions Keyword Level
With these data, Google Ads can find more people it believes will take this action and deliver better results.
And this is what setting up your digital plumbing is all about - connecting what you want to track as a conversion action on your website and sending that data back to your Google Ads account so you can produce better results.
Conclusion
It might seem like this is a bit complicated, but setting up conversion tracking is the difference between guessing about your Google Ads success and truly knowing what works.
In a competitive world, having a data-driven approach gives your business a major advantage. The benefit is more leads, sales, and a better return on your Google Ads investment - and who doesn’t want that?
Don't launch any new Google Ads campaigns until you have this set up! If you're already running ads and don't have conversion tracking set up, the sooner you implement it, the sooner you can start seeing the improvements.
If setting this up sounds overwhelming, consider a free consultation or audit. Reach out to us now.
