Key Takeaways
You are spending money on ads that generate clicks. But clicks are not customers. They are not sales. They are not booked demos. Without conversion tracking, every ad dollar you spend is a guess—and most guesses are expensive ones.
Google Ads conversion tracking is the tool that connects ad spend to actual business results. It tells you which ads, keywords, ad groups, and campaigns produce the outcomes that matter: form submissions, purchases, app downloads, phone calls, and offline contract signings. It also unlocks the automated bidding strategies (Target CPA, Maximize Conversions, ECPC) that can't function without conversion data feeding the algorithm.
Yet a staggering number of Google Ads accounts either have no conversion tracking at all or have it configured incorrectly—counting page views instead of purchases, double-counting form submissions, or missing high-value conversion actions entirely. This guide walks through what conversion tracking actually measures, the 4 types available, and a step-by-step setup process for website conversions.
What Google Ads Conversion Tracking Actually Does
At its core, the conversion tracking tool is a snippet of code you place on specific pages of your website. When a visitor arrives on that page after clicking your ad, the snippet fires and records the action as a conversion. You then see that data inside your Google Ads dashboard—tied to the exact keyword, ad, and campaign that drove it.
What You Can Track Once It's Running
Conversion tracking answers the three questions every advertiser needs answered: what action happened, how the user got there, and when it occurred.
Why This Unlocks Everything: Enabling conversion tracking also opens up Conversion Optimizer, Enhanced CPC (ECPC), and the "Optimise For Conversions" ad delivery method. These tools can't run without conversion data—they need historical conversion signals to learn what kind of clicks convert and bid accordingly.
The 4 Conversion Types in Google Ads
Google Ads doesn't treat all conversions the same. Depending on where and how the conversion happens, you'll use one of four tracking methods:
Website Conversions
Track purchases, form submissions, sign-ups, eBook downloads, online bookings, and reservations—any meaningful action a customer takes on your website.
App Conversions
Track Android or iOS app downloads plus in-app purchases, registrations, and other activity that happens after the install.
Call Conversions
Track phone calls generated directly from ads, calls to a number displayed on your site, and mobile tap-to-call clicks.
Offline Conversions
Track actions that start online (ad click, form fill) but finish offline—like in-person meetings, phone consultations, or contract signings.
For most B2B companies and service businesses, website conversions and offline conversions are the two you need configured first. E-commerce sites should prioritize website conversion tracking with transaction-specific values. If you're running mobile app campaigns, app conversions become critical for measuring install-to-revenue pipelines.
Website Conversion Tracking: Step-by-Step Setup
Website conversions are the most common tracking type—and the one with the most configuration mistakes. Here's the exact process to set it up correctly inside Google Ads (not via GTM or Google Analytics, though those are valid alternatives).
1Sign In and Navigate to Conversions
Log into your Google Ads account. Click the Tools tab in the top menu and select Conversions from the dropdown. This is your conversion management hub.
2Create a New Conversion Action
Click the + Conversion button. You'll see options for different conversion sources. Select Website as your conversion source.
3Name Your Conversion Action
Enter a descriptive name like "Lead Form Submission" or "Product Purchase." Avoid generic names like "Conversion 1"—you'll need to identify these quickly in reporting dashboards later.
4Set the Conversion Value
Choose how to assign value. For lead forms, select "Don't assign a value" or set a fixed amount (e.g., $47 per qualified lead). For e-commerce, use "The value of this conversion action may vary" to track transaction-specific revenue.
5Configure Conversion Counting
"One conversion" per click for lead generation (a person submitting the same form 3 times is still 1 lead). "Every conversion" for e-commerce (3 purchases from the same person = 3 sales).
6Set Conversion Windows
The click-through window (1-90 days) determines how long after an ad click a conversion still counts. For B2B with long sales cycles, use 60-90 days. For impulse purchases, 7-14 days. Set the view-through window (1-30 days) for display ad impressions.
7Select the Conversion Category
Pick the category that best describes the action (Purchase, Lead, Sign-up, Page view, etc.). This powers your segment-level reporting. You can change it later if needed.
8Save and Get Your Tracking Tag
Click Save and continue. Google Ads generates your conversion snippet. Copy this code and send it to your developer or webmaster for installation.
Critical Placement Rule: The conversion snippet goes on the "Thank You" page—the page users see after completing the desired action. Never place it on the form page itself, or you'll track page views instead of submissions. The snippet must sit between the <body> tags of the confirmation page.
Conversion Value, Counting, and Windows: Getting the Settings Right
These three settings cause more tracking errors than anything else. Here's how to configure them correctly for different business models:
Lead Generation (SaaS, Services, B2B):
E-Commerce (Product Sales, Subscriptions):
Need help configuring conversion tracking across a complex ad account? Our dedicated PPC management teams handle everything from tracking setup to bid strategy optimization.
Testing Your Conversion Tracking
Never launch a campaign with untested tracking. A broken tag means every conversion goes unrecorded—and every bidding decision the algorithm makes is based on incomplete data. Here's how to verify:
Validation Checklist
Before making any campaign live, run through all three verification methods:
Common Setup Mistakes That Silently Break Tracking
These errors don't throw visible errors—they just quietly feed bad data into your bidding algorithms:
Tracking Killers to Avoid
Snippet on the wrong page. Placing the conversion tag on the form page instead of the Thank You page counts page views as conversions. Your CPA drops to $0.30 and looks amazing—until you realize no one actually converted.
Double-counting conversions. Using "Every conversion" for lead forms means a single person who refreshes the Thank You page 5 times registers as 5 leads. Use "One conversion" for any non-purchase action.
Conversion window too short. B2B sales cycles average 37 days. A 7-day conversion window means you miss 80% of actual conversions and your ROAS reporting looks terrible—even when campaigns are performing well.
Tracking micro-conversions as primary. Page views, scroll depth, and time-on-site are not conversions. If your automated bidding optimizes for page views, it will find budget-efficient ways to get people to your site who never buy anything.
Not excluding internal traffic. Your own team clicking through ads and testing forms counts as conversions unless you filter internal IP addresses. This inflates numbers and skews automated bidding.
If your conversion data looks off, it probably is. We've audited accounts where incorrect tracking setup was costing advertisers $3,700/month in wasted spend. Our software outsourcing teams can audit your current tracking implementation and fix configuration issues within 48 hours.
Beyond Setup: What Conversion Data Enables
Once tracking is running cleanly, the real power unlocks. Here's what becomes possible with reliable conversion data flowing into your account:
Smart Bidding
Target CPA and Target ROAS strategies use your conversion history to predict which clicks will convert—and bid accordingly. Requires 15-30 conversions in the past 30 days to function properly.
Audience Insights
Conversion data reveals who actually converts—demographics, devices, times of day, geographic locations. Use this to refine targeting and stop wasting spend on non-converting segments.
Attribution Modeling
Understanding multi-touch conversion paths shows you which keywords assist conversions vs. which close them. First-click vs. last-click vs. data-driven attribution changes budget allocation decisions entirely.
The Bottom Line
Running Google Ads without conversion tracking is like driving at night with your headlights off—you might get somewhere, but you'll never know how you got there or what you missed along the way. Conversion tracking transforms advertising from a cost center into a measurable investment with clear ROI. The setup takes 30 minutes. The configuration mistakes above take 3 minutes to check. The cost of not doing it? Every dollar you've spent on ads without knowing what worked.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google Ads conversion tracking?
Google Ads conversion tracking is a free tool that monitors what happens after a user clicks your ad. By placing a small code snippet on specific pages of your website, it records meaningful actions—purchases, form submissions, phone calls, app downloads—and ties them back to the exact ad, keyword, and campaign that generated the click. This data powers CPA calculations, ROAS reporting, and automated bidding strategies.
Where should I place the conversion tracking code?
Place the conversion snippet on the "Thank You" or confirmation page—the page users see after completing the desired action (submitting a form, completing a purchase). The code must sit between the opening and closing body tags. Never place it on the form page or landing page itself, as this would track page views rather than actual conversions.
Should I count "One" or "Every" conversion?
"One conversion" is best for lead generation actions where multiple submissions from the same person don't represent additional business value (contact forms, demo requests, newsletter sign-ups). "Every conversion" is correct for e-commerce purchases and transactions where each individual conversion has distinct monetary value. Using the wrong setting inflates or deflates your CPA metrics.
How long should my conversion window be?
It depends on your sales cycle. E-commerce with impulse purchases should use 7-14 days. SaaS and B2B services with longer decision cycles should use 60-90 days, since the average B2B sales cycle is 37 days. Setting the window too short means you miss valid conversions and underreport campaign performance, causing you to prematurely kill campaigns that are actually working.
Can I track conversions without placing code on my website?
Yes, partially. You can import conversions from Google Analytics (if your accounts are linked), use Google Tag Manager as a code-free alternative for placing tags, or upload offline conversions via CSV or CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot). Phone call conversions can use Google forwarding numbers without any website code. However, for the most accurate website conversion data, direct code placement or GTM implementation is recommended.
How do I test if my conversion tracking is working?
Use the Google Tag Assistant Chrome extension to verify the snippet fires correctly on your Thank You page. Submit a test conversion yourself and check that the conversion action status in Google Ads changes to "Recording conversions" (this can take up to 24-48 hours for the first conversion). Also view the page source of your confirmation page to ensure the snippet is present and correctly placed within the body tags.
Stop Guessing Where Your Ad Budget Goes
We set up, audit, and optimize Google Ads conversion tracking for businesses that need every dollar accounted for. From tag implementation to bid strategy configuration—we handle the technical work so your campaigns actually measure what matters.
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