How to Set Up Conversion Tracking in Google Ads

What is Google Ads Conversion Tracking?

Imagine you have a jewellery shop. Customers are coming in because they saw your TV ad. Now, from your perspective as the shop owner, when a customer actually buys something, that’s a successful conversion.
A Google Ads conversion is the online version of this and conversion tracking is how you measure it. It’s a small, invisible piece of code on your website. This code doesn’t talk to customers directly, but it tracks what they do. If a positive scenario happens, like someone who clicked your ad does the important thing you wanted them to do, the code tells you, “Hey, one person who clicked our ad just made a purchase!”.

How to Set Up Conversion Tracking in Google Ads?

A conversion can be different for different types of companies. But one thing is certain: any action that is valuable to your business is something to feel excited and happy about, and tracking these actions online is what setting up a conversion tracking system does. Let us look at some examples.

• For an online store, the win is when a purchase is completed.
• For a plumbing company, the win is when they receive a call from a customer to book an appointment. This is often termed as “getting a quote”.
• For a local restaurant, it can be both customers visiting in person and also having a high number of daily deliveries.

Why do You Need a Track on the Conversion?

You are spending on Google Ads and don’t know if they are truly effective for your final profit. This is a real problem for some. The issue with not tracking your Google Ads is this: clicks are a vanity metric; conversions are a business metric. Without tracking conversions, you have no way of knowing which keywords, ads, or campaigns are genuinely profitable.
Google Ads conversion tracking will help you track this for free. It helps you close the loop and understand what happens after someone clicks your ad.

How Google Ads Conversion Tracking is a Game-Changer for Your Business?

• The new ad strategies help the business have complete control over its activities. This approach helps the business track which ads or campaigns contribute tangible results, turning a profit for the company. This mechanism helps facilitate the understanding of Return on Investment. This way, the implementation of the strategy is focused in a way that allows the company to create better strategies for improvement.
• Google Ads has a feature called “Auto-Pilot,” which is a creative way to improve ad performance, but it requires specific, clear goals. For example, if the settings are fixed with a command to increase form submissions, Google can work effectively because these techniques align well with user behavior and customer acquisition strategies.
• Effectively implementing this strategy allows you to differentiate between the strong keywords and advertisements that fetch more leads. This insight helps you spend smarter and eliminate unnecessary expenses.

In short, conversion tracking takes the mystery out of our advertising. It transforms our Google Ads from a simple click-generator into a powerful, results-driven engine for growth.

Step-by-Step Setup Guide on Conversion Tracking

Setting up tracking in Google Ads is basically done in two ways: using Google Tag Manager or manually by editing the website.

Method A: Using Google Tag Manager (GTM)

Think of GTM as a single, universal remote for all your website tracking codes. Instead of touching the website code every time, using GTM is very feasible and recommended. The steps are:

1. Command Google Ads what to track
2. Fill out a form to describe the conversion
3. Connect Google Ads to Your Website using GTM

How Does the Google Tag Manager Work?

• Go to the “Conversions” page in your Google Ads account and create a new website conversion, giving your valuable action a clear name and value.
• On the setup screen, choose “Use Google Tag Manager” and keep the tab open with your unique Conversion ID and Label.
• In your Google Tag Manager account, create a new “Google Ads Conversion Tracking” tag, paste in your ID and Label, and set it to trigger on your “Thank You” page.
• Save the tag and click “Submit” to publish it, which activates your tracking and connects Google Ads to your website.

Method B: Manual Way (By Editing the Website)

1. First, tell Google Ads what you want to track: You’ll click the option that says “Install the tag yourself,” which is like asking for the building instructions.
2. Google will then hand you two special pieces of code: Think of the first one as a general power adapter for your entire website, and the second as a special sensor that only goes on your “Thank You” page.
3. This is the most important step: If you’re not the person who built your website, simply send these two code snippets to your web developer. It’s a quick, safe job for them, and it saves you from the stress of fiddling with the site’s core structure.
4. Once your developer plugs it in, you’re done: You can finally sit back and watch your dashboard, clearly seeing which ads are actually bringing you already known leads and customers.

While this article is purely for informative purposes, all you need to know this conversion tracking stops the guessing game. It turns Google Ads from a money-draining mystery into a powerful, profit-making machine. So, if you are a budding marketer or have an existing business and want to upgrade to the next level, partner with Viral Mafia, one of the most experienced Google Ads agencies in Kerala. We are also the leading performance marketing agency in Kerala.
If you want to optimize your position in Google’s rankings, please feel free to approach our team by visiting the website or getting in contact via WhatsApp or a call as Viral Mafia is the best SEO company in Kerala.
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