Your Google Ads account shows clicks, impressions and money spent, and a Conversions column that reads zero, or shows a number nobody in the office can match to real enquiries. Either way, Google’s bidding is working without knowing which clicks turned into customers, and you are paying for that guesswork.
A proper Google Ads conversion tracking setup fixes both problems. It tells the account which actions count as results, records each one once, and gives the bidding system something real to learn from. This post covers the two ways to send conversions into Google Ads, how to choose which ones count, and how to test before trusting them.
Why Google Ads conversion tracking matters
Google Ads only sees what happens on its side: the search, the ad, the click. Anything after the visitor lands on your site is invisible to it unless you tell it. Conversion tracking is that message: “the person who clicked this ad went on to send the form”, or “placed an order worth this much”.
Two things depend on it:
- Your reports. Without conversions, you can compare keywords and ads only by clicks and cost, which says nothing about which ones bring customers.
- Automated bidding. Strategies that aim for conversions or conversion value learn from what you record. If you record the wrong thing, such as page views, they will chase the wrong thing very efficiently.
So the first decision is not technical. It is choosing the two or three actions that genuinely mean a possible customer: a successful form, a call, a WhatsApp chat, a purchase. Our overview of small business measurement covers that choice in more depth.
Two ways to send conversions to Google Ads
There are two common routes, and both are legitimate. The important thing is to use one route per action, not both.
| Import from GA4 | Google Ads conversion tag | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | GA4 records the key event; Google Ads imports it through the linked accounts | A Google Ads tag fires on your site when the action happens |
| Setup effort | Lower, if GA4 key events already work | Higher; needs a tag and trigger for each action, usually in Google Tag Manager |
| Speed of data | Imported results can appear in Google Ads with some delay | Usually quicker to appear |
| Credit rules | Shaped by how GA4 sees the visit, then credited by Google Ads | Google Ads credits its own clicks directly |
| Extras | One definition of each result shared by GA4 and Ads | Easier to add features such as enhanced conversions |
For a small business with working GA4 key events and modest ad spend, importing is a sensible start. Accounts that rely heavily on automated bidding, or online shops sending order values, often move to the Google Ads tag for the main conversion. Whichever you choose, write it down, so the next person does not add the other route on top.
Setting up the GA4 import route
- Link the accounts. In GA4’s admin area, under product links, link the property to your Google Ads account. You need admin-level access on both sides. Check that auto-tagging is on in Google Ads, so clicks carry their identifier.
- Confirm the key event works in GA4. Submit a real test and see it in GA4 before importing anything.
- Import it in Google Ads. In the conversions area of Google Ads, create a new conversion action, choose import, pick Google Analytics 4 as the source, and select the key event.
- Review the settings covered below before saving.
Only import what matters. Importing every GA4 key event, including minor ones, clutters the account and can mislead bidding if any of them are set as primary.
Setting up the Google Ads tag route
When you create a website conversion action in Google Ads and choose to set up the tag yourself, Google gives you a conversion ID and a conversion label. Those two values identify the action.
Through Google Tag Manager, the usual pieces are:
- A Conversion Linker tag firing on all pages, which helps store the ad click details so the conversion can be matched later.
- A Google Ads conversion tracking tag with the ID and label, firing on the trigger for that action, such as the thank-you page or the form plugin’s success event.
- For shops, the order value and currency passed from the data layer into the tag, along with a transaction ID to help avoid duplicates.
If triggers and the data layer are new territory, read our introduction to Google Tag Manager first. How GA4 records those same actions is in the post on key events in GA4.
Primary and secondary conversion actions
Every conversion action in Google Ads is either primary or secondary.
- Primary actions appear in the main Conversions column and are used by bidding strategies that optimise for conversions.
- Secondary actions are recorded for observation, in the All conversions column, and do not steer bidding.
A sensible arrangement for a service business is one or two primary actions, such as a successful enquiry form and a call from an ad, with weaker signals as secondary, such as a WhatsApp button tap or a brochure download. If the same real-world action exists twice, once imported from GA4 and once from a tag, only one may be primary. Leaving both as primary is one of the most common reasons an account reports double the leads you received, a problem covered in our post on conversions counted twice.
Bidding strategies need a steady flow of primary conversions to work well. If you have very few, our post on choosing a Google Ads bidding strategy explains why simpler bidding can make more sense at first.
Settings worth checking on each action
- Count: “One” counts one conversion per ad click, which suits leads, since a person sending the form twice is still one lead. “Every” suits purchases, where each order matters.
- Value: for shops, use the real order value. For leads, either leave value off or use the same rough value for each, and be consistent.
- Conversion window: how long after a click a conversion can still be credited. The default suits most businesses. A longer window can make sense if customers usually take time to decide.
- Category: choose the closest match, such as submit lead form or purchase. It helps reporting and some automated features.
- Attribution: how credit is shared between several ad clicks before a conversion. The default is usually fine for a small account.
Testing before you rely on the numbers
A conversion action that never records anything does not warn you loudly. It just sits there. Test each one:
- Use Google Tag Manager’s preview mode to check the conversion tag fires once on the real action and does not fire on failed attempts.
- For imported actions, confirm the key event appears in GA4 first.
- Watch the status of each conversion action in Google Ads over the following days. It should move from no data to recording conversions once real activity arrives.
- Compare recorded conversions with your inbox or call log for the same dates. Some difference is normal; a big gap is not.
Do not click your own ads to test. It costs money and can appear in reports as a real conversion.
Frequently asked questions
Can I track phone calls as conversions in Google Ads?
Yes. Calls made directly from call assets or call ads can be recorded by Google Ads itself where call reporting is available, and taps on the number on your website can be tracked as a website action. The second only shows intent to call, so treat it as weaker evidence than a connected call.
Why does Google Ads show conversions with decimals?
Some attribution settings share credit for one conversion across several ad clicks or keywords, so each receives a fraction. Totals across the account still add up to whole conversions. It is a reporting effect, not a sign that tracking is broken.
Do I need to set up conversions again if I change my website?
Often, yes. A new theme, form plugin or page builder can change the thank-you page address or the success signal the tag relies on. After any rebuild, retest every conversion action in preview mode and compare the following weeks against your real enquiries.
Should conversions be set up before I start running ads?
Ideally, yes. Ads that run without conversion tracking spend money without learning which clicks mattered, and you cannot add conversions to past clicks afterwards. If the account is already running, set tracking up now and treat earlier results as clicks only.
Getting conversions right is often the single most useful thing you can do for a Google Ads account, because everything else in the account learns from it. If you would like the actions, settings and tests checked by someone else, see our Google Ads and GA4 conversion setup page, or start from our digital marketing hub for the wider picture.
Next in this series: Track Form Submissions Without Counting Failures
