Conversion tracking is the foundation everything else in Google Ads sits on — Smart Bidding, reporting, optimization. Set it up wrong and you're optimizing toward noise. Here's the checklist to get it right the first time.
1. Install the Google tag
- Install the Google tag (gtag.js) site-wide, in the
<head>, or deploy it through Google Tag Manager. - Verify it loads on every page — not just the homepage.
- Confirm with Google Tag Assistant before moving on.
2. Create your conversion actions
- In Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions → New conversion action.
- Choose the right category (Purchase, Lead, Submit lead form, etc.) — this affects reporting and bidding.
- Set an accurate value. Even an estimated average value beats none for Smart Bidding.
- Choose the right counting method: Every for purchases, One for leads.
- Set sensible conversion windows for your sales cycle.
3. Mark the right ones as primary
Only primary conversion actions are used for bidding. Secondary actions are observation-only. A very common mistake is having every micro-action set to primary, which teaches Smart Bidding to chase low-value events. Keep primary reserved for what actually matters to the business.
4. Deploy the conversion tracking
- Fire the conversion event on the correct page or action (thank-you page, form submit, purchase complete).
- Pass a dynamic value and transaction ID for ecommerce.
- Make sure the trigger matches the real URL — a mismatch here is the top cause of “no conversions recorded.”
5. Enable enhanced conversions
Enhanced conversions send hashed first-party data (like email) alongside the conversion, improving measurement accuracy — especially as third-party cookies decline. Worth enabling for nearly every advertiser.
6. Verify end to end
- Complete a real conversion yourself.
- Confirm it appears in Google Ads (allow for reporting delay).
- Check the conversion action status shows as recording — not “Inactive” or “Unverified”.
- Confirm consent settings aren't blocking the tag — see Consent Mode v2.
7. Keep it working
Setup is a one-time job; staying set up isn't. Conversion tracking breaks on site deploys, tag edits, and consent changes — usually silently. That's the whole reason Taglertexists: it verifies your accounts still have active, primary conversion actions and are still recording conversions, every 30 minutes, and alerts you the moment they aren't.
Stop finding out about broken tracking from your client.
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