Before you start
You need admin access to the Google Ads account and the ability to edit your website (or Google Tag Manager). Then decide which actions count as a lead. For most service businesses:
| Lead type | When it is tracked | Google Ads category | How reliable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form submission | Thank-you page loads, or a successful submit event | Submit lead form / Request quote | High: a real enquiry |
| Phone call click | Someone taps your phone number on mobile | Contact | Medium: shows intent |
| WhatsApp click | Someone taps a WhatsApp button | Contact | Medium: shows intent |
Clicks on phone and WhatsApp buttons do not prove a conversation happened, so start with the form as your main signal.
Step 1: Create the conversion action
- In Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions → Summary.
- Click + Create conversion action.
- Choose a category. For an enquiry form, pick Submit lead form or Request quote. For phone and WhatsApp clicks, pick Contact.
- Choose Website as the data source and enter your site address.
- Choose to set it up manually (with code or Google Tag Manager) rather than relying on automatic URL rules, so you control exactly what fires.
Step 2: Choose the right settings
| Setting | What to choose for leads | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Value | Use a fixed value, or no value | A rough value per lead lets you see return on spend later |
| Count | One | Counts one lead per ad click, even if someone submits twice |
| Click-through window | 30 to 90 days | Longer for services people research for weeks |
| Attribution | Data-driven | The default; shares credit across the clicks that led to the lead |
Step 3: Install the tag
After saving, Google shows two values you need: the Conversion ID (looks like AW-123456789) and the Conversion label (a short code). If you miss them, open the conversion action, go to its data source and choose Use Google Tag Manager to see both.
Then install one of these ways:
| Method | How | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Google Tag Manager | Add a "Google Ads Conversion Tracking" tag with the ID and label, triggered on the thank-you page or form submit event. Add a Conversion Linker tag on all pages. | Most sites; easy to change later |
| Directly in code | Load the Google tag (gtag.js) on every page, then fire gtag('event', 'conversion', {{send_to: 'AW-ID/label'}}) when the lead happens. | Custom-built sites |
| Website builder integration | WordPress, Shopify and Wix have built-in options. Check they fire only on real submissions. | Simple sites without a developer |
For phone and WhatsApp buttons, fire a separate conversion when someone clicks a link that starts with tel: or wa.me.
Step 4: Check goals and primary actions
This is the step most people miss. In Goals → Conversions → Summary, each category (such as Contact or Submit lead form) is a goal. A campaign only optimises for goals marked Account-default, or for goals you choose in that campaign's settings.
- Open the goal and click Edit goal.
- Turn on Make this an account-default goal if you want all campaigns to use it.
- Under conversion action optimisation, set the actions you trust to Primary and old or duplicate ones to Secondary (observe only).
Old actions from previous agencies or Smart campaigns often sit in the same goal. If they are primary, they can confuse bidding. Set them to secondary or remove them.
Step 5: Test before spending
- Open Tag Assistant (tagassistant.google.com) and connect to your site.
- Submit a test enquiry and click the phone and WhatsApp buttons.
- Check that each conversion tag fires once, with the right ID and label.
- In Google Ads, the action status moves from Inactive or Unverified to recording within a few hours of real activity.
Step 6: Turn on enhanced conversions
Enhanced conversions send a hashed (scrambled) copy of the email or phone number from your form to Google, which matches it to signed-in Google users. It recovers conversions that cookies miss. Turn it on in Goals → Settings → Enhanced conversions and follow the setup for your tag type. Mention it in your privacy policy.
Next level: import real sales
Online tracking tells Google who enquired, not who bought. Capture the Google click ID (gclid) with each form, record which leads became customers in your CRM, and upload them as offline conversions. Google then learns to find buyers, not just form-fillers. Our CRM setups include this.