💰 Google Ads Conversion Tracking

1.1 Navigate to Conversions

1. Go to Google Ads
2. Click Tools & Settings (wrench icon) → Conversions (under "Measurement")
3. Click + New conversion action

1.2 Choose Conversion Source

1. Select Website (for web conversions)
2. Click Continue

1.3 Configure Conversion Details

1. Category: Select the appropriate category (e.g., "Purchase", "Sign-up", "Lead")
2. Conversion name: Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Purchase - Website")
3. Value:
   • Choose "Use different values for each conversion" (recommended for e-commerce)
   • Or "Use the same value for each conversion" (for lead generation)
4. Count: Choose how to count conversions
   • "Every" - Count every conversion (recommended for purchases)
   • "One" - Count one per user (for sign-ups)
5. Click-through conversion window: 30 days (default, adjust if needed)
6. View-through conversion window: 1 day (default)
7. Click Create and continue

2.1 Create Google Ads Configuration Tag

1. In Google Tag Manager, go to Tags → New
2. Click Tag Configuration
3. Select Google Ads: Conversion Tracking

2.2 Enter Conversion Details

1. Conversion ID: Enter your Conversion ID (e.g., AW-11285604327)
2. Conversion Label: Enter your Conversion Label (e.g., AbC-D_efG1h)
3. Conversion Value:
   • Use a variable (recommended for dynamic values)
   • Or enter a fixed value (for static conversions)
4. Currency Code:
   • Use a variable (e.g., {{Currency Code}})
   • Or enter a fixed code (e.g., AED, USD, EUR)

2.3 Set Trigger

1. Click Triggering
2. Select when the conversion should fire:
   • Page View → Specific page (e.g., thank-you page)
   • Custom Event → When a specific event occurs (e.g., purchase)
   • Form Submission → When a form is submitted
   • Click → When a button is clicked

For thank-you page example:

• Trigger Type: Page View
• This trigger fires on: Some Page Views
• Condition: Page URL → contains → /demos/ads/thankyou (or your thank-you page path)

2.4 Name and Save

1. Tag Name: Google Ads - Purchase Conversion (or descriptive name)
2. Click Save

3.1 Push Value to dataLayer (Recommended Method)

On your thank-you page (or conversion page), push the value to dataLayer:

// Example: On thank-you page after purchase
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
window.dataLayer.push({
  'event': 'purchase',
  'conversion_value': 250.00,  // The actual purchase amount
  'currency': 'AED',            // Currency code
  'transaction_id': 'TXN-12345' // Optional: unique transaction ID
});

PHP Example:

<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
window.dataLayer.push({
  'event': 'purchase',
  'conversion_value': <?php echo json_encode($order_total); ?>,
  'currency': '<?php echo $currency_code; ?>',
  'transaction_id': '<?php echo $order_id; ?>'
});
</script>

3.2 Create GTM Variables

Go to Variables → New and create these Data Layer Variables:

Variable 1: Conversion Value

• Variable Type: Data Layer Variable
• Data Layer Variable Name: conversion_value
• Data Layer Version: Version 2
• Name: DLV - Conversion Value

Variable 2: Currency Code

• Variable Type: Data Layer Variable
• Data Layer Variable Name: currency
• Data Layer Version: Version 2
• Name: DLV - Currency Code

Variable 3: Transaction ID (Optional)

• Variable Type: Data Layer Variable
• Data Layer Variable Name: transaction_id
• Data Layer Version: Version 2
• Name: DLV - Transaction ID

3.3 Update Google Ads Tag to Use Variables

1. Edit your Google Ads Conversion tag
2. Conversion Value: Select {{DLV - Conversion Value}}
3. Currency Code: Select {{DLV - Currency Code}}
4. Transaction ID: (Optional) Select {{DLV - Transaction ID}}
5. Trigger: Change to Custom Event → Event name: purchase
6. Save the tag

4.1 Create Conversion Linker Tag

1. In GTM, go to Tags → New
2. Click Tag Configuration
3. Select Google Ads: Conversion Linker
4. Conversion ID: Enter your Conversion ID (same as your conversion tag)
5. Trigger: All Pages (this should fire on every page)
6. Tag Name: Google Ads - Conversion Linker
7. Click Save

5.1 Enable Enhanced Conversions in GTM

1. Edit your Google Ads Conversion tag
2. Scroll to Enhanced Conversions
3. Toggle Enable Enhanced Conversions
4. Choose data source:
   • Automatic (GTM will try to detect email/phone from forms)
   • Manual (you provide the data via dataLayer)

5.2 Manual Enhanced Conversions (More Control)

Push customer data to dataLayer (hashed for privacy):

window.dataLayer.push({
  'event': 'purchase',
  'conversion_value': 250.00,
  'currency': 'AED',
  'email': 'customer@example.com',  // Will be hashed automatically
  'phone_number': '+971501234567',  // Will be hashed automatically
  'address': {
    'first_name': 'John',
    'last_name': 'Doe',
    'street': '123 Main St',
    'city': 'Dubai',
    'region': 'Dubai',
    'postal_code': '12345',
    'country': 'AE'
  }
});

Then create Data Layer Variables for these fields and configure them in the Enhanced Conversions section.

6.1 Link in Google Ads

1. In Google Ads, go to Tools & Settings → Linked accounts
2. Find Google Analytics (GA4)
3. Click Details → Link
4. Select your GA4 property
5. Enable Import site metrics and Import conversions
6. Click Link

6.2 Import GA4 Conversions

1. In Google Ads, go to Tools & Settings → Conversions
2. Click + New conversion action
3. Select Import
4. Choose Google Analytics (GA4)
5. Select the GA4 events you want to import (e.g., purchase, sign_up)
6. Click Import and continue

7.1 Use GTM Preview Mode

1. In GTM, click Preview button
2. Enter your website URL (e.g., http://gtm-learning.test/demos/ads/thankyou_gtm.php)
3. Click Connect
4. Navigate to your conversion page
5. In the GTM Preview panel, verify:
   • ✅ Google Ads - Conversion Linker fired
   • ✅ Google Ads - Purchase Conversion fired
   • ✅ Check tag details to see conversion value and currency

7.2 Use Tag Assistant

1. Install Tag Assistant Legacy Chrome extension
2. Open your conversion page
3. Click Tag Assistant icon → Enable → Record
4. Refresh the page
5. Verify:
   • ✅ Google Ads Conversion Tracking appears
   • ✅ Conversion ID matches your configuration
   • ✅ No errors shown

7.3 Check Google Ads

1. Go to Google Ads → Tools & Settings → Conversions
2. Click on your conversion action
3. Check Recent conversions (may take a few hours to appear)
4. Verify conversion value and count