Conversions in Google Ads means that an ad is viewed and there after an action is taken by the viewer which is profitable for business. For e.g. If there is a blog and you want that people should subscribe it. An ad is posted for this purpose. A person clicks on the ad and subscribes instantly. This is known as conversion. For an e-commerce company, the ideal conversion can be if the user places an order. If it’s a B2B company then customer filling a contact form or making a call will count as conversion.
To track conversions on Google Ads, the below mentioned steps need to be followed:
• Sign in to your Google Ads account, click on tools and then click on conversion.
• Click on +conversion and select the appropriate option from different types of conversions.
• In the name section, enter the name of conversion you would like to track and then click on done.
• Click on value and select how to track value of each conversion. Select a suitable option and Click on done.
• Click on count and select how to count. Select a relevant option and click on done.
• Click on conversion window and select an option. Click on done.
• Click on category and select an option. Click on done.
• Click on attribution model and select an appropriate option and click on done.
• Click save and done
There is another way of tracking conversions and that is through Google Analytics.
The following steps need to be done to link Google Ads and analytics account.
1) Log in to analytics and select admin tab.
2) Go to the properties tab and the options would be available under second heading Products listing.
Once these get linked the two platforms will sync and data will get shared. Google Ads auto tagging should be enabled for this to work.
After completing this step, go back to Google Ads account and begin import. Just follow these steps given below:
• Click on conversion from tools menu and select option import analytics goals.
• This opens a new menu with all importing options. Click on import.
Google Analytics works well but sometimes problems might occur.
Common problems arising while using Google analytics are mentioned below:
1) Conversions not visible: The conversions might appear after 48 hours from the time of completion. There is no need to worry as it will show up in some time but it can be discouraging for sure.
2) Conversions counted multiple times: If the data is being imported through Google analytics then Google Ads counting should not be used. This will create double conversions as Google Ads and analytics both will count the same conversion again.
Advantages of using Google analytics:
1) Google analytics helps in tracking video clicks which cannot be done on regular Google Ads conversion.
2) Pre-existing analytics code can be used without the new conversion codes with the help of Google analytics.
Difference between Google analytics and Google Ads:
The data is tracked differently in both. Google Ads tracks it at the time of first click but analytics tracks it at the time action is done. For e.g. A user sees the ad and goes to website but bookmarks it and later on after 2 days decides to buy the product. In this case, analytics will say that the conversion happened on the day product got purchased but Google Ads would track it on the day click took place by the user.
With advent of smartphones, people are browsing websites mostly through their cell phones. There are various types of conversions on mobile apps which can be tracked.
Some are mentioned below:
1) Installed Applications: The Google play store automatically calculates the conversions and no other tracking codes are needed.
2) First time click on ad: By using firebase or third party analytics provider we can calculate conversions of the first time when a user clicked on the ad and installed the app.
3) In app purchase tracking: It calculates the purchases happening within the app. It also measures the campaign effectiveness.
Video ad conversion tracking:
For videos, the conversion tracking is different. The conversion is counted when an ad gets viewed for 10 seconds. The billing for the ad varies on the platform its being shown. On YouTube, its billed for every engagement and for display network it is for each engagement.
When Google Google Ads started there was only one type of conversion. Now there are many types of conversions.
Some are mentioned below:
1) Web form submission: This means submissions in form of demo requests, quote requests which can be tracked as conversions on Google Ads. This was one of the first type of conversion when Google Ads started.
2) Website calls: Some people call directly after seeing the ad and these calls are known as conversions. This helps in knowing phone calls generated from the ad.
3) Offline conversion: Google introduced this service for tracking sales generated off the internet. The business not related to e-commerce can now also be calculated.
4) Offline conversion: Google introduced this service for tracking sales generated off the internet. The business not related to e-commerce can now also be calculated.
5) Flexible conversion: It is a new type of conversion which helps in tracking conversions which are valuable for business.
6) Cross device conversion: This means that a customer clicks ad on a particular device and then its converted into a different device or browser. The impact of an ad on multiple devices and browser can be known with this type of conversion.
7) Click assisted conversion: The total number of conversions for a particular keyword for which it received clicks prior to conversion. The last click is not included though in this conversion.
8) View through conversion: The customer views the media or image before converting but never clicks on the ad and later they convert is known as view through conversion. Advertisers don’t take this fully in to account while optimizing.
Benefits of conversions in Google Ads:
1) Better insights: It makes you know about which keywords, campaigns and ad groups are receiving better conversion. This helps in making appropriate changes to the keywords that ultimately improves your PPC campaigns.
2) Return on investment improves: Some clicks do not convert and hence they are not valuable. Tracking conversions helps in reducing spends which are going wasted and helps in increasing clicks.
3) Accessibility to extra functions: Extra functions of Google Ads such as product listings, ad extensions can be used by the help of conversions.
4) Increase of customers: By using conversions, we can know which keywords are not performing well. Ineffective keywords should be replaced immediately which would help in gaining more customers.
Google Ads sometime fail to convert. Some reasons are mentioned below:
1) Inability to build trust: Fake websites are all over the internet. Usage of generic stock photos can reduce trust on the website. It should be avoided.
2) Ad copy is poor: A website visitor reads the ad only for a few seconds. The ad copy should be such that it leaves an impact. If not then conversion will not happen.
3) Navigation not clear: A proper navigation site helps the user to browse the website without any hassle. In order to ensure this, the important pages should have clear navigation structure.
4) Wrong Pricing: Price should always be set up according to the customer. A research should be done and price should be decided after comparing with the competitors.
5) Bad Traffic: Every type of traffic can’t be said as a proper one as it might be attracting wrong audience which are not converting. By looking at match search query reports on Google Ads the relevancy of click through audience can be established
6) Improper Content: Content is a very vital part for engaging customers. If content is improper then it will create many problems. Content should have call to action words and a good language which builds trust. Trust factor is heavily dependent on content.
7) Website Problem: Sometimes it has been seen that the ad campaign is good but the website is not optimised well to gain conversion. The website should always be well designed and have proper information which attracts the user. Website should create a sense of belief.
Different ways to increase conversion in Google Ads:
1) Testing elements on landing page: There are different elements such as images, fonts, background color etc in the landing page which should always be tested. We can know through testing that which elements are working well. For e.g. if there are two images and one of them is getting more conversion then that image should be used in campaigns more.
2) Increasing click through rate: The clicks on a particular ad can be known through the click through rate. It helps in increasing conversions. It can be improved by targeting right people, capitalizing the title in ad copy and using appropriate keywords.
3) Usage of negative keywords: There are keywords which are not beneficial for an ad and it should be removed by the use of negative keyword. This for sure boosts up the conversions.
4) Retargeting: The users who visited your website some time back but never got converted into a client can be targeted again and this is known as Retargeting. This helps in getting the users back by serving them the same ads again. Eventually this will increase the conversion.
5) Using capital in ad titles: The viewers can be attracted through capitalized titles. So, the use of capitals in ad titles helps in increasing the conversion.
6) Mentioning the exact keyword: This helps in gaining more conversions as genuinely interested people click on the ad. This also boosts the click through rate.
7) Toggle Graph: This is used for comparison of metrics. For e.g. comparing the different data range to each other. It helps in knowing how the campaigns are performing over the time. This analysis helps in making conversion better.
8) Ad Scheduling: This helps in bidding for an ad on a particular day and time. It helps in bidding less. The Return on Investment also improves. Here is an amazing article that will help you understand "How to do Ad Scheduling in Google Ads".
9) Keywords Diagnosis: It helps in filtering ads that have critical issues and are not showing up.
10) Custom Columns: We can easily add or remove columns by using custom columns. Ordering the metrics is easy with the drag and drop option there.
11) Automate Function: This helps in creating rules for ad campaigns, groups and keywords. For e.g. The minimum average position for a particular ad group can be easily set up here.
12) Using Long Tail Keywords: Researching about keywords helps in better optimization of page. A sentence containing 3-4 keywords is known as long tail keywords. It helps in making better conversions.
13) Branded Keywords Campaign: One campaign should be created with brand name in order to get more conversions.
14) Working Keywords Campaign: Every 3-4 weeks, campaigns should be refined by removing low quality score keywords and non-converting keywords. If an ad is having CTR below 5% then the ad should be paused.
15) Review search term report: Downloading the search term report is easy. It discloses the queries that clients have typed. By keeping a close check on these keywords you can know which actually got converted.
16) Dimension Tab Study: There are certain hours of the day when you are not getting conversions, the dimension tab helps in studying those facts. Studying these helps in getting more conversions. The keywords which are not converting should be paused immediately.
17) Using enhanced bidder and conversion optimizer: These can be accessed by going to the campaign setting tab. The bidding option uses the conversion data which are historical and it improves the conversion rates.
Conversion optimizer requires 15 conversions in 30 days so that it has some amount of historical data to work with. This sets up cost per acquisition for campaign ad groups. Cost per acquisition bidding should be avoided if the conversion cost is very high.
18) Good Quality Score: Better conversions can be done if the quality score is around 7 or 8. Maintaining a good quality score is very essential for conversions.
Final Words
We can conclude that to make conversions work better in Google Ads you need to keep a close check on the conversions happening every day. By keeping a tab on missing conversions, 50% of conversions can be improved. Conversions gives long term benefits So, investing time on tracking conversions will never go wasted.