Using Google Ads for your business is a great way to drive high-intent users to your site. There are many areas your business can focus on when creating a campaign, from keyword targeting, ad copy and optimization, landing page CRO, and much more. However, one aspect that doesn’t get discussed often is conversions.
In this article, I will cover why conversion tracking is so important, how you can track conversions, and how to optimize your campaigns for conversions.
What is a Conversion?
A conversion is an action that you identify as valuable for your business. This can be a phone call to your business, a form signup on your website, or an actual sale. It’s anything that you consider important for Google Ads to optimize its algorithm for.
Why Are Conversions So Important for Google Ads Success?
Conversions are a crucial part of Google Ads. Google can learn from your conversions to update its algorithm. This helps Google Ads identify patterns and trends about your conversions that might take you too long to recognize manually. It can also make real-time changes within an auction to drive traffic more likely to convert. This is achieved through bid strategies like Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value.
How to Track Your Conversions on Google Ads
Google Ads offers several methods for tracking conversions:
- Google Ads Tools: Navigate to Tools > Measurement > Conversions. Here, you can add phone calls from ads or a form lead by entering the URL of the confirmation page.
- Third-Party Integrations: Integrate with tools like Google Analytics, Salesforce, Zapier, and many more for conversion imports.
- Offline Conversions: Upload conversions using Gclid or call data from non-digital sources.
- App Conversions: Track conversions from app downloads if you have an app in the app store.
- Advanced Tracking: Use Google Ads APIs to send server-side conversions.
How to Optimize Your Campaigns for Conversions
To optimize your campaigns for conversions:
- Identify and Add Conversions: First, identify a conversion and add it to Google Ads. Ensure your conversion is something you can track frequently. Google Ads needs a minimum amount of conversions to optimize effectively. A Google Ads representative once suggested aiming for at least 40 conversions per campaign in a 30-day period. However, based on my experience, I have seen even success by starting with a minimum of 20 conversions.
- Bid Strategy Adjustment: Start by focusing on easily achievable conversions, such as form leads or phone calls. Track sales as a secondary conversion, so Google collects the data but doesn’t use it for optimization initially. Once your secondary conversion reaches 20-40 conversions per month, you can switch it to your primary conversion and adjust your strategy accordingly.
- Monitor and Adjust: Regularly review your campaign performance. Use insights from Google Ads and Google Analytics to understand which keywords, ads, and audiences are driving the most conversions. Adjust your bids, ad copy, and landing pages based on this data.
- A/B Testing: Continuously run A/B tests on your ads and landing pages to find what drives the best conversion rates. Small changes in ad copy, images, or CTA (Call to Action) can significantly impact your conversion rates.
- Leverage Audience Targeting: Use audience targeting to reach users who are more likely to convert. Create custom audiences based on your website visitors, customer lists, or use Google’s in-market and affinity audiences.
Conclusion
Conversion tracking is a powerful tool for maximizing the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaigns. By understanding and implementing conversion tracking, you can optimize your campaigns to drive more meaningful actions, ultimately leading to better results for your business. Remember, starting with a minimum of 20 conversions can be a good benchmark, and as you gather more data, you can refine your strategies further.
Adding these elements will provide your readers with more actionable insights and a better understanding of how to optimize their Google Ads campaigns for conversions.
