Adding a new conversion action is how you tell Google Ads exactly what successful action you want to track on your website (e.g., a phone call, a form submission, or a purchase). This is fundamental for using automated bidding strategies like Target CPA.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Navigate to Conversion Settings
Sign in to your Google Ads account.
Click the Goals icon in the left side menu.
Under the “Measurement” column, click Conversions.
You will land on the Summary page, which lists all your existing conversion actions.
Step 2: Begin Creating a New Conversion Action
Click the blue + Create conversion action button.
A window will pop up asking for the source of the conversion. Select Website.
Enter your website domain and click Scan. This scan helps identify existing tags and suggests conversion actions.
Step 3: Choose the Conversion Category
You need to select the category that best aligns with the action you are tracking. This selection determines how Google’s AI views the conversion’s value and intent.
Select the Category: Click on the category that describes the successful action on your website.
Example: If you are tracking a customer filling out your contact form, you would select Submit lead form.
Example: For an e-commerce transaction, you would select Purchase.
Click the blue Save and continue button at the bottom.
Step 4: Finish Setting Up Conversions
This screen confirms you have created the conversion action and presents the two final, mandatory steps for implementation:
1. Set up your Google tag and event snippets
You have two options here, and you must complete one of them to get tracking working:
Option A: Set up with a Google tag (Click the button)
This is the recommended path and takes you through the full steps if you haven’t already installed the main Google tag (gtag.js) on your entire site.
Google Tag: This is the base code that must be installed on every page of your website, inside the <head> section. If you already installed it for Google Analytics or another Google Ads conversion, you do not need to install it again.
Option B: Measure individual conversions with event snippets (Click See event snippet)
This option provides the specific code for the conversion action you just created.
The Event Snippet: This smaller piece of code is what you need to install on the specific conversion page (e.g., the order confirmation page or a separate ‘Thank You’ page).
It works alongside the main Google Tag to tell Google: “The conversion action named ‘Purchase’ just happened!”
Crucially: If you are using Google Tag Manager (GTM), you do not copy the code snippet. Instead, you need to get the two identification numbers.
Find and click the option that says “Use Google Tag Manager.”
This will display the unique Conversion ID and Conversion Label. You use these two values to create a new Google Ads Conversion Tracking Tag within GTM, which is cleaner and less prone to errors than editing website code directly.
2. Check your Google Click ID (GCLID)
The second section provides a link to information about the Google Click ID (GCLID).
GCLID: This is a unique tracking parameter (e.g., ?gclid=Cj0KCA…) that Google automatically appends to your ad URLs when a user clicks your ad (a feature called Auto-tagging).
Action: This section is an instruction for your developer. Your website must be configured to accept and pass along this GCLID parameter, especially if you have redirects on your landing pages, which can sometimes strip the GCLID and break tracking. Auto-tagging is required for Google Ads conversion tracking to work fully and for data to link correctly with Google Analytics.
Step 5: Click Finish
Click Finish on this screen, and then proceed to implement the code or use the Conversion ID and Label within Google Tag Manager to complete the setup of your new Purchase conversion action.
Our Advice
1. Differentiate Your Conversion Actions
Advise: Create separate conversion actions for valuable actions. Don’t lump “Contact Form Submissions,” “Phone Calls,” and “Newsletter Sign-ups” into one generic “Lead” action.
Benefit: By separating them, you can assign them different values and choose to include only the most valuable ones in your ‘Conversions’ column for bidding optimization.
2. ‘Include in Conversions’ Setting
Crucial Tip: When viewing the Conversions Summary table, ensure only your most important, sales-driving actions have the ‘Include in ‘Conversions” column set to Yes.
All automated bidding strategies (Target CPA, Maximize Conversions) use this column for optimisation. If low-value conversions are included, you dilute the quality of the data the AI uses, leading to less efficient spending.
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