Tracking the conversions of your Google Ads campaigns is crucial if you want to be successful with your online campaigns. The ‘conversions tracking’ tag in Google Tag Manager allows you to track how often visitors perform certain actions on your website, such as placing an order or filling out a form. This allows you to measure and optimize the effectiveness of your ad campaigns, as you can see which ads and keywords led to more conversions.
You can also set different conversion goals, such as purchases, signups or phone calls, and track how well your ads perform in meeting these goals. Doing this will help you better understand which ads work and which keywords lead to more conversions. In addition, Google’s algorithms better understand your website and business goals using the conversions you have set. As a result, your campaigns (Performance Max, for example) are going to perform better. These are just a few examples of what Google Ads Conversion Tracking can add to your strategy. In this blog, we will explain to you step by step how to set up the Google Ads Conversion Tracking Tag server side in Google Tag Manager.
Due to intelligent tracking preventie (ITP) of various browsers (and adblockers), it becomes more difficult to continue to measure your conversions properly via the current setup in Google Tag Manager (client side). In fact, ITP and Adblockers can block data flow. This ensures that you cannot record all conversions. Server side tagging (SST) is the method to minimize the effect of ITP and Adblockers. With TAGGRS, you can easily implement server side tagging and continue to use your current GTM account (slightly modified). In this tutorial, you will learn how to measure server side conversions with the Google ads tag.
Curious about the entire Google Ads Server Side Tracking setup? Then check out this page.
Google Ads Server Side implementation steps
Set up Google Ads Conversion Tracking Tag.
Step 1: Conversion settings
Within your Google Ads account, go to > Goals > Conversions > Create Conversion Action.
Step 2: Conversion action
Click on the conversion action you want to measure. Haven’t created a conversion action yet? Then click New conversion action then click Add a conversions action manually and name the action. Then you can choose what type of conversion you want to track, such as a purchase or a contact inquiry. Then specify the value of the conversion and choose the appropriate category.
Step 3: Set conversion tag
Once you’ve selected the conversion action, click Set Tag and choose Use Google Tag Manager. Next, the Conversion ID and Conversion Label come into view. We need these.
Step 4: Create Tag
It is important to emphasize that Google Ads conversions should be set up exclusively in the server container. Remember to remove it in the client container or set it to secondary in Google Ads. Go to your server container in Google Tag Manager. Then go to Tags and click New.
Note: In this description, we assume that you are using GA4 to get data into the server container. Haven’t set this up yet. Then start with step 1 of the four-part implementation series for GA4.
Step 5: Choose Tag
Click Tag Configuration then Google Ads and select Conversion Tracking as the tag type.
Are you getting the message below on the screen? Then add the conversion linker. Read this blog for setting up the Conversion Linker-tag.
Step 6: Set Tag
Once you have created the Conversion Linkertag, you can move on to setting it up. Copy the Conversion-ID and Conversion label from Google Ads and put them here.
Next, we are going to enter the conversion value and valuate code. Are you new to terms like data layer variable and GA4 data? Then check out our blog on the Google Tag Manager data layer. Below is an example of how the data enters the data layer. You can find this in preview mode. You do this this way open preview mode –> Test event (in this case add_to_cart) –> Data Layer –> Scroll until you get to currency etc.
Then, under conversion value, you can enter a variable that represents the value of the conversion. For web shops, this is often the datalayer variable: value. You can also fill these in statically. For example, if your conversion is always worth 300 euros, you can enter that number. Or you can leave it blank, in which case the value is filled in automatically (only if it is available in the GA4 event data).
Under currency code, you also have 3 options. Have a dynamic variable, a static value or automatically populated based on the GA4 event data. We recommend using the statistical value. Currency is required when your conversion value is entered.
- Dynamic variable: you can enter a created Event data variable here, for this you need to create the variable below. Under Key Path, enter the way it enters the data layer.
- Statistical value: if selling only in euros, you can enter EUR here, for example.
- Auto-fill GA4 event data: do this only when you are sure you are using a properly functioning data layer based on the GA4 protocol.
In addition, there are three more check boxes you can check to send additional data along with your conversions. These are of particular interest to web shops. With this, you can make Google smarter. You send along additional data so Google gathers more insights about your customers. For these to function properly, it is essential to have a (GA4) data layer present on the website/shop.
Step 7: Create Trigger
Click Triggers and then click the plus sign at the top right. In this blog, we will assume that you want to use purchases on your website as triggers. If you want to measure a different conversion (registration, application, forms, shopping cart, etc.) it works the same way, but with a different event/trigger.
Step 8: Choose type of trigger
Name the trigger and click Trigger Configuration. Then choose Custom event as the trigger type.
Step 9: Set Trigger
Under name of event, enter purchase. Select Some Custom Events at Fire this trigger when an Event occurs and all of these conditions are true. Then select [Event name] [is gelijk aan] [purchase] . Save the trigger and then the tag.
Note that if you also send Universal Analytics data to the server container, the event purchase may fire twice. In that case, specify in the trigger that the Client Name – equals – GA4 (or Universal Analytics).
The purchase event is now created. As a conversion action in Google Ads, have a specific url, such as a thank you page. You cannot choose this as a trigger type in the server container. To do this, you need to create a new variable. Create a new variable and choose Event Data as the Variable Type. Next, enter page_location as the key path. The variable is now ready.
Next, we are going to create the corresponding trigger. Create a new trigger. Under Trigger Configuration, choose Pageview and make sure the trigger is fired on the page you want to measure and use the variable you just created. You then add this trigger as a trigger to your Google Ads conversion event.
You have now successfully installed the Conversion Tracking Tag in Google Tag Manager and can now measure and optimize the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaigns. By tracking conversions, you can better understand which ads and keywords are working and which conversion targets are most effective. Nice going! Also see how you can use Google Ads remarketing.
Step 10: View status in Google Ads.
When the conversion tag is setup, within your Google Ads account the conversion action status will change from inactive to no recent conversions or active. This can take up to 48 hours.
Testing Conversions Google Ads
For testing, it is recommended that you first run your new Server Side Tracking configuration in parallel with your current set up in the web container. Server Side conversion often reports fewer conversions in the first 2 weeks because it does not yet have historical data. The client side tag often still writes to itself conversions that clicked on the campaign in the previous days/weeks. You can run both conversions in parallel (primary conversion) as Google Ads automatically deduplicates them, which ensures that no duplicate conversions are measured. Then, once it appears to be measuring correctly, you can keep the Server Side Tracking conversions at primary and remove or set the web container conversions to secondary. By taking this approach, you ensure that your active campaigns continue to run unhindered, even if unexpected problems arise.
Don’t know exactly how to test if your tags are working properly in Google Tag Manager read this blog on Debugging in Server Container
Don’t forget to put the container live!
Frequently Asked Questions Server Side Conversions Measure Google Ads
Since implementing Server Side Google Ads Conversions, we have Long URLs on the website. What is the cause of this.
When someone clicks on a Google or Meta ad, a unique ID, such as the Google Click ID, is added to the URL. This is a long, random text placed in cookies that helps track conversions. Server side tracking requires the server to send this data, which means that these IDs are often placed back in the URL for the server to retrieve. This allows Google and Meta to assign conversions to a campaign. Without these IDs, conversion data can be lost, making it difficult to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Example: https: //www.taggrs.nl/test/?_gl=1*12vhm91*_up*MQ..*_ga*NDUzMDUzMzgzLjE3MTU2NzM0NzI.*_ga_0K2BQLH54H*MTcxNTY3Mz
Ate Keurentjes is a Server Side Tracking specialist at TAGGRS. He has experience with various Google Tag Manager concepts. Keurentjes has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in data collection / Server side tracking since 2023.
