How to create a conversion action in Google Ads without using GA4?

Google Ads is a powerful tool for driving traffic and conversions to your website. One of the essential features of Google Ads is the creation of conversion actions, which allows you to track and optimize key interactions of your visitors. 

Today we're going to show you how to set up a conversion action directly in Google Ads without going through Google Analytics – GA4. Follow this step-by-step guide to take full advantage of Google Ads and get accurate, immediate conversion data.

Why avoid Google Analytics?

Using GA4 to measure conversions has some drawbacks, including potentially incomplete data due to Google Consent Mode. By opting for Google Ads directly, you benefit from more precise and immediate data collection.

Step 1: Create a new conversion action

1. Access Google Ads:
   • Log in to your Google Ads account.
   • Go to the “Conversions” tab under “Tools & Settings”.

2. New Conversion:
   • Click on the “+ New conversion action” button.
   • Select “Website” to create a conversion based on actions taken on your site.
   • Choose “Use Google Ads only” for the created action measurement.
   • Add a conversion action manually

3. Configure Conversion:
   • Choose a category relevant to your conversion (for example, “Request a quote”).
   • Give this conversion action a name, for example, “Test Quote Request”.
4. Assign a Value:
   • You can decide to assign a monetary value to this conversion if it is relevant to your goals.
5. Accounting for Conversions:
   • Select “One” to only count one conversion per click, even if the user takes multiple actions.
6. Save and Continue:
   • After configuring the settings, click “Save and continue”.

Step 2: Add the conversion code to your site

1. Beacon configuration:
   • Once the conversion is created, you need to add the tracking code to your website.
   • Open Google Tag Manager and create a new tag.
2. Conversion Linker tag:
   • Before configuring the new tag, make sure you have an active “Tag Conversion Linker” in Tag Manager. This tag establishes the connection between your site and Google Ads.
3. Configure the New Tag:
   • Name the tag in an identifiable way (for example, “Google Ads Test Quote Request”).
   • Select “Google Ads Conversion Tracking” as the tag type.
   • Enter the conversion ID and conversion label provided by Google Ads.

4. Triggering the Beacon:
   • Create a trigger for the tag corresponding to the event you want to track, such as submitting a quote request form.
   • Save the tag and trigger.

Step 3: Test and enable conversion

1. Test the configuration:
   • Use Google Tag Assistant to verify that the tag triggers correctly during the conversion action on your site.
   • Complete the conversion action (for example, submit a form) and make sure the conversion is recorded in Google Ads.

2. Checking conversions:
   • Once the conversion action is detected, Google Ads will indicate that the conversion is active.
   • You will see the sources of conversions listed as coming directly from the website, ensuring accurate data collection.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can effectively set up conversion actions in Google Ads without relying on GA4. This allows for more precise and immediate measurement of interactions on your website, thereby improving the optimization of your campaigns. 

Remember to test your configurations regularly to ensure they work properly. For questions or additional support on Google Ads, contact us directly.