You’ve launched your Google Ads campaign. The impressions are rolling in. Clicks are happening. 🎉
But… where are the leads? The sales? The form fills? The “holy crap, this is working” moments?
Here’s the deal: running Google Ads without tracking and optimizing for website conversions is like buying a Ferrari and never getting out of second gear. It might look fast but you’re leaving power on the table.
Why I Created This Guide
I’ll be honest…this guide wasn’t born just to help others. It came from a gap I noticed in our own agency.
At Bear North, we’re obsessed with delivering results, and I’m always asking myself: Are we truly providing the best experience, the best service, the best outcome for every client we work with?
And when I took a hard look, I realized something, we were doing great work generating traffic, building campaigns, and launching beautiful landing pages… but we weren’t going deep enough on conversion mastery. We weren’t squeezing every drop of value out of every click. That bugged me.
Because I know how important conversions are to your business. Every phone call, every form fill, every sale, it’s the lifeblood of your growth. And if we’re not helping you maximize that, then we’re not doing our job as well as we should.
So I built this guide as both a roadmap for our team and a resource for you.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through exactly how to:
- ✅ Define what conversions actually are (spoiler: not just sales)
- ⚙️ Set up conversion tracking the right way
- ✍️ Optimize your ads, campaigns, and landing pages for real results
- 📈 Use advanced strategies to scale your efforts and increase ROI
Whether you’re brand new to Google Ads or knee-deep in campaigns already, this is your blueprint to stop burning budget and start building a results engine.
Let’s pop the hood.
What Are Website Conversions? & Why Should You Obsess Over Them?
Conversions are the actions you want someone to take once they click your ad.
Whether it’s:
- Buying a product 💳
- Filling out a contact form ✉️
- Signing up for a newsletter 📰
- Downloading a PDF 📄
- Scheduling a consultation 📅
…it’s all gold. Every conversion means your ad did its job and your website backed it up.
Tracking these conversions is what separates businesses that grow from those that just throw money at Google and hope for the best.
The Conversion Menu: Choose Your Flavor
Not all conversions are created equal. Here’s what you can track:
- Sales – Ka-ching. The endgame for eCommerce brands.
- Leads – Form fills, phone calls, quote requests, these are the lifeblood of service businesses.
- Sign-ups – Whether it’s for an account or a free trial, you want that sweet opt-in.
- Downloads – For businesses offering tools, PDFs, or apps.
- Custom Goals – Watching a video, scrolling to the bottom, or high-fiving your CTA button.
How to Set Up Conversion Tracking in Google Ads (Without Losing Your Mind)
Here’s your no-fluff checklist:
1. Go to Tools & Settings → Conversions → Hit That “+” Button
You’re now creating a Conversion Action. Let’s break it down:
✏️ Conversion Name
Use something that makes sense later.
Bad: “Form 1”
Good: “BND-Contact-Form” (Bear North Digital Contact Form)
Value
Three paths here:
- Same Value – Your service is always $199? Easy choice.
- Different Value – You sell things with a range of prices? Use this.
- No Value – Only if you have no clue what it’s worth (yet).
Pro Tip: Even if you think you don’t know the value, use your best guess and refine later. Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress.
Count
- Every – For purchases or multiple valuable actions from the same user.
- One – For lead forms, where one form fill is enough for now.
Click-Through Conversion Window
How long after a click should a conversion still count? Start broad (30–60 days) if unsure.
View-Through Window
Counts conversions where users saw (but didn’t click) your ad.
We recommend 1 day unless you’re running long-view nurturing campaigns.
Attribution Model
Ah, the philosophy of ads.
- Last Click – The old-school champ. Good for fast sales cycles.
- First Click – Credits the ad that started it all.
- Linear / Time Decay / Position-Based – Fancy ways to share credit.
- Data-Driven – Let Google’s brain figure it out (with enough data, this is 🔥).
2. Install the Tracking Tag
Copy. Paste. Done. Or use Google Tag Manager like the modern marketer you are.
3. Test It
Run through the funnel yourself or use Google’s tag assistant to verify it’s firing correctly.
Optimizing Your Campaigns for Conversions (This Is Where the Magic Happens)
Once tracking is set, it’s time to earn those conversions.
Choose the Right Campaign Objective
Make sure your campaign isn’t just about traffic. Choose Sales, Leads, or Website Traffic and align your conversion goals with it.
Smart Keyword Selection
Focus on buyer intent. Someone searching “best drain cleaner” isn’t the same as “drain cleaning service near me.” One wants advice, the other wants you.
Write Ads That Make People Click (Then Convert)
No fluff. Just clear benefits, strong CTAs, and a touch of urgency.
Example: “Get a Quote in 60 Seconds – No Phone Call Needed”
Versus: “Learn More About Our Services”
Use Ad Extensions
Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, they make your ad bigger, more clickable, and more conversion-ready.
Embrace Smart Bidding
Use Google’s built-in bid strategies:
- Target CPA – Cost per lead
- Maximize Conversions – As many actions as possible
- Target ROAS – Ideal for eCommerce
Analyze + Adjust
Check performance weekly. Shift budget to winning ads. Pause the duds. Test relentlessly.
Your Landing Page Matters More Than You Think
Don’t spend $1,000 to send people to a cluttered mess of a page.
Best Practices:
- Headline clarity – Tell people exactly what you do and why it matters.
- One CTA – Don’t make users choose between “Book Now” and “See Our Blog.”
- Mobile-first design – Because your customers are on their phones. Period.
- Speed – Compress images. Cut bloat. Use good hosting.
A/B Testing
Test one thing at a time: headline, button color, form length. Let data, not opinion, decide what works.
Dive Deeper with Conversion Analysis
Key Metrics to Track:
- Conversion Rate – % of clicks that convert. 2% is decent. 5% is strong.
- Cost Per Conversion – How much you paid to get one.
- Conversion Value – What your conversions are actually worth.
Use Google Analytics for Context
Find bottlenecks in your funnel. See where people drop off. Build smarter journeys.
Level Up with Advanced Strategies
Remarketing
Follow up with site visitors who didn’t convert the first time. Show them you remember—and care (but not in a creepy way).
Dynamic Search Ads
Let Google create headlines based on your site’s content. Great for eComm and big catalogs.
📊 Smart Display
Google’s AI finds your people. You focus on your offer.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
This isn’t just for big brands. Use heatmaps, scroll tracking, and surveys to turn more visitors into buyers.
Final Thoughts: Conversions Are the Whole Game
Clicks are nice. They feel good. They make dashboards look busy and your ad spend feel justified.
But conversions? That’s where the money is. That’s where campaigns go from “kinda working” to “holy crap, we’re booked out for the month.”
Far too often, we see businesses celebrating traffic when they should be obsessed with outcomes. Because let’s face it, vanity metrics don’t pay the bills. Leads do. Sales do. Booked consults do. That contact form that someone actually filled out at 11:37 p.m. on a Tuesday? That’s the win. That’s what moves the needle.
And here’s the truth: You don’t need more traffic until you’re converting the traffic you already have.
If you’re not tracking conversions, you’re flying blind.
If you’re not optimizing for conversions, you’re wasting budget.
If you’re not learning from conversions, you’re leaving growth on the table.
So stop guessing. Start tracking. Test. Learn. Adjust.
Then do it again. And again. And again. That’s how winners play this game.
Google Ads can be a revenue machine, an absolute beast of lead gen and sales velocity, but only if your foundation is solid and your strategy is dialed in. Otherwise? It’s just expensive noise.
And if you ever feel like you’re staring at your campaign reports wondering,
“What am I supposed to do with this?” …you’re not alone.
We’ve helped dozens of businesses go from “we think it’s working?” to
“we know it’s working…and we know exactly why.”
Let’s Talk.
We’ll help you stop chasing clicks and start building a conversion engine that hums like a well-oiled machine. ⚙️
Because the goal isn’t more traffic…it’s more business. And we’re here to help you get it.