Many advertisers over the years have used Google Ads' conversion tracking to track conversions on the platform due to how immediately the information is gathered. Most third-party services, though, track their information through GA4. We'll discuss how to set up Google Ads conversions using GA4. We'll discuss:
Setting Up Conversions in GA4
When figuring out how to set up Google Ads conversions using GA4, you need to determine first what conversions you want to track. There are thank you pages for form submission, tracking for various chat platforms, and metrics like time on site that are typically stored only in GA4 and are not subject to Google Ads conversion tracking.
We like to use Google Tag Manager for most of our setups as it keeps the website's speed fast and doesn't require the assistance of a developer. For thank you pages, simply create a new event in Google Tag Manager with a name like "Contact Us Submission" using the trigger as Pageview of your thank you page. Now, we understand any page view to this thank you page will count, but rarely does anyone view this page who hasn't taken action.
Chat conversions will be at the discretion of the third-party service you are using. Read the instructions provided by your chat provider on setting up conversions in GA4; most reputable companies will have them.
After you've published your Google Tag Manager changes, go to your website and take action to fire the event. Look in your Real-Time section of GA4 to ensure the event has been fired. From there, you can wait roughly an hour for that event to be carried over to the events section, where you can then click the three dots to switch the event to a conversion.
Now that the conversion has been set up in GA4 go to Google Ads and add it as a conversion.
Connecting Conversions from GA4 to Google Ads
The next step in how to set up Google Ads conversions using GA4 is within Google Ads itself. Go to Tools & Settings at the top and then choose Conversions under Measurements. There'll be a blue button stating "+New conversion action". From there, choose import and GA4. The conversions you set up earlier in GA4 should have been populated. If you don't see them immediately, check back later; they will pop up eventually. Add them as conversions, making sure you choose the right Action, such as Contact or Pageview.
Time Delay
Most advertisers dislike the time delay associated with using GA4 conversions. With this method, it can take 24-48 hours for a conversion to be correctly imported into Google Ads. In our opinion, though, you aren't changing strategies on a dime anymore. You make a change and wait several days to see its impact, so the fact that you might not see a conversion for 24 hours is not too bothersome.
Conclusion
We hope this helps answer the question of how to set up Google Ads conversions using GA4. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about what was explained or need help setting this up.
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