Last Updated on October 1, 2026

Setting Up Google Ads Goals/Conversions Overview

This is a conversational video exploring the current (2025) Google Ads Goals page. It also provides general information on goal tracking, as well as more overview-type info.

Conversion Types

Select which type of conversion action you are trying to set up. Each of these videos will walk you through setting up direct conversions (via GTM), except for the one titled “Importing Key Events from GA4”.

Form Submissions

Google Ads Form Submission Setup

Google Ads Form Submission Conversion Setup

  1. Click Goals within the Google Ads Account
  2. Under Conversions, click Summary
  3. Click the blue create conversion action button under the charts
  4. Click Conversions on a website then Save and continue
  5. Click Edit data sources if your GTM is not already connected. If it isn’t scan it, and check the GTM account and press done
  6. Press save and continue
  7. Choose Submit lead form from the category list
  8. Select Manually with code
  9. Expand the conversion settings section and choose primary action
  10. Choose the name for your event (or just keep the default name)
  11. Click Use the same value for each conversion
  12. Enter in the amount each conversion is worth to the MC, if applicable, otherwise, just keep at 1
  13. For the count, choose One (you can leave all other sections alone)
  14. Press Done and Save and continue
  15. Press finish and go back into your tag under the Submit lead form section
  16. Click tag setup and then install the tag yourself
  17. Copy the bottom snippet of code
  18. Open GTM in another tab
  19. Open the GTM account for the client
  20. Click Tags
  21. Click New
  22. Click the Tag Configuration box >> Conversion Linker (only if you don’t already have one)
  23. Click Triggering box >> All Pages
  24. Save the tag
  25. Click Triggers
  26. Click New
  27. Add your trigger such as a page view, form submission, etc. (covered in another training since it varies per client)
  28. Click Save
  29. Click New again
  30. Tag Configuration >> Google Ads >> Google Ads Conversion Tracking
  31. Using the code you copied (or the information on the Google Tags tab if you have it), fill out the Conversion ID & Conversion Label
  32. Add your trigger by clicking the box and finding the trigger you made earlier in the steps
  33. Save
  34. Submit & Publish the GTM container
  35. The conversion should begin working within 24 hours

Phone Calls

Google Ads DNI Setup

Google DNI Forwarding Number (GFN) Setup Instructions

  1. Click Goals within the Google Ads Account
  2. Under Conversions, click Summary
  3. Click the blue create conversion action button under the charts
  4. Click Conversions from phone calls then Save and continue
  5. Choose Phone call lead from the category list
  6. Click the blue create conversion and select Calls from website visits as the data source
  7. Click Someone calls a number shown on my website, put in the correct swapping number from their website (exactly as it appears on the site), and click Use this event
  8. Press save and continue
  9. Click the blue Edit settings for your new conversion
  10. Name the Conversion “Google DNI” or something similar
  11. Input the conversion value, if needed (get this from the MC over the account)
  12. Ensure the count is on One, not Every
  13. Choose the call length (usually 45-60 seconds)
  14. Press Done and Save and continue
  15. Press finish and go back into your tag under the Phone call lead section
  16. Click tag setup and then install the tag yourself
  17. Copy the bottom snippet of code
  18. Open GTM in another tab
  19. Open the GTM account for the client
  20. Click Tags
  21. Click New
  22. Click the Tag Configuration box >> Conversion Linker (only if you don’t already have one)
  23. Click Triggering box >> All Pages
  24. Save the tag
  25. Click New again
  26. Tag Configuration >>  Google Ads >> Google Ads Calls from Website Conversion
  27. Using the code you copied (or the information on the Google Tags tab if you have it), fill out the Conversion ID & Conversion Label
  28. Add the phone number in exactly as before and name the tag Google DNI or something similar
  29. Triggering >> All Pages
  30. Save
  31. Submit & Publish the GTM container
  32. The conversion should begin working within 24 hours

Importing Key Events from GA4

CHANGE ME - Importing GA4 Key Events Into Google Ads

Import Key Events From GA4 Instructions

  1. Check if your GA4 is connected to Google Ads
      1. Go to tools in the left sidebar of Google Ads
      2. Click Data Manager
      3. Find the Google Analytics (GA4) connection
      4. If it says it is linked, continue on to step two, if not continue these steps
      5. Click into the Google Analytics (GA4) connection
      6. Click the GA4 property that you want to connect to this ads account
      7. Ensure both data sharing buttons are turned to the on position so the connection works correctly
      8. Press link
  2. Click Goals within the Google Ads Account
  3. Under Conversions, click Summary
  4. Click the blue create conversion action button under the charts
  5. Click Conversions on a website
  6. Click the edit button, scan the website & make sure that GA4 is selected
  7. Click Done
  8. In the GA4 section, click select property & select your GA4 account
  9. Select every applicable key event that you want to add to your conversion goals
  10. Select the category that makes the most sense for each key event you are importing
  11. Click select events
  12. Press Save and continue
  13. Press Finish
  14. Find the event you created and click into it
  15. Click Edit settings
  16. Open the Action optimization dropdown and ensure Primary is selected if you want the conversion to count for Google’s bidding, if not, choose Secondary.
  17. Press Save
  18. Expand the Value dropdown and select the amount the conversion is worth (use 1 if you don’t have specific direction on what it should be)
  19. Press Save
  20. Click the Count dropdown and ensure this is counting one in most cases (so you aren’t overcounting the same person taking this action multiple times). If it is not using the correct count metrics, you will need to change it in GA4 by doing the next few steps
  21. Go into their GA4 account and click the gear that says Admin
  22. Under Data display, click Events
  23. Find their event in the Events page and click the three dots next to the key event
  24. Click Change counting method
  25. Change it to either Once per event, or Once per session (whichever you previously determined you wanted – Once per event is like Every in Google Ads and Once per session is like One in Google Ads)
  26. Click Save
  27. The sync should show in Google Ads within 24 hours
  28. The conversion should begin working within 24 hours