279: How We Keep Conversion Tracking Simple and Easy

The Paid Search Podcast | A Weekly Podcast About Google Ads and Online Marketing

Please support our sponsors because they make the show possible!
Get Opteo for free for two months - https://opteo.com/psp2
Jason Rothman - https://rothmanppc.com/
Chris Schaeffer - https://www.chrisschaeffer.com/

Show Notes:
This week we're doing a deep dive to help simplify a topic that affects everything you do inside Google Ads - conversions and conversion tracking. We discuss what generated the idea to do the episode, why conversion tracking is so important, what we’re seeing with our clients, ways to track conversions, and conversion settings.

(5:04) What comes to mind when you think of conversion tracking?
"It's the #1 missed simple thing in Google Ads. You set it once, then it provides data for the rest of your account." – Chris
"As good as you are at Google Ads, you’ll always be better if you can get more conversion data." – Jason

(9:18) Ways to track conversions

Website calls, call extension, website forms, sales

(12:40) Should I be tracking soft conversions such as newsletter signups, views of contact page, time on site, etc.?

"No, those things don’t matter. I don’t care about things that don’t’ generate revenue or aren’t a significant action for the client. They’re of interest, but not value-driven." – Chris

(20:48) Setting conversions up inside google ads account
The settings you choose will play out in the columns on the conversation actions page under "measurement."

(21:49) In the count column, should I use "count one conversion for conversion" or "count every conversion"?

"If you are an e-commerce advertiser, you can go with "count every conversion" because every conversion is a purchase. If you’re doing anything outside of e-commerce, go with "count one conversion" because every action is derived from an individual and that individual is one opportunity." – Chris

(24:46) "Include in conversions" – the most misunderstood column

"This is a trigger to determine if it’s a hard sale or soft lead. If you uncheck 'include in conversions,' it no longer tracks in the 'conversions' column; it moves the tracking 'all conversions' column." - Chris

(29:16) Click through conversion window
The window can be set up to 90 days, but 30 days is standard. Extending the conversion window allows someone who previously clicked on your ad without converting to return (even organically) and act, then attribute the conversion to the original click.

(34:50) Tag assistant and tracking a thank you page vs. clicks on a button
"I do use Tag Assist in Chrome. I like it but it’s just a starting point to let you know if you're having a big problem." - Jason

It's much easier to track thank you pages. A thank you page conversion occurs when someone fills out a form and goes to a thank you page that contains the conversion code. When they see that thank you page, the client gets a conversion. "Clicks on a button" conversions occur when a user clicks the button to submit a form.

We need your help! Please help us grow the show:
If you don't mind, please leave us a rating and review where you listen to podcasts and share the show with friends because it helps us grow the show and create more content.
Send us your questions here - https://paidsearchpodcast.com/contact-us/
First 100 Episodes - https://paidsearchpodcast.com/archive/

Adventures by A Himitsu https://soundcloud.com/a-himitsu
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/2Pj0MtT
Music released by Argofox https://youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8