Link GTM to Google Ads: A Guide to Google Ads Conversion Tracking

Kyle Headland | 4 June, 2025 | 6 minute read | Blog, Digital Marketing, PPC

Are you struggling with the attribution of your conversion data when running Google Ads alongside your other marketing efforts? In this simple Google Ads conversion tracking guide, we run through the power of data-driven advertising, why proper integration matters, what you’ll need to get started, how a professional agency will connect Google Ads to Google Tag Manager (GTM), common mistakes we see with setup, and best practices for setup and maintenance.

You may be finding that you’re seeing leads coming through in the back end of your website, but when you look in GA4 or Google Ads you have no way to attribute them, as you don’t have conversion tracking set up to track contact forms, email clicks, phone call clicks etc.

With the introduction of smart bidding strategies and smart campaigns, it’s now more important than ever to have Google Ads conversions set up, as they work predominantly on the performance of conversions (leads) that come through these campaigns. If you don’t have these set up, then campaigns have nothing to feed the smart bidding strategies to grow and scale.

This is where Google Tag Manager comes in. Since 2018, Google has been pushing for marketers and businesses to utilise Google Ads conversion tracking for streamlined conversion setup, and with the introduction of Consent Mode and privacy regulation compliance in 2020, this is the simplest way to make sure attribution is not lost when users enter your website and accept cookies.

However, misconfigurations are common, so it’s always important to have a detailed plan and strategy laid out when thinking about Google Ads conversion tracking and linking Google Ads with Google Tag Manager.

Incorrect implementation or missing tracking can be costly. If your campaigns are unable to see conversions, then this can lead to wasted ad spend, underreporting, or missed optimisations.

Recently we worked with an ecommerce client that had lost all conversions on their Google Ads account after an update they made to their WordPress website. On close inspection, we could see they had multiple Google Tags running on their site that made it impossible for Google to know which tag was correct. The loss in conversion data resulted in their Smart Shopping and Performance Max campaigns no longer working the way they did previously.

We helped them to pinpoint where the issue was coming from, implemented a fix that meant only one Google Tag was visible in Google Tag Manager, and provided them with a strategy to bring conversions back to their Google Ads campaigns.

Auditing your Google Ads can be tricky. We’ve created a guide to help you understand the basics and help you make sure you’re getting the most out of your account, including Google Ads conversion tracking.

• Google Tag Manager is installed on your website
• Google Ads account with website conversion actions set up
• Website access for verification and debugging
• Access to Google Analytics (GA4) for enhanced analysis

*We typically onboard clients and audit these areas first to ensure everything is clean, conflict-free and scalable.

Step 1. Define conversion events

• What counts as a conversion event (form submissions, phone calls, etc.)
• Match business goals with measurable user actions

Step 2. Create Google Ads Conversion In Google Ads

• Log into your Google Ads account
• Under Goals, click Conversions and select Summary from the dropdown menu
• Create the desired conversion e.g. form submission
• Under Tag setup select Use Google Tag Manager
• Take the Conversion ID & Conversion Label ready to place these into the new tag you’ve set up in Google Tag Manager

Step 3. Create Google Tag in GTM

• Log into your Google Tag Manager account and go to your Workspace
• Create a new tag, configure for Google Ads and set up a Google Tag entering AW- with the conversion ID (this is your Google Ads Tag) to fire on all pages

Step 4. Create Conversion Linker Tag

• Create a new tag, configure for Google Ads and set up a Conversion Linker tag to fire on all pages (this is especially important for cross-domain tracking to ensure that accurate tracking of user interactions is carried out)

Step 5. Create Google Ads Conversion

• Create a new tag, configure for Google Ads, and set up a Google Ads Conversion Tracking tag
• Add the Conversion ID and Conversion Label taken from your Google Ads account and trigger the tag to fire on the desired conversion action e.g. Form Submission

Step 6. Test Everything & Publish Changes

• Use GTM preview mode and Google Tag Assistant
• Quality Assurance processes making sure that tags are firing as they should and debug common issues
• When you’re sure everything is working correctly, publish your changes!

• Tags firing on the wrong pages or failing to fire at all
• Double counting conversions
• Trigger setup errors
• Missing Conversion Linkers
• Outdated container versions

It can be an easy task when you have the knowledge and preparation in place, but when it comes to your business, you need that peace of mind that tracking is implemented correctly, and that’s where we come in. With vast experience in linking GTM to Google Ads, creating and carrying out tracking plans to make sure you get the most out of your data.

Do you want to learn more about PPC, SEO, and tracking? Explore our blog for more tips and guides to help you take your business to the next level.