Paid search guide 07
Decide which customer actions count—a completed form, a phone call that actually connects. Test that each one records once. Keep ‘someone clicked Call’ separate from ‘we booked a job,’ or Google will learn to chase the easy clicks.
← All Google Ads and paid-search guidanceName the action
Pick the source
Test it once
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Check real leads
Why this matters
A local lead usually passes through several steps: a tap on the phone number, a call that connects, a form confirmation, an email in your inbox, a qualified inquiry, and maybe a booked job. If Google Ads counts all of them as equal conversions, totals double up and automated bidding chases the easiest one. How to test forms and calls is covered in call, form, and booking tracking; this guide covers the Google Ads settings.
Google Ads lets you choose which actions are primary—used in the Conversions column and, for the selected goals, in bidding—and which are secondary, shown only in All conversions. Calls can be counted with Google forwarding numbers and a minimum call length you set. Conversions are credited using data-driven or last-click attribution. For visitors in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, Google requires you to pass consent signals, usually through Consent Mode.
Responsible practices
Write one line per action: what happened, where, and what proves it. ‘Phone link tap,’ ‘Call over 60 seconds,’ and ‘Form delivered’ are different actions—name them that way. Don't call a tap a call or a booking request a confirmed appointment.
Actions can come from the Google tag on your site, Google Ads call tracking, GA4 key events imported into Google Ads, or offline imports from your records. GA4 (Google Analytics 4) renamed its ‘conversions’ to ‘key events’ in 2024; in Google Ads, you create a conversion from a key event. Avoid counting the same form through both a Google Ads tag and a GA4 import.
Google Ads can show a Google forwarding number in call ads and on your website, then count a call as a conversion when it lasts longer than the minimum length you set. Choose a length that filters out wrong numbers and hang-ups. Keep your main listed number consistent—see waste prevention.
Make the one or two actions closest to real business—a delivered form, a qualified call—primary. Keep taps, page views, and form starts secondary so they are visible but not bid on. Custom goals are an exception: their actions can feed bidding either way, so check campaign goals.
Enhanced conversions for leads sends a hashed (scrambled) email or phone number from your form, then lets you upload later outcomes—such as qualified or booked—matched to that lead. It improves accuracy but uses customer data, so it needs a privacy notice and Google's customer-data policies. See lead quality.
Google Ads now offers data-driven attribution (the default for most actions) and last click; first-click, linear, time-decay, and position-based models were retired in 2023. If you get visitors from the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, set up Consent Mode so Google receives their consent choices. Retest after site, form, phone, or consent changes.
Conversion setup review
List every conversion action in Google Ads with its source and whether it is primary.
Make only real-lead actions primary; set taps, page views, and form starts to secondary.
Check each campaign's goals, including any custom goals, to see what bidding uses.
Set a minimum call length for call conversions.
Remove duplicate counting between Google Ads tags and imported GA4 key events.
Submit a test form and place a test call, then confirm each records once.
Confirm Consent Mode is working if you get visitors from the EEA, UK, or Switzerland.
Avoid these failures
Auctions, demand, clicks, conversion volume, lead quality, acquisition cost, booked work, margin, and revenue depend on factors outside any provider's control. Results are not guaranteed.
Questions business owners ask
Start with actions you can test that mean real interest: a delivered form or a call longer than your minimum. Keep weaker signals like button taps as secondary. Later, add qualified or booked outcomes through an import if you can record them reliably.
Primary actions appear in the Conversions column and are used for bidding when their goal is selected. Secondary actions appear in All conversions for observation only. Actions in a custom goal can be used for bidding either way, so check each campaign's goals.
Google Ads offers data-driven attribution, which spreads credit based on your account's data, and last click, which gives all credit to the final ad click. Data-driven is the default for most actions. Other models were retired in 2023, and actions using them were moved to data-driven.
No. Consent choices, devices, browsers, phone calls, and delays all leave gaps. Compare Google Ads with your own lead records each month. See why platform numbers differ for the common reasons.
Primary guidance
Make every conversion explainable