Conversions come in many different forms, the most common are:
- Filling out a form (enquiry forms / contact us forms / requesting a quote
- Purchasing a Product
- Requesting a call back
- Making a phone call
- Downloading a brochure / pdf
- Engaging in live chat
- Even just viewing a certain page on you site
Tracking any of the above will allow you (or your agency) to identify which keywords and ads are most successful to your business. Understanding what you are getting for your spend is of utmost importance to any business (no matter the size).
Without conversion tracking you (or your agency) are limited by how you can manage a PPC account; yes you can focus on clicks, impressions, cost, CTR and perhaps user engagement metrics such as time on site and bounce rate, but this will not give you a true understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
If you are spending money on Google Google Ads (or any other platform, Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn), whether it is £2/day or £2,000/day, implementing tracking should be a high priority. You might think that your money is being spent wisely on highly relevant keywords, but sometimes it’s the unexpected keywords that work. Keywords that spend the most money aren’t always the keywords that bring you the best return. So why sit there assuming something is or isn’t working, when the ability to get clear data is available to you.
Setting up tracking doesn’t have to be complex or time-consuming. Depending on your conversion goal, there are various ways to set it up.
Below are a few examples of the types of tracking that are readily available:
Form Submission Tracking (if you DON’T have Google Analytics)
As an example, if your goal/conversion point is form-based but you don’t have Google Analytics, you can simply apply the Google Ads conversion tracking code to your site’s confirmation page. This code will trigger a conversion every time someone reaches this page, allowing you to see which keywords have driven conversions in the Google Ads interface.
Form Submission Tracking (if you DO have Google Analytics)
If you have Google Analytics set up and linked to your Google Ads account, you can set up what is known as a Destination (URL) Goal. Setting this up will trigger a conversion when someone reaches this confirmation page / URL. This goal set up does not require any additional code to be applied to your website.
These 2 options above will only work if you have a confirmation page after a form submission.
If you don’t have a confirmation page you can use Event tracking in Google Analytics to monitor how many people successfully submit a form. This set up requires a piece of code to be applied to the relevant button(s) on your website.
Both the Google Analytics Goal and Event (once created as a Goal) can easily be imported in Google Ads to use for bid management purposes.
Ecommerce Tracking (Google Analytics)
If you sell products on your website, you can set up E-Commerce tracking (in Google Analytics) to track which products have been sold and their associated revenue. This information can be tied back to the exact keyword(s) that a user has typed in to find your product.
The setup of Ecommerce tracking is more complex than that used for tracking form submissions, but it is certainly worth investing time / money into getting this implemented properly. The value that this granular data provides can help ensure you are spending your marketing budget on the ‘right’ keywords.
Call Tracking
If the conversion point on your website is someone picking up the phone and calling you, you can track this too. This can be as granular as keyword level, telling you exactly which keywords have driven phone calls and even which ones have led to qualified leads/sales/bookings. A call conversion can be a call that last for a particular length of time, for example if a conversion is someone booking an appointment and you know it takes at least 2 minutes to get all the details from a caller, you can set call tracking up to pass a conversion as only calls that are longer than 120 seconds in duration. Again, if these are set up as goals within Google Analytics, they can be imported into Google Ads to allow you or your agency to bid and manage efficiently. Contrary to many peoples perceptions, keyword level call tracking doesn’t have to break the bank.
The facilities to track all of these things are available (and most of them are free), so we should be utilising them.
Installing tracking will allow your Google Ads budget to be spent wisely (on those keywords that convert best for your business). It’s worth spending a little bit of time (and money if you need someone to set it up for you), as you are likely to save money in the long run. You won’t be wasting budget bidding on keywords that don’t lead to conversions.
It’s important to note that conversion tracking does not just benefit PPC; it will also allow you to determine which other channels are working for your business. You will be able to see how well your Direct, Referral, Organic, Email and Social Media traffic is performing too.
Conversion tracking is not just about determining which keywords work, your account can also be optimised based on other factors such as the time of day or location that converts best.
So, whether you’re spending £5/day or £5,000/day, get conversion tracking set up on your website. This will allow you to make informed decisions based on real data and increase your ROI.
Implementing basic tracking need not be time consuming or costly. If you are not able to do this yourself or need assistance, our team of experts are on hand to help you. Contact us today to discuss your tracking requirements and get your ROI on track!