Enhanced conversions for web is a feature that can improve the accuracy of your conversion measurement. It supplements your existing conversion tags by sending hashed first-party conversion data from your website in a privacy safe way. The feature uses a secure one-way hashing algorithm called SHA256 on your first-party customer data, such as email addresses, before sending to Google. The hashed data is then matched with signed-in Google accounts in order to attribute your campaign conversions to ad events, such as clicks or views.
This article describes how to set up enhanced conversions for web using the Google Tag Manager. You can also set up enhanced conversions for web with the Google tag or set up enhanced conversions for web with Google Ads API.
Before you begin
Review the following requirements before starting setup:
- Know the conversion page URL where the conversion tag fires (such as the confirmation page URL) and the conversion event trigger (for example, a button click or a page view).
- Make sure there is first-party customer data available (email, full name and home address, and/or phone number) on the page where your conversion tracking tag fires.
- This implementation requires knowledge of how conversion tracking is set up on your website and some code changes, so make sure you're able to speak with your development team as needed.
- Ensure that you've reviewed and confirmed that you can comply with the enhanced conversion Customer data policies in Google Ads (view steps on this below, under Instructions).
- If you set up conversion using URL, you can only set up enhanced conversions using the JavaScript or CSS selectors options or automatic enhanced conversions.
Instructions
- In your Google Ads account, click the Goals icon
.
- Click the Conversions drop down in the section menu.
- Click Settings.
- Expand the “Enhanced conversions for web” panel.
- Check “Turn on enhanced conversions for web”.
- Review compliance statement. To enable enhanced conversions you must confirm that you'll comply with our policies and that the Google Ads Data Processing Terms apply to your use of enhanced conversions. Click Agree to acknowledge your acceptance of these terms.
- Click the dropdown to choose a method for setting up and managing user-provided data. Select “Google Tag Manager”.
- Note: If you send Google enhanced conversions data in a way that’s different from what you’ve already selected in Google Ads, that data may not be processed. For example, if you select “Google tag” and try to send data through API, the data sent through API won’t be processed.
- If you’re not sure which tagging method to select, click Which method should I use? Enter your website domain and click Check URL to view suggestions.
- Click Go to Google Tag Manager and follow the instructions below to complete the setup process in Google Tag Manager.
Complete Enhanced Conversions Setup in Google Tag Manager
There are 3 ways to set up enhanced conversions in Google Tag Manager:
- Automatic collection: This method allows the tag to automatically detect user-provided data on the page. It’s the quickest and easiest setup method, but it’s not as reliable as adding a code snippet to your website or specifying CSS selectors or Javascript variables.
- Code: Add a code snippet on your website that sends hashed customer data for matching. This method improves the accuracy of enhanced conversions by ensuring that you consistently send properly formatted data whenever your conversion tag fires.
- Manual configuration: Manually specify CSS selectors or Javascript variables on your page that contain relevant user-provided data. This method is more precise than automatic detection, but not as reliable as adding code to your website. If you frequently change your website code, in particular the formatting or CSS Selectors on your conversion page, you may want to consider using data layer variables instead or the “Code” option, as changing your website formatting could disrupt the CSS Selector method.
Note: It is a best practice to use the ID attribute to retrieve the value from a DOM element. IDs are unique and less likely to change over time than other properties, such as class names or names. They also aren’t affected by layout changes, which means that your code will still work even if the layout of your page changes.
If a field doesn’t already have an ID, you can add one by using the id
attribute in the HTML. For example:
<input type="text" id="myTextField">
After you complete setup in Google Tag Manager, you can validate your implementation to make sure enhanced conversion is set up correctly.
Set up enhanced conversions using “automatic collection” in Google Tag Manager
You can set up automatic enhanced conversions in 2 different ways:
- Standard automatic enhanced conversions: Use this method when user-provided data (email, phone number, or address) is available on the conversion event page. For example, if your conversion event page is the purchase confirmation page and user email is visible on that page, use this method.
- Automatic enhanced conversions with the user-provided data event tag: Use this method when customer data (email, phone number, or address) isn't available on the conversion event page, but is available on a previous page. For example, if your conversion event page is the purchase confirmation page and user email is entered on a page prior to the purchase confirmation page, use this method.
Set up standard automatic enhanced conversions
Set up automatic enhanced conversions with the user-provided data event tag
Set up enhanced conversions using “manual configuration” in Google Tag Manager
Find enhanced conversions variables
Enable enhanced conversions in Google Tag Manager
Identify enhanced conversions CSS Selectors and input into Google Tag Manager
Set up enhanced conversions using “Code” in Google Tag Manager
Identify and define your enhanced conversions variables
Enable enhanced conversions in Google Tag Manager and create custom javascript variable
Validate your implementation
To verify if your enhanced conversions implementation is working correctly, navigate to your conversion page (you may have to complete a test conversion to do this), and follow these steps. It’s best practice to do this immediately after implementing enhanced conversions so any changes can be made if it's not working properly.
Validate your implementation using Chrome Developer Tools
After 48 hours, review the Diagnostics report to confirm your implementation
Turn off enhanced conversions
To turn off enhanced conversions at the account level, follow the steps below:
- In your Google Ads account, click the Goals icon
.
- Click the Conversions drop down in the section menu.
- Click Settings.
- Expand the “Enhanced conversions for web” panel.
- Unselect the checkbox to turn off enhanced conversions.
- Click Save.
To turn off enhanced conversions at the conversion action level, follow the steps below:
- In your Google Ads account, click the Goals icon
.
- Click the Conversions drop down in the section menu.
- Select the conversion action you want to disable enhanced conversions for.
- Click Settings.
- Expand the “Enhanced conversions” panel.
- Unselect the checkbox next to Enable enhanced conversions.
- Click Save.