Conversion tracking is a no-cost tool that shows you what happens after someone interacts with your ads – whether they donated, purchased something from your charity shop, called your support line, signed up for your newsletter, signed up to volunteer, or downloaded your app. When someone completes an action that you've defined as valuable, these completed actions are called conversions.
Google Ad Grants conversion tracking policy
Google Ad Grants policy requires active and accurate conversion tracking.
Track at least 1 conversion per month
At least one of the conversion types below must be set up as described and when the account is active, must accrue at least 1 conversion per month to comply with our policy.
Track meaningful actions
Conversion types such as time spent on site or homepage visits may be added to your account, but must be excluded from “Conversions” and use the category of ‘Other.’
If your conversion rate is high, please confirm that it's due to strong performance for a meaningful conversion.
Depending on the type of goal that you wish to track, the set up is different, so the first step in setting up conversion tracking is choosing your goal. Based on the action you wish to track, skip to the relevant section below.
Track a monetary transaction
Import transactions from Google Analytics (recommended)
1. Set up Google Analytics and create goals
Set up goals in Analytics to view metrics like bounce rate, average session duration, and pages per session for your Ad Grants campaigns that cannot be accessed in Google Ads.
- Install Google Analytics or sign in to an existing account. Use the same admin login for your Google Ads account and your Google Analytics account.
- Set up one of the following:
- Ecommerce to view transaction data
- Destination goal tracking of the payment confirmation page
- Event tracking on the final stage payment confirmation button if you direct people to a third party payment processor and cannot get the confirmation or value passed back
- Link your Google Ads and Analytics accounts.
2. Import Google Analytics goals into Google Ads
Once you have goals created in Google Analytics, import them into your Google Ads account to use the conversion data to optimize your account.
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Sign in to your Google Ads account. Sign in with the same username that you used to create your Ad Grants account in Part 1.
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In the upper right corner, click the tool icon
, and under "Measurement," click Conversions.
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Click the plus button
.
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Select Import, select Google Analytics, then click Continue.
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Select the goal or transaction meeting the following requirements that you want to import, then click Import and continue.
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Click Done.
, and under "Measurement," click Conversions.
.Once you've imported your Analytics goals, edit them to save the following settings.
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Click the name of the imported goal you want to edit.
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In the bottom right corner, click Edit Settings.
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Click Category. Select "Purchase/Sale" from the dropdown for the conversion action that reports a transaction with a monetary value.
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Click Value. Use the setting “Use the value from Analytics” once you have accurately established value tracking in Analytics. Deselect/select “Use the same currency as in Analytics.”
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Click Count. Select “Every,” which is best for transactions, when every conversion likely adds value for your nonprofit. “One” is best for leads, such as a sign-up form on your website, when only one conversion per ad click likely adds value for your organization.
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Click Conversion window. Select how long to track conversions after an ad interaction from the drop-down. 90 days is recommended to capture longer purchasing cycles, like donations.
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Click View-through conversion window. Select how long to track view-through conversions from the drop-down. 30 days is recommended to capture longer purchasing cycles, like donations.
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Click Include in “Conversions.” Select “Yes” to include tracking for monetary transactions in your "Conversions" reporting column and use this data to influence your Smart Bidding strategy.
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Click Attribution model and select an appropriate model. We recommend “Time decay.”
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Click Save for each section and Done at the bottom of the window.
Use Google Ads conversion tracking for your website
Although we recommend creating goals in Google Analytics and importing them into Google Ads. You can also create them directly from the Google Ads tool by taking the following steps.
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Sign in to your Google Ads account with the same username that you used to create your Ad Grants account in Part 1.
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In the upper right corner, click the tool icon
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Click the plus button
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Select Website.
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Next to “Conversion name,” enter a name for the conversion you’d like to track, such as “Once off donation,” “Monthly donation,” “Ticket purchase,” “Online store purchase.” This will help you recognize this conversion action later in conversion reports.
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Next to “Category,” select Purchase/Sale from the dropdown.
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Next to “Value,” select how to track the value of each conversion.
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Select “Use different values for each conversion” if the total amount could be different each time the same conversion happens, e.g. if you’re tracking purchases of products or tickets with different prices. Later, when you add your conversion tracking tag, you’ll need to customize your tag to track transaction-specific values.
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Select “Use the same value for each conversion” if you plan to set up multiple conversion actions for each transaction and each transaction tracks a specific value. For example, set up a conversion action with a value of $10 if someone donates $10 by tracking a visit to the confirmation page: www.example.com/thankyou10. In order to track a donation of $20, a second conversion action with a value of $20 should be set up to track a visit to the confirmation page: www.example.com/thankyou20.
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Next to “Count,” select “Every,” which is best for transactions, when every conversion likely adds value for your nonprofit. “One” is best for leads, such as a sign-up form on your website, when only one conversion per ad click likely adds value for your organization.
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Click Conversion window. Select how long to track conversions after an ad interaction from the drop-down. 90 days is recommended to capture longer purchasing cycles, like donations.
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Click View-through conversion window. Select how long to track view-through conversions from the drop-down. 30 days is recommended to capture longer purchasing cycles, like donations.
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Click Include in “Conversions.” Select “Yes” to include data for this important conversion action tracking monetary transactions in your "Conversions" reporting column and use it to influence your Smart Bidding strategy.
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Click “Attribution model” and select an appropriate model. We recommend “Time decay.”
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Click Create and continue.
You’ll now see a screen that shows you’ve created your conversion action. Follow the instructions in Step 2 to set up your tag. The tag must be implemented for conversion tracking to be deemed complete and your account eligible to be activated.
Import transactions from a third party platform (e.g. Paypal, Classy, Ticketmaster).
Tracking the value of leads
If you are tracking a lead and you are confident of the end value to your nonprofit, add that value and use the category "Purchase/Sale".
Track a sign-up, service user, lead, form submitted or key document download
Use Google Analytics to track the thank you page or a click of a button
1. Set up Google Analytics and create goals
Set up goals in Analytics to view metrics like bounce rate, average session duration, and pages per session for your Ad Grants campaigns that cannot be accessed in Google Ads.
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Install Google Analytics or sign in to an existing account. Use the same admin login for your Google Ads account and your Google Analytics account.
- Set up one of the following:
- Destination goal track the confirmation or thank you page.
- Event tracking on the action button.
- Link your Google Ads and Analytics accounts.
2. Import Google Analytics goals into Google Ads
Once you have goals created in Google Analytics, import them into your Google Ads account to use the conversion data to optimize your account.
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Sign in to your Google Ads account. Sign in with the same username that you used to create your Ad Grants account in Part 1.
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In the upper right corner, click the tool icon
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Click the plus button
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Select Import, select Google Analytics, then click Continue.
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Select the goal or transaction meeting the following requirements that you want to import, then click Import and continue.
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Ensure that the goal that is tracking an online transaction is a Destination goal tracking a visit to the confirmation page.
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If you don’t have a confirmation page, or if you direct people off your site to complete the action and can’t get the confirmation passed back, set up Event tracking and track a click on the final stage submission button. Events are user interactions with content that can be tracked independently from a web page or a screen load. Downloads, mobile ad clicks, gadgets, Flash elements, AJAX embedded elements, and video plays are all examples of actions you might want to track as Events.
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Click Done.
Once you've imported your Analytics goals, edit them to save the following settings.
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Click the name of the imported goal you want to edit.
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In the bottom right corner, click Edit Settings.
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Next to “Category,” select Signup or Lead depending on the conversion action. Note: Don’t select Purchase/Sale unless you are tracking a valid monetary value for that action.
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Next to “Count,” select “One,” which is usually the best for signups and leads, when only one conversion per ad click likely adds value for your organization. In some more rare cases “Every” may be more suitable, when every conversion likely adds value for your nonprofit.
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Click Conversion window. Select how long to track conversions after an ad interaction from the drop-down. 90 days is recommended in many cases when that matches the time needed to convert a visitor to a supporter or service user of your nonprofit.
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Click View-through conversion window. Select how long to track view-through conversions from the drop-down. 30 days is recommended to capture longer conversion cycles, like for volunteer signups.
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Click Include in “Conversions.” Select “Yes” to include data for this important conversion action in your "Conversions" reporting column and use it to influence your Smart Bidding strategy.
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Click Attribution model and select an appropriate model. We recommend “Time decay.”
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Click Save for each section and Done at the bottom of the window.
Import goals from a third party tracking platform
If you are using a third party tracking platform to track goals you may be able to import goals into Google Ads. Reach out to your tracking platform to find out more.
Visit our Help Center for guidance if you are using Classy, Frontstream Artez or Blackbaud Luminate.
Track engagement with your website content
Use Google Analytics or a third party tracking program to track website engagement signals.
Use Google Analytics for easy to set up engagement goals
We recommend Smart Goals from Google Analytics. Smart Goals use machine learning to examine dozens of signals about your website sessions to determine which of those are most likely to result in conversions. Each session is assigned a score, with the "best" sessions being translated into Smart Goals. Some examples of the signals included in the Smart Goals model are Session duration, Pages per session, Location, Device and Browser.
We recommend adding another Lead, Signup or Purchase/Sale goal along with Smart Goals.
If the linked Google Ads account falls below 250 clicks over the past 30 days, Smart Goals will be deactivated until the clicks rise again to 500 or more.
Instructions:
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After enabling a Smart Goal in Analytics, import it into Google Ads along with another goal to ensure you secure at least 1 conversion per month when your account begins to serve.
Track hotline or support line phone calls
Track when someone calls you from a phone number in your ads or from a phone number on your website, or when they click your phone number on your mobile website. Learn more about phone call conversion tracking.
Instructions:
Ad Grants Requirement.
Minimum 30 seconds call length
Track when a customer installs your app or completes an in-app action
Track when someone installs your app or completes an in-app action, such as a donation or signup, after clicking on your ad. Learn more about mobile app conversion tracking.
Instructions:
Tips
Use Google Tag Manager to add or edit tracking codes
Google Tag Manager is a tag management system (TMS) that allows you to quickly and easily update tracking codes and related code fragments collectively known as tags on your website or mobile app. Once the small segment of Tag Manager code has been added to your project, you can safely and easily deploy analytics and measurement tag configurations from a web-based user interface.
Track multiple conversions but monitor your conversion rate
Do you want to track multiple kinds of conversions from the list above? Just set up a different conversion action for each distinctive goal you want to track. For example, you can set up one conversion action to track donations on your website, and another to track calls from your ads.
In Google Ads, some conversions can be excluded from "Conversions" and view only, and others can be included in "Conversions" and used for Smart Bidding strategy signals. Ensure that only the most meaningful actions are included in "Conversions". A good indicator is whether the Conv. Rate is greater than 15%, If so, consider excluding some actions from Conversions, like an engagement goal.
Swap control for easier management with Smart Campaigns
Google Ads expert mode provides you with full control over your ad campaigns. The alternative is setting up Smart campaigns. Smart campaigns save you time with automated settings and your account will not be subject to Ad Grants’ performance and conversion tracking requirements.
Follow the Google Ad Grants activation guide to set up your Smart campaigns account for automated performance insights and minimal ongoing management.