Google Ads · Tracking and setup
If Google can’t see which clicks turn into customers, it can’t find you more of them. We set up GA4 key events and Google Ads conversions so every call, form, booking and sale is counted once, given the right value and used to bid smarter.
What Google Ads sees
Primary actions steer your bids. Secondary actions are measured so you can see them, but Google doesn’t chase them.
Why it matters
Google Ads is only as smart as the data you feed it. Smart bidding looks at every past conversion, works out what those people had in common, then bids higher for people who look like them. Feed it the wrong signals and it gets very good at finding the wrong people.
We audit a lot of accounts, and bad tracking is the most common problem we find. A thank-you page that counts twice. A button click counted as a lead. A purchase tag that records $0. Each one quietly teaches Google to spend your budget on clicks that never buy.
GA4 is Google’s analytics platform. In 2024 Google renamed GA4 “conversions” to key events. A key event is simply an action you have marked as important, like a form submission or a purchase. Google Ads then turns the key events you choose into conversions and uses them to bid. Getting both sides right, and making sure they agree, is what this service is about.
It sits at the heart of our Google Ads management, and it is the first thing we check in every Google Ads audit.
Try it
Pick the option closest to your business. These are the key events we usually set up, and how we tell Google Ads to treat each one.
| What happens | GA4 key event | In Google Ads | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quote request form sent | generate_lead | Primary with a set value | The lead you want more of |
| Phone call from an ad or your site, 60 seconds or longer | Tracked in Google Ads | Primary | Most trade jobs start with a call |
| Tap on your phone number | phone_click | Secondary | Shows intent, but not every tap becomes a call |
| Job booked in your job system | Imported from your CRM | Primary once volume allows | Tells Google which leads became paid work |
| What happens | GA4 key event | In Google Ads | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase | purchase | Primary with the real order value | Lets bidding aim for revenue, not just orders |
| Add to cart | add_to_cart | Secondary | A useful signal, but not a sale |
| Checkout started | begin_checkout | Secondary | Helps spot where checkout loses people |
| Email sign-up | newsletter_signup | Secondary | Worth something, just not a sale |
| Refunded order | Adjusted after the sale | Value reduced | Stops refunds from inflating your results |
| What happens | GA4 key event | In Google Ads | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiry form sent | generate_lead | Primary with a set value | Your first real signal |
| Discovery call booked | book_call | Primary | A stronger sign of a serious buyer |
| Qualified lead or won deal | Imported from your CRM | Primary with real value | Teaches Google what a good lead looks like |
| Brochure or price list download | file_download | Secondary | Research, not yet a lead |
| What happens | GA4 key event | In Google Ads | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online booking completed | booking_complete | Primary with a set value | The action that fills your diary |
| Call to the clinic, 60 seconds or longer | Tracked in Google Ads | Primary | Many patients still prefer to ring |
| Booking started but not finished | booking_start | Secondary | Shows where people drop out |
| New patient enquiry form | generate_lead | Primary or secondary | Depends on how many become patients |
Health businesses: we keep health details out of every event name and every value. Nothing that reveals a condition or treatment is sent to Google.
Event names are examples. We match them to your website, booking system and CRM. Items imported from a CRM use offline conversion imports, and calls use call tracking.
How we set it up
We treat tracking like plumbing. Plan it properly, test every pipe, and write down where everything goes.
We sit down with you and list every action that brings in money: calls, forms, bookings and purchases. Then we agree roughly what each one is worth.
We look at your GA4 property, your Google Ads conversions and your tags. Most accounts we see have at least one duplicate, one broken tag or one conversion counting the wrong thing.
We set up GA4 events through Google Tag Manager, with the details that matter. Purchases carry the value, currency and order ID, so the same sale is never counted twice.
We mark only the events that matter as key events, link GA4 to Google Ads, and choose which source Google Ads bids on for each action.
Primary conversions steer bidding. Secondary ones are there to watch. Getting this split right stops Google chasing cheap actions that look busy but never buy.
We test every conversion with real submissions and check the numbers against your inbox and your sales. Then we write it all down in a tracking plan you keep.
Our GA4 + Google Ads Tracking Plan template maps every conversion, its value and whether it steers bidding. Fill it in, then hand it to whoever sets up your tags.
Get the free PDF See all downloadsThe numbers
Clients often ask why the two reports disagree. They are built to count different things, in different ways.
| GA4 | Google Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| What it counts | Key events, on the day they happen | Conversions, credited back to the day of the ad click |
| Who gets credit | Every channel: SEO, email, social and ads | Only Google Ads |
| How it counts | Every event, or once per session | Every conversion, or one per click |
| Blocked cookies | Gaps where consent or blockers stop tracking | Can model some gaps and use enhanced conversions |
| Best used for | Seeing the whole customer journey | Bidding and budget decisions |
What we find
If any of these sound familiar, your cost per lead is probably not what your dashboard says.
Someone refreshes the thank-you page, or comes back to it later, and it counts again. Your cost per lead looks great. It isn’t real.
We count the successful form submission itself, or remove duplicates with an ID, so one lead is one lead.
A click on “Submit” is counted even when the form fails or the person misses a field.
We track only forms that actually went through.
Without values, Google treats a $20 order and a $2,000 order the same.
We pass the real order value and currency with every purchase.
Conversions double. Google thinks each lead costs half what it does and spends more than it should.
We choose one source per action as primary and set the other to secondary.
Page views, scrolls or video plays are steering your bids.
We move them to secondary, so they are measured but not chased.
A website update removes a tag, and conversions quietly drop to zero for weeks.
We check tracking every week as part of our management and flag drops straight away.
Google keeps moving the goalposts. Here is what matters for your tracking right now.
Is your tracking actually working?
Paste your website into our free Tracking Checker. In about 20 seconds you’ll see whether GA4, Google Ads, the Meta Pixel and cookie consent are set up, and what’s missing.
Check my tracking Free. No sign-up.Keep exploring
Each of these works best alongside the others. Here is how the rest of our tracking and setup work fits together.
We manage Google Ads for businesses right across Australia, including Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Rockingham, Mandurah and Busselton.
Questions
Straight answers to what business owners ask us most.
A key event is an action you have marked as important in GA4, like a form submission, a booking or a purchase. Google renamed GA4 “conversions” to key events in 2024. When you import a key event into Google Ads, it becomes a Google Ads conversion.
For most businesses we bid on the Google Ads conversion tag, because it reports faster and credits the ad click directly. We often import GA4 key events as secondary actions to compare. What matters most is that the same action is never primary in both.
As few as tell the real story. A standard GA4 property lets you mark up to 30 key events, but most businesses need three to six that matter, plus a few secondary signals.
They count differently. GA4 records the event on the day it happens and shares credit across all channels. Google Ads credits the conversion back to the day of the ad click and only counts Google Ads. A small gap is normal. A big one usually means duplicate or broken tracking.
Australian law doesn’t require Google’s consent mode the way European rules do. But if you have visitors from Europe or the UK, or you already use a cookie banner, we set up consent mode so your tags respect each visitor’s choice. Australia’s privacy rules are tightening, so it pays to get this right early.
Most setups take one to two weeks, including testing. Bigger sites with online stores, booking systems or CRMs can take longer. Smart bidding also needs a few weeks of clean data before results settle.
Yes. That is most of what we do. We audit what’s there, keep what works, fix what doesn’t and document the lot.
About the author
Director and Lead Consultant, Anahaw Media
John Conigliaro is the Director and Lead Consultant at Anahaw Media, a Perth digital marketing agency focused on performance. A Filipino-Australian digital marketer now based in Perth, WA, with more than 15 years’ experience across Singapore and Australia, he has led agencies in Australia on technical execution and growth strategy, founded a globally recognised eCommerce brand, and managed almost 300 campaigns, from small businesses to multinational brands, including Canon, Uniqlo, Benefit Cosmetics, Asiana Airlines, Changi Recommends, APM and Golfbox. He completed an MBA and a dissertation on Digital Transformation, holds a specialisation in Computer Applications from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSU-CSB), and is also a consumer tech critic and publisher. His mission is to use his talent and passion for digital marketing to change businesses for the better, in how they win customers and how they build their brand.
Get a free Google Ads audit. We will check your GA4 and Google Ads tracking, show you what is being counted wrong and tell you what we would fix first.
Free guides
Plain-English, step-by-step guides from our team. Use them to do it yourself, or to know what good looks like before you hire anyone. See all guides
How to Set Up Google Ads Conversion Tracking ProperlyHow to set up Google Ads conversion tracking you can trust: what to count, values, One vs Every, GTM vs GA4, enhanced…Read the guide 
How to Set Up Google Tag Manager (Without Breaking Your Tracking)A plain-English guide to set up Google Tag Manager on WordPress or Shopify, with GA4, Google Ads tags, testing and consent done…Read the guide 
How to Import Offline Conversions into Google AdsHow to import offline conversions into Google Ads: GCLID capture, CRM fields, upload methods, time limits and bidding on real sales.Read the guide 
