Set up conversion tracking before you spend on ads

Clicks and impressions tell you that people saw or tapped an ad. They do not tell you whether the ad brought an enquiry. Conversion tracking closes that gap.

What counts as a conversion

• A submitted enquiry or audit form.
• A tap on the phone number or the WhatsApp button.
• A booking, purchase or download, if your site has one.

The basic setup

Create a Google Analytics 4 property, mark each of those actions as a key event, and connect it to your ad accounts. For Meta, install the pixel and set the same events. Then test each one yourself and confirm it appears in the reports before any money is spent.

Why it changes decisions

With tracking, you can see which campaigns, keywords and ads produce enquiries and which only produce visits. You can then move budget away from what is not working. Without it, every decision is a guess.

Common mistakes

• Counting page views of a thank-you page that people can reach without submitting anything.
• Tracking only form submissions and missing calls and WhatsApp taps.
• Never testing the events after a website change.

Set aside a few minutes each month to test that tracking still works. Site updates quietly break it more often than people expect.