Paid Ads Strategy
The Conversion Tracking Checklist We Run Before Spending a Dollar
A Google Ads account is only as trustworthy as its conversion tracking — if the counting is wrong, every decision built on it is wrong too. That's why we verify tracking before we spend a dollar. This is the exact pre-launch checklist: what counts, how it's wired, how we test it, and how we keep it honest.
Decide what counts as a lead
- List every action that means a real lead: calls, form submits, booked appointments, quote requests
- Put a rough dollar value on each — a booked job is worth more than a form fill
- Separate real lead actions from soft signals like newsletter signups or page views
- Agree on the list up front — what counts is a business decision, not a technical one
Wire the plumbing end to end
- Link Google Ads and GA4 so both systems see the same clicks and conversions
- Give each conversion one home — imported from GA4 or built in Google Ads, never both
- Add call tracking wherever the phone is the lead, including calls placed from the ad itself
- Decide which actions Google optimizes toward — only real leads should steer the bidding
Test every path by hand
- Submit your own test form and watch it land as exactly one conversion, on the right action
- Place a call to the tracking number and confirm it records once, not twice
- Book a test appointment and make sure it doesn't also count as a form fill
- If anything fires twice, zero times, or on the wrong action, fix it before spending
Keep it honest after launch
- Hunt for double-counting — the same lead landing in two conversion actions at once
- Exclude your own team's visits and test conversions so the numbers stay clean
- Re-run the full test after any site change — small updates quietly break tracking
- Judge the account on cost per lead — clicks are the cost, leads are the product
We audit tracking before we touch a budget — book a demo and we'll walk through yours.