Google Ads counts whatever you tell it to count. If a page view, a button click or a reloaded thank-you page is set up as a conversion, the dashboard can show 40 conversions in a month that brought your sales team 12 enquiries.
When the two numbers disagree, check the tracking before you judge the campaign, because automated bidding learns from that conversion count. A Google Ads agency in Singapore should be able to show you exactly what each conversion in your account counts. The five checks below let you confirm it yourself.
What Should Google Ads Conversion Tracking Count?
Conversion tracking records the actions you care about after someone clicks an ad, such as a form submission, a phone call or a purchase. Each action needs a clear definition. Counting every page view as a conversion tells Google to find more visitors, not more customers.
Google Ads also separates primary and secondary actions. Only primary actions appear in the main Conversions column and feed bidding; secondary actions are for observation and show only under All conversions. Make real enquiries and sales primary, and keep softer signals, such as page views or button clicks, secondary.
Why Does the Dashboard Show More Conversions Than I Received?
Check these causes first:
- A lead action counts every conversion instead of one per click, so a reloaded thank-you page or a second form submission counts twice. Google Ads Help recommends “One” for leads and “Every” for sales.
- A minor action, such as a button click, is set as primary, so it counts the same as a form submission.
- Your team clicks your own ads and submits test enquiries, which count like real ones.
How Can You Check Your Tracking in Five Steps?
Step | Test |
1 | List the real actions that make you money |
2 | Submit a test enquiry with Google’s Tag Assistant connected and check the conversion tag fires once, on the thank-you page |
3 | Reload the thank-you page; if the tag fires again, set lead actions to count One |
4 | Check which actions are primary: only real enquiries and sales should be |
5 | Compare the dashboard with your inbox or CRM for a week |
Use Tag Assistant rather than waiting for the test to appear in your reports, because an enquiry made without clicking an ad isn’t recorded as a Google Ads conversion. Once tracking is clean, our guide on how to lower Google Ads costs with an SEM agency explains what to optimise next. Automated campaign types bid on the Conversions column too, so a wrong count steers them in the wrong direction. See our note on Performance Max campaigns.
What Does Bad Tracking Cost You?
If automated bidding optimises for the wrong action, it spends your budget finding more of that action. On a $1,500 monthly budget, that could mean a month of spend chasing button clicks instead of enquiries. At $5,000 a month, the limit for our Premium package, the same mistake costs more than three times as much.
If the tracking checks out and enquiries are still low, look at the page people land on. Our post on why good clicks still fail to convert covers that side.
If an agency already runs your account, ask them to do the Tag Assistant test with you and show which actions are primary. Conversion tracking is included in our Premium and Scale Google Ads packages but isn’t listed in Starter, so check what your plan covers. You can compare packages on our Google Ads page.
Book a free consultation and we’ll look at what your account is counting.
Other Tracking Questions
Should I count WhatsApp clicks?
Count them only if you also record how many become real enquiries. A click is not a lead, so keep WhatsApp clicks secondary until you know how many turn into conversations.
Can I fix past data?
Mostly not. Fixing a broken tag doesn’t correct conversions it has already recorded. Google Ads can retract individual conversions, but only ones recorded with a transaction ID, so for most lead forms the practical step is to note the date of the fix and compare before and after.
Who should own the account?
You. Your business should own the Google Ads account and have admin access to its tracking, so the history stays with you if you change agencies.
How long before I trust the data?
Give it at least a full week after any change, and longer if you only get a few enquiries a week, so one unusual day doesn’t skew the comparison.