Google Ads Conversion Tracking Issues

U

Not sure if I am doing this incorrectly or not, but I am not showing any conversions in Google Ads via the confirmation page on Unbounce. I have for sure received conversions on Unbounce, but they don’t seem to be showing up as conversions in Google Ads.

I used the Unbounce script manager to setup both the global site tag and event snippet in the head of the form confirmation dialog. Is this the correct way to do this?

Thanks.

10 replies

Jim_Hill
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Yes, this is how you set that up using GTM. It is very easy and highly recommended you do it using GTM and not by embedding scripts into the confirmation page. Of course you will have first created the conversion in Google Ads and have handy the conversion label you will need.

  1. Configure the GTM tracking code in UnBounce using the script manager and the built in function to embed the GTM tracking code on EVERY page (including the form confirmation page). In Chrome use the Google tag inspector extension and confirm that you are indeed seeing the GTM container and that the container number is correct.
  2. Configure these settings in GTM:
    -Add a tag Universal Google Analytics and be certain that you expand this tag and set the tracking code ID. I usually create a static variable for that value (UA-XXXXXX) and then just use this variable name where it says “Tracking ID.” Don’t miss this step. Make it fire on every page.
    -Add the global tag (fires on every page) Google Conversion Linker. There is nothing to set on this tag, just have it fire on ever page.
    -Create a tag called something like “Google Ads Conversion for Unbounce Generic Form Confirmation Page.” The tag type is Google Ads Conversion Tracking. Enter the conversion label from Google Ads. Add a trigger so that it only fires on the form confirmation page: Page Views | Some Page Views | Page URL matches REGEX ignore case | /.±form_confirmation.html

Test it. Be sure you are using Chrome and have the Tag Assistant extension in place. Visit your landing page. Confirm that the GTM container is loading along with your GA code. Select Record in Tag Assistant. Fill out your CTA form. Watch for the form confirmation page. Hit Stop. View which tags fired. You will see the conversion rule fired.

Or, test it by putting the GTM container into Preview mode. Visit just the form confirmation page URL which will be in the form of your landing page URL followed by a-form_confirmation.html where the first letter is the variant. Just visit that page and you will see that the conversion code fired on the page. Leave Preview mode in GTM unless you want to see that every time you load a page containing that GTM container.

You may be new to Unbounce. I suggest not using the default form confirmation page in most instances as it is better to continue your offer process to a further step in the funnel. After the lead accepts your first offer, send them to a custom thank you page. Then you will need a new firing rule in GTM that looks for the URL of this thank you page, URL ends with or a REGEX for it (thank-you-for-requesting-a-demo) etc. Offer them some gated content (Watch your exclusive video, download your exclusive white paper, register for 10% off your first year…). Feed the fields from formstep1 to this thank you page using the script Unbounce provides in tips and scripts. Ask them for more information you did not get on the first page (company name, phone number) and if they grant it then send them to a form confirmation modal giving them the exclusive content.

If you want I can help you. Email me jim at ufcinc dot com.

Jim Hill, User Friendly Consulting Inc.
A

Hey unifiedpower,

Bottom line is that the Unbounce docs are incorrect and misleading. The scripts are fired in a particular order, and from my discussions with support, the script manager scripts are rendered last in the chain. Also, the confirmation event should not be triggered in the ‘head’ as stated, it should be ‘before body end’. That way, the script manager global tag will be in the head, and the event will be after it which is essential.

So, if you don’t want to use GTM (which can be overkill for a simple landing page), just put your confirmation event in the form dialog with ‘before body end’ and your global tag in the script manager and you should be all good.

Adam

Jess
Rank
Userlevel 7
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Hey folks! First off, big thank you to @Jim_Hill and @adamfoale for their descriptive solutions, you’re both rockstars!! 🌟

I wanted to address this point:

I reached out to our technical writer to double check that our documentation is up-to-date, and right now she’s investigating this alongside our Technical Support manager. This has come up once or twice before so they’re going to look into it and see if there’s ways of improving our documentation to make sure it’s both up-to-date and informative. Thank you for your candid feedback here, it helps keep us accountable to make sure our product and supporting documents are up to snuff. I’ll update here if I learn of any improvements to our documentation!

-Jess

happyagencies
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

We noticed this problem as well. In our case we believe that this is related to how the “domain scripts” are loaded.

For example,
We had 2 domain scripts:

  • Google Ads Global Tag - This goes in both the main page and the
  • Google Ads Conversion Tag - This should go only in the thank you Popup.

Sometimes these scripts are not loaded in the correct order and we believe that prevents the conversion from being triggered.

www.unbouncedesign.com
U

Thanks a ton for the informative response. Going to go through this carefully and make sure I have it setup correctly.

And while I am not new to Unbounce, I had not considered your idea for the gated content and getting more information. This is a great idea which I am going to implement and really appreciate your input on this.

Kenneth.Koh

Hi Everyone!

It seems like there’s been an ongoing discussion about the load sequence of scripts added through Unbounce, either through variant scripts or through Script Manager. Our documentation on setting things up in form confirmation dialog should work if the scripts are fired in the right order.

Check out this documentation for more on the load sequence of scripts added to the builder. If, for example, the Google Ads Global Tag is placed through Script Manager in the Head section, selected to show on “All”, and the event tracking script is set through Script Manager in the same Head section, selected to show on “Form Confirmation Dialog” then the sequence would be misconfigured and the event tracking script would fire before the global tag.

In any case, the global tag and event script can be combined to one script and installed on the page as well. That way, the two scripts would always fire in the right sequence. Something like:

<script>
[Google Ads Global Tag script goes here]

[Event tracking script goes here]
</script>

Hope that helps!

Jim_Hill
Badge

Hi @unifiedpower did you get all of this working ok?

Jim Hill, User Friendly Consulting Inc.
alexidad

Hey @Kenneth.Koh:

Just a thought. So you mean to install the global tag and the event tag under the Variant Scripts?

I have a thank you page set up and I installed the global tag under the Script Manager, and then the Event Snippet installed at the TY page itself. It’s really not firing correctly, and it sucks because our conversions are really messed up.

alexidad

I also tried using GTM but the Event snippet is still not firing correctly.

Kenneth.Koh

Hey @alexidad,

It might be that the global tag script in Script Manager is placed to run after the event snippet. Can you share where the global tag is placed in Script Manager? It’ll be under “Script Details” for “Placement” and “Included On”.

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