Conversion tracking with Google Tag Manager, GA4 and Google Ads
We set your tracking up so enquiries and purchases are counted where they actually happen — then hand it over documented, to you and your agency.
Most tracking setups produce numbers. Whether those numbers reflect what you are spending budget on is a different question — counted button clicks are not enquiries, and a purchase on another domain lands in your statistics as direct traffic unless it is set up properly.
We configure Google Tag Manager, GA4 and Google Ads so completions are counted where they actually happen: at the successfully submitted enquiry and the completed purchase, tied to consent and without double counting. What you end up with is a tested setup, technical documentation, and a short handover for you and your marketing agency.
We start by looking at what you already measure — and how much of it is right.
What you get
Completions, not clicks
A lead counts when the form was actually submitted successfully — not when someone clicked the send button, and not when a thank-you page loaded.
Campaign to completion, traceable
From the ad click through the landing page to the enquiry or purchase — including when the checkout sits on a different domain.
Handed over documented
You and your marketing agency know afterwards what is measured, what it is called, and how to recognise it in a report.
Who this is for
Businesses running Google Ads
When budget is flowing but it is unclear which campaign actually produces enquiries.
Websites where forms are the main channel
When enquiries arrive through forms and the current counting reflects clicks rather than completions.
Setups with an external checkout
When the purchase or booking happens on a different domain from the site you advertise.
Working alongside a marketing agency
When the agency needs reliable conversion signals and the technical implementation is not in their hands.
Tracking that produces numbers — just not the right ones
Most setups measure something. The question is whether what they measure reflects what you are actually spending budget on. These are the failures we see most often in practice.
Clicks counted as leads
What gets measured is the click on the send button, or a thank-you page load. Neither tells you the submission succeeded — validation errors and repeat views count too.
The same conversion counted twice
Tags are embedded twice or fire through more than one path. The numbers look healthy, but campaign evaluation becomes useless.
Wrong or outdated IDs
An incorrect Google Ads tag ID goes unnoticed because data still flows — just not into the account where it is needed.
Consent not properly respected
Either tracking fires before consent, or it fails to fire after it — because the consent tool and the tag manager were never connected.
The checkout lives somewhere else
As soon as the purchase or booking happens on another domain, attribution breaks. Revenue shows up as direct traffic rather than as the result of a campaign.
Nobody knows what is set up
The setup grew over years, whoever built it has left the project, and nobody dares change anything.
A review often shows which of your current numbers you should stop relying on.
What we set up
Scope and depth depend on your setup. These are the building blocks we typically implement.
Google Tag Manager
Set up across the participating websites, with naming you can still read a year later instead of cases that grew one at a time.
GA4 and cross-domain measurement
Websites and checkout are joined into one measurement, so a session does not break when the domain changes.
Consent-dependent tracking
Connected to your consent tool — Borlabs Cookie on WordPress, for instance — and to the checkout provider's own consent logic.
CTA clicks
Important call-to-action clicks are captured and distinguished by website and landing page.
Lead tracking on successful submission
For WPForms we surface the successful submission to the tag manager through a lightweight custom WordPress plugin — reusable across several websites.
General and lead-generating forms kept apart
Not every submission is an enquiry. We separate the two so your lead figure stays meaningful.
Google Ads conversions
The relevant successful submissions are connected to Google Ads as lead conversions.
Purchase tracking from the checkout
Purchases are recorded in GA4 and Google Ads, including transaction ID, conversion value and currency.
We say up front which of these blocks make sense for you — and which do not.
What measurement can and cannot do
Tracking is not a bank statement. How completely it measures depends on conditions we do not control — which belongs before the project, not after it.
Measurement requires consent
Without consent there should be no measurement. Some visits therefore never appear in your reports, and that is the intended state rather than a fault.
Technical conditions limit capture
Browser settings, extensions and devices can prevent measurement. We set up what works reliably, and do not promise complete capture.
Systems disagree with each other
GA4 and Google Ads count differently. Differences between reports are normal — we explain which figure answers which question.
No legal assessment
We implement your requirements and your consent tool's settings technically. Whether your setup is lawful is a question for your legal advisers, not for us.
What is not included
So the scope is clear from the outset — these are separate projects and are not part of a standard setup:
Campaign management
We set the measurement up and hand it over. Ads, bids and budgets stay with you or your agency.
Server-side tracking
A server-side setup is its own undertaking, with its own infrastructure and its own effort.
Meta Conversions API
This page is about Google Tag Manager, GA4 and Google Ads. Other platforms need to be looked at separately.
Full e-commerce reporting
Purchase tracking with value and currency is included. End-to-end product and basket analysis across the whole funnel is not.
How it works
Take stock
We review the existing tags, check for double counting, and establish which completions actually count as business outcomes for you.
Set up the tag manager
Implemented across the participating websites, with a structure and naming that still reads clearly in a year.
Connect GA4 and the checkout
Cross-domain measurement between websites and checkout, so the path to completion stays continuous.
Connect consent
Tracking is tied to consent — to your consent tool on the WordPress side, and to the checkout's own logic.
Connect conversions
Successful submissions and purchases are made available as conversions in Google Ads, separated by type of completion.
Test and hand over
Functional testing with Tag Assistant, a check for duplicate firing, then technical documentation and a short handover for you and your agency.
You will know in advance which access we need and who is involved when.
Why a clean setup pays for itself
The value is not in the dashboard, but in the decisions you base on it:
Allocate budget by effect
You can see which campaigns lead to enquiries and purchases, and which only produce clicks.
Fewer misleading numbers
Double counting and clicks counted as leads drop out of your evaluation.
Your agency can actually work
Reliable conversion signals are the basis for reporting and optimisation — without them, any agency is optimising blind.
Maintainable when things change
When forms, landing pages or the checkout change, it is clear what needs adjusting.
Frequently asked
Do you also manage the Google Ads campaigns?
No. We set the measurement up, verify it, and hand it over documented. Ads, bids, budgets and campaign structure stay with you or your agency — which is exactly what the clean handover is for.
Will every conversion be captured afterwards?
No, and nobody should promise that. Measurement requires consent, and browser settings or extensions can prevent it on top of that. What the setup is built for is that whatever does get measured is attributed correctly and not counted twice — not that nothing is missing.
Does this make our tracking data-protection compliant?
We implement your consent tool's requirements correctly, tie tracking to consent, and switch off data collection that the agreed setup does not need. Whether your setup as a whole is lawful is for your legal advisers to assess — we do not give that assurance.
Does this work with our existing consent tool?
Usually yes. We work with Borlabs Cookie on WordPress regularly, and other common tools can be connected too. Where the checkout sits with an external provider, we also connect that provider's own consent logic.
Why a custom plugin rather than an off-the-shelf one?
Because the decisive piece of information — that a submission genuinely succeeded — has to come reliably from WordPress itself with WPForms. A lightweight custom plugin provides exactly that signal and can be reused identically across several websites, instead of building a one-off per site.
Why not just track the thank-you page?
Because a thank-you page also loads on a reload, a shared link or a back-button click, and it says nothing about whether the submission succeeded server-side. The submission's success is the more honest signal.
Our checkout is on a different domain. Is that a problem?
No — it is one of the main reasons to do this properly. We join the website and the checkout into one measurement so the purchase can be attributed to the original campaign instead of appearing as direct traffic.
What do we actually get at the end?
A tested setup, technical documentation for maintenance, and a short, readable handover for you and your marketing agency — including the names of the conversions that were set up, so reporting is unambiguous.
Can we change things ourselves afterwards?
Yes. The structure is named clearly and documented so changes are possible without taking the setup apart. For larger rebuilds — new form types, a new checkout — we can support on request.
Does this apply to a WooCommerce shop as well?
Purchase tracking with transaction ID, value and currency can be implemented there too. Full product and basket analysis across the whole funnel is a separate and considerably larger undertaking, and not part of this setup.
Are you measuring what you think you are measuring?
Send us your website and your current setup. We will tell you which numbers hold up, which do not, and what it takes for enquiries and purchases to be counted where they actually happen.
