Read every action your Google Ads account counts as a conversion, split tracking from real leads without deleting anything, then check it against your sales.
Swipe or tap Next · checked on 2026-10-25
Not technical? Start here. Copy this prompt into ChatGPT or Claude (the free versions work) and it walks you through the whole check, one step at a time, in plain English. It asks before it assumes anything, and it stops to check with you before anything that changes what your ads spend, reaches a real customer or deletes something. The rest of the page is the same check, written out, if you'd rather do it yourself.
The walkthrough prompt (copy all of it) · lines 1-4 of 44. Copy all copies the whole prompt; read it in full on the page.
Hi! Please be my patient guide for this step-by-step guide from Receipts Group: "What your Google Ads conversions count: the ten-minute check"
The guide is here: https://receiptsgroup.com/guides/google-ads-conversion-check (open it if you can; if you can't, everything you need is below).
About me: I run a home-service business and I'm not technical. Use plain words and short sentences.Before anything shows up in your Conversions column, it goes through a few stops. The count gets padded at the action and the settings, and the sale at the end is the one thing the count doesn't see unless you send it back.
Steps 1 and 2 check the action and the settings. Step 3 lines the columns up against the sale. Step 4 fixes what counts.
Some accounts show it under Tools → Measurement → Conversions. The actions are grouped into goals by category, like Contacts, Submit lead forms or Phone call leads, and each goal shows whether each of its actions is Primary or Secondary.
For each one, write down its name, the goal it's in, Primary or Secondary, and its tracking status. Hover over an action and Google shows its source, value, window, count and attribution model: write down the source and the count too. Don't skip the ones you don't recognize. I'd start with those, because if you don't know why an action is there, you don't know what it's counting.
One question for every action: would I pay for this? A form somebody actually sent, yes. A call that turned into a real conversation, yes. Somebody opening your contact page, no. That's tracking: worth seeing, not worth paying for as a lead. The table below has the kinds you'll run into.
If you can't tell what an action counts from its name and source, write ASK next to it and ask whoever set up your ads. Don't guess.
One row per action. Filling in the last column is step 4, so leave it blank for now.
The score sheet · Part 1 of 2 · Copy copies all 18 lines
THE CONVERSION CHECK: one row per action on your list
Action its name, as Google Ads shows it
Goal the goal it sits in (Contacts, Submit lead forms...)
Primary? Primary / Secondary
Source from the hover: website, phone calls, Analytics...
Count One / Every
Call length call actions only: the seconds it takes to count
Status its tracking status
Last 30 days its number (All conv. column, segmented by action)
LEAD or TRACK would I pay for this? yes = LEAD
Change what you'll change in step 4, if anythingThe score sheet · Part 2 of 2 · Copy copies all 18 lines
At the bottom, same 30 days:
Spend total cost (segment set to None)
Real leads leads from Google Ads in your own records
Sales sales closed from those leads
Changed on the date you made the step 4 changesThe kinds of actions you'll see, not anybody's real list. Your account's names will be different.
Got a long list? Copy the names, goals, Primary or Secondary, sources and counts (not your account number) into ChatGPT or Claude with this:
Prompt: sort my list · lines 1-1 of 7. Copy all copies the whole prompt; read it in full on the page.
Here's the list of conversion actions in my Google Ads account: each one's name, the goal it's in, Primary or Secondary, its source and its count setting. I've taken out my account number.Look only, for now. Every change goes in at once in step 4, after you check how your campaigns bid. I'd rather make every change once than keep poking at it, because Google says changing your goals during its learning phase restarts it.
Call length is the shortest call, in seconds, that counts as a conversion. Google's default for Calls from ads is 60 seconds. A shorter call still shows up as a call, just not as a conversion: Google's example is a 26-second call on a 30-second setting, which reports as 1 phone call and 0 conversions.
If yours is set to a few seconds, your hang-ups are leads. I'd look at real call durations in the Call details report (step 3) before I'd pick a number.
One more thing: if call recording is on (it only works when both phones are in the US or Canada), Google's AI listens and counts only the calls it judges qualified, and call length becomes the backup for calls it can't record.
If there's an action for clicks on a number on your mobile website, here's Google's own sentence about it: it “only tracks clicks on your phone number, not actual phone calls.” That's the pocket dial. Somebody taps it by accident, hangs up, and boom, it's a conversion. Mark it TRACKING.
If you want real calls from your website counted, Google's version is calls to a phone number on your website, which counts calls past a call length you set. It needs a change on your site, so it's a job for whoever built it.
Every counts every conversion after an ad click. One counts one per ad click, and Google recommends One for leads. On Every, somebody who sends your form twice after one click is two leads. Sales, sure, count every one. Leads, I'd count once.
Still nothing changes. This is where you find out how big the gap is between what the account counts and what your business actually got.
Set the date range to the last 30 days. Each campaign splits into a row per action. Add the All conv. column if it's not there (the columns icon, then Modify columns): Conversions only shows Primary actions, and All conv. shows everything, Secondary included. Write each action's number on your score sheet.
Cost shows “--” while a conversion segment is on, so click the Segment icon, choose None, and write down the total cost.
Three numbers: leads that came from Google Ads, appointments set from them, and sales closed. If you don't track where leads come from, start today: ask every new caller how they found you and write it down. A month of that beats a guess.
Every call from your ads, with its start time, duration, caller area code, status (missed or received) and campaign, plus the caller's number for most calls over 15 seconds. Put it next to your own call log and look hard at the short ones.
This needs call reporting on (Admin → Account settings → Call reporting). Don't turn it off: Google says if you do, it stops counting Calls from ads as conversions.
Divide your spend by tracked conversions, by real leads, and by sales. Then add up only your LEAD actions: that's roughly what your Conversions number turns into after step 4. I'd rather see a small real number than a big one that's mostly page views.
Don't expect it to match to the lead. Google reports call conversions on the date of the ad click and calls on the date they happen, so compare the month, not the day.
Example (made up): not our numbers and not anybody's account. It shows how one spend turns into four very different prices.
If your campaigns use Smart Bidding, Google bids toward your Primary actions. Change which actions are Primary and you change what Google chases with your budget. Google says Smart Bidding needs a 7 to 14 day learning phase, and changing your goals again during it restarts it. So make every change in one sitting, and if somebody else runs your ads, decide it with them first.
If the column's missing: the columns icon → Modify columns → Attributes → Bid strategy type. Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize conversions and Maximize conversion value are all Smart Bidding. Then check which goals each campaign uses: Campaigns → the Settings tab → the campaign → Conversion goals.
If a campaign bids to a target cost per conversion, that target was probably picked off the old, bigger count, so it needs a look too. That's a conversation with whoever runs the account, not a click.
Only if you decided to in step 2. The call length lives in the same Edit settings, if that's on your list too.
Choose Secondary (observe only) for each tracking action, then Save. They still show in the All conv. column, so you can still see how many people opened your contact page or tapped your number. They just stop counting as leads, and stop being what Google bids toward.
They're at the bottom of the goals page. Here's the one exception: a Secondary action inside a custom goal still gets used for bidding. If a tracking action is in one, click that custom goal to change its actions, or ask whoever made it.
Two weeks, at least. Your Conversions number is going to drop. That's the point: the drop is the stuff that was never leads.
I'd never remove a tracking action for this. Secondary keeps the data, and the day you want to know how many people asked your Google listing for directions, it's still there. The counter isn't lying. It counts what it was told to count, so this step is you telling it.
Before you move budget off the new number, prove it. A week after step 4, segment by conversion action again for the last 7 days, and put the Conversions number next to the leads from Google Ads in your records for the same 7 days. Put the Call details report next to your call log too. It costs nothing and changes nothing.
Prompt: read my first week · Part 1 of 2 · Copy copies all 6 lines
Here are two numbers for the same 7 days: my Google Ads Conversions number (I set my tracking actions to Secondary on <date>) and the leads from Google Ads in my own records. I've taken out my account number and every customer's name and phone number.
Conversions: <number>
Leads from Google Ads in my records: <number>Prompt: read my first week · Part 2 of 2 · Copy copies all 6 lines
Compare them. If Conversions is higher, list what could still be counting, from this list only: a tracking action left Primary, a tracking action inside a custom goal, Count still on Every, a call length that's too short. If it's lower, list what could be missing, from this list only: a lead action set to Secondary, a lead action whose tracking status isn't active, call conversions landing on the date of the ad click instead of the call. Ask me what I see before you decide which one it is.Good: Conversions sits close to your real leads, and the calls Google counted are calls your office remembers. Too high: something tracking is still counting: a tracking action left Primary, one inside a custom goal, Count still on Every, or a call length that's too short. Too low: a lead action may be set to Secondary or not recording, so check its tracking status. A few calls landing on a different day is normal (the date-of-click thing from step 3).
Checking the count against your sales by hand is the ten-minute version. Google's version sends your sales back into Google Ads so it can match them to the ad clicks: it's called enhanced conversions for leads, and Google points people to its Data Manager to set it up. It needs your website to capture the lead's details and your CRM to send the sale, so it's a job for whoever built your site. Google's page is in the sources.
Checked 2026-10-25 on each official page. Prices change: check before you buy.
The cost that isn't on the table: the split itself is free, but if your campaigns use Smart Bidding, changing what counts changes what Google bids toward, and so where your budget goes. That's why step 4 has a stop.
Expected. The drop is what was never a lead. Leave the settings alone: Google says Smart Bidding needs a 7 to 14 day learning phase, and changing goals again restarts it.
Check your custom goals at the bottom of the goals page. A Secondary action inside a custom goal is still used for bidding. Also check the campaign's own goals: Campaigns → Settings tab → the campaign → Conversion goals.
Hover over the status in the summary table, choose Troubleshoot, then Continue, and Google opens Tag Assistant to find the problem. A lead action that isn't recording makes your count too low.
Check the call length (click the action's name → Edit settings). Then check the real durations in the Call details report before you pick a new number.
Call reporting has to be on (Admin → Account settings → Call reporting). Caller numbers only show for most calls over 15 seconds. And if you added Ad group as a column, Performance Max calls won't show.
Google reports call conversions on the date of the ad click and calls on the date they happen. Compare a week or a month, not a day.
They're events marked as key events in Google Analytics and imported into Google Ads. Ones created from the Analytics side come in as Secondary. Their goal and Primary or Secondary setting can only be changed in Google Ads.
Those are local actions: taps on your Google listing. Google creates them by itself once your location assets are running. Check whether they're Primary, and if they are, they're tracking: set them to Secondary in step 4.
Your login is probably read-only. Ask whoever manages the account to make the change with you, or to give you access that can edit.
What each page backs up is listed at the end of the full guide.
The counter was never lying: it counts what somebody told it to count, and now you're the one telling it.
Want help setting this up? Receipts Group builds these systems.
Open the full guide as a page (every file in full, plus the table of contents).