Google Ads Conversion Goals (How to Pick the Right Ones & Avoid $10,000+ Mistakes)

🔥 Fix your conversion goals before Google Ads optimises the wrong thing 👉https://www.skool.com/theconversioncl... Choosing the wrong conversion goals in Google Ads can quietly burn budget, even when the dashboard looks “fine”. In this video, I break down how a conversion goal, conversion action, and conversion tracking actually work together, and why Smart Bidding will optimise around whatever you tell it to. I’ll cover primary vs secondary goals, how to set up conversion properly for e-commerce and service businesses, and how to avoid double-counting that makes your numbers look better than reality. I also show how to use segmentation (conversion action) to spot fluff conversions fast, plus when offline tracking and conversion value are worth using. ⏩ Skip to Section 0:00 Fixing the wrong conversion goals 0:23 Primary vs secondary conversions 0:37 E-commerce conversion setup 1:06 Why add to cart should stay secondary 2:03 Service business conversion tracking 2:39 What not to track as a primary goal 4:50 App conversion tracking 5:21 Removing duplicate conversions 6:39 Campaign goals vs account defaults 8:03 Finding inflated conversion actions 9:00 Cleaning up inactive conversions 📺More videos from The Conversion Clinic Max Clicks vs Max Conversions (3 Examples to Help You Decide... Backed by $53M Results):    • Max Clicks vs Max Conversions (3 Examples ...   How to Track SEO ROI in 5 Minutes (I Tracked $1,597,828.33 Easily):    • How to Track SEO ROI in 5 Minutes (I Track...   📚 Related resources What is Conversion Value in Google Ads? The 3-Minute Guide: https://josiahroche.co/blog/what-is-c... ❓FAQs Q1. What's a conversion in Google Ads? A conversion is the action I tell Google Ads to count as valuable, like a purchase, enquiry form, booked call, or qualified lead. This matters because Google will optimize around that action once it is used in bidding. Q2. What's the difference between a conversion goal and a conversion action? A conversion action is the exact event being tracked, such as a purchase, phone call, or form submission. A conversion goal is how Google groups those actions inside the account. This is important because Smart Bidding uses these goals to decide what kind of users to find, so the setup needs to match the real campaign goal. Q3. What's the difference between primary and secondary conversions? Primary conversions are the actions Google uses for bidding and optimization. Secondary conversions are still tracked, but they are mainly there for extra insight. Q4. What should e-commerce businesses track as a primary conversion? For e-commerce, the primary conversion should usually be purchases because that is where the revenue comes from. I also want the conversion value passed back properly so Google can distinguish between a small order and a high-value sale. Q5. Should add to cart and begin checkout be the primary conversions? Usually, no. Add to cart and begin checkout; show interest, but it doesn't prove that someone actually bought. If those actions are primary, Google may optimize for users who nearly buy instead of users who complete the purchase. I prefer to keep them as secondary conversions for funnel analysis. Q6. What should service businesses track as conversions? For service businesses, I would track actions that show real intent, like completed forms, booked appointments, and phone calls that last long enough to matter. I would be careful with click-to-call, click-to-email, newsletter sign-ups, and page views because they can inflate results. A lead conversion should be tied to someone who could realistically become a customer. Q7. How do I check if Google Ads is double-counting conversions? A simple way is to segment your reports by conversion action and check what is actually being counted. If the same lead or purchase appears through multiple sources, like GA4, Google Ads tags, and another tracking tool, the account may be double-counting. Q8. When should I use offline conversion tracking? Offline conversion tracking is useful when the real sale happens after the first lead comes in. For example, a form submission might not be valuable until the person becomes a qualified lead, booked a job, or closed a sale. Sending that data back into Google Ads helps the system optimize for better leads, not just cheaper leads. 📞 Need help getting your marketing off the ground? Book a call: https://josiahroche.co/book-meeting/ 👍 Subscribe to The Conversion Clinic:    / @theconversionclinic   🌐 Connect with me ☑ Website -- https://josiahroche.co/ ☑ LinkedIn --   / josiahroche   ☑ Instagram --   / josiahroche.co   ☑ Podcast -- https://open.spotify.com/show/2S4f67H... ☑ TikTok --   / jrrmarketing   #googleads #conversion #conversionrate #googletagmanager