Agency insights
Thoughts and lessons on client selection, burnout, pricing, and modernising legacy accounts, from someone who's run a Google Ads for years.
Conversion tracking
Good conversion tracking helps you and Google understand what happens after someone clicks on an advert. Which leads became qualified? Which turned into customers? Which generated profit? Which campaigns are wasting your money?
I think conversion tracking is one of the highest-return improvements you can make. Once you can trust your data, almost every other optimisation becomes easier.
Conversion tracking has become one of my favourite subjects (I admit to being a geek). If you're stuck trying to work out why the numbers don't add up, or you're not sure what should be tracked, you're welcome to get in touch. No sales pitch—I'm always happy to chat.
Latest articles
Why I delay Google Ads conversions on purpose
I send conversion data more slowly in exchange for data that's permanent, auditable and recoverable.
Google Ads conversion tracking for Pipedrive
Connect Pipedrive to Google Ads and fix the offline conversion gap automatically, in about 30 minutes.
What is Google actually learning from?
Tag-based tracking only tells Google what the browser saw. Conversion tracking must be right, reliable and auditable.
Offline conversion tracking with Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 is one of the most popular form plugins for WordPress. But, if you're running Google Ads, there is a problem. Contact Form 7 can tell you that somebody submitted a form. It can't tell Google Ads if that person became a customer.
The Google Ads WhatsApp conversion tracking guide
Here's the complete guide to tracking WhatsApp conversions from click to sale.
Offline Conversion Tracking with Fluent Forms
Fluent Forms is a great way to capture leads from a WordPress website. But if you run Google Ads there is a gap in the system. Google can see the click and it can see the form submission. But it can't see what happens after the lead arrives. Here's how I helped a client close that gap.
The problem with call duration conversions
On the surface using call duration as a proxy for call quality is a reasonable idea. The thinking is that poor-fit leads or spam callers often hang up quickly. Good quality leads usually talk for longer. Put another way, a long call equals a good lead. But this isn't always true.
My lead count doesn't match my conversion count
The lead count from Google in your CRM almost never matches the number of conversions in your ad account. Trying to reconcile the difference is a shortcut to madness. Here's why.
Google Ads conversion tracking for WhatsApp orders
If you accept WhatsApp orders on your e-commerce site, you face two problems: knowing where the orders came from, and tracking them as Google Ads conversions.
Google Ads conversion tracking for WhatsApp bookings
If you accept WhatsApp bookings on your site, you face two problems: knowing where the bookings came from, and tracking them as Google Ads conversions.
How to Track Which Google Ads Bring Paying SAAS Users
If you're running Google Ads for your SaaS, it's not enough to track free trial signups — you need to know which ads are actually bringing in paying users.
How many WhatsApp clicks turn into leads?
Data shows that 9 out of 10 clicks didn't become conversations.
Tracking Google Ads Without the Google Tag or Tag Manager
Occasionally, I need to track Google Ads conversions without using the Google Tag or Google Tag Manager. Here’s a simple, non-technical explanation of how I do it.
Tracking WhatsApp leads as conversions in Google Ads.
There’s currently no built-in way to track WhatsApp leads as conversions in Google Ads. I've fixed this.
How I track WhatsApp conversations as conversions in Google Ads
At the time of writing Google has no way of tracking WhatsApp leads as conversions. I've used a couple of work arounds to solve this.
How do I know which of my leads came from Google Ads?
Here's the problem... Conversion tracking or analytics can tell you how many leads you got, but not who they are. Read on to see how to fix this.
Honest conversion tracking when you've got live chat, click to call and a form
I took on an account with no useful conversion data. Here's how I started tracking calls, forms and live chat accurately.
Available topics
Conversion tracking
Understand what happens after someone clicks your advert. Subjects include offline conversions, CRM integration, attribution, auditability and marketing instrumentation.
Essays and thinking
Articles about marketing, engineering, AI and problem solving that don't fit neatly into the other topics. These are some of the ideas and experiences that have shaped how I think.
Google Ads for lead generation
Learn how to use Google Ads to generate profitable leads. Subjects include campaign strategy, bidding, targeting, optimisation and the challenges of running lead generation campaigns.
Landing pages
Things I've learned about high-converting landing pages. Subjects include copywriting, page structure, forms, trust, conversion rate optimisation and user experience.
Lead quality
Understand why some leads become customers while others don't. Subjects include diagnosing poor leads, qualification, filtering junk leads and improving the feedback you send to Google Ads.
Sales Process
What happens after a lead has been generated determines if Google Ads is profitable. Subjects include first contact, follow-up, quoting, lead nurturing and turning more enquiries into customers.
Most Google Ads Problems Aren't Google Ads Problems
If my writing resonates with you, I'd like to give you a copy of my book, Profitable Google Ads. The book was written for business owners, but many PPC professionals have found it valuable too.
Before you download it, what describes you best?
© 2026 Pete Bowen