ga4-conversion-import

GA4 Conversion Import Guide

Complete guide for importing GA4 conversions into Google Ads for optimal Smart Bidding performance.

Google Ads Link Verification

GOOGLE ADS LINK VERIFICATION
==============================

STEP 1: CHECK GA4 SIDE
LOCATION: GA4 Admin → Product Links → Google Ads Links

┌─────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Check item          │ Expected status                        │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Link status         │ "Active"                               │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Personalized ads    │ Enabled (for remarketing)              │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Auto-tagging        │ Enabled in Google Ads                  │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Linked accounts     │ All relevant Google Ads accounts       │
└─────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────┘

STEP 2: CHECK GOOGLE ADS SIDE
LOCATION: Google Ads → Tools → Data Manager → Google Analytics 4

┌─────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Check item          │ Expected status                        │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Property status     │ "Linked"                               │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Data sharing        │ Enabled                                │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Import status       │ "Active" per conversion                │
└─────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────┘

TROUBLESHOOTING LINK ISSUES:
├── Link not visible? Check permissions on both platforms
├── Status "Error"? Unlink and re-link
├── Data mismatch? Check auto-tagging is ON
└── No import options? Wait 24-48 hours after linking

Configuring GA4 Key Events

GA4 KEY EVENTS (CONVERSIONS) SETUP
====================================

TERMINOLOGY NOTE:
├── GA4 UI calls them "Key Events" (since March 2024)
├── Google Ads still calls them "Conversions" after import — this is correct
├── Do not confuse the names: the data is the same, only the label differs
└── When a client says "I don't see conversions in GA4" → show them "Key Events"

LOCATION: GA4 Admin → Data display → Events → Mark as key event

STEP 1: IDENTIFY KEY EVENTS
────────────────────────────
┌─────────────────────┬───────────┬───────────────────────────────┐
│ Event type          │ Priority  │ Import as                     │
├─────────────────────┼───────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ purchase            │ HIGH      │ Primary - Every conversion    │
├─────────────────────┼───────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ generate_lead       │ HIGH      │ Primary - One per click       │
├─────────────────────┼───────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ sign_up             │ HIGH      │ Primary - One per click       │
├─────────────────────┼───────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ begin_checkout      │ MEDIUM    │ Secondary observation only    │
├─────────────────────┼───────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ add_to_cart         │ MEDIUM    │ Secondary observation only    │
├─────────────────────┼───────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ page_view           │ LOW       │ Do not import                 │
├─────────────────────┼───────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ scroll              │ LOW       │ Do not import                 │
└─────────────────────┴───────────┴───────────────────────────────┘

STEP 2: MARK AS KEY EVENT
──────────────────────────
┌────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1  │ Go to Admin → Data display → Events                       │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2  │ Find your event in the list                               │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3  │ Toggle "Mark as key event" → ON                           │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 4  │ Event now appears in Admin → Key events                   │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 5  │ Wait 24-48 hours for import availability                  │
└────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

KEY EVENT LIMITS:
├── Maximum 30 key events per property
├── Select only events with business value
├── Avoid marking page_view or scroll as key event
└── Custom events must have data first

Importing Conversions in Google Ads

GOOGLE ADS IMPORT STEPS
=========================

LOCATION: Google Ads → Goals → Conversions → New conversion action

STEP 1: START IMPORT
─────────────────────
┌────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1  │ Click "+ New conversion action"                           │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2  │ Select "Import"                                           │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3  │ Choose "Google Analytics 4 properties"                    │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 4  │ Select "Web" or "App" (match your data stream)            │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 5  │ Click "Continue"                                          │
└────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

STEP 2: SELECT CONVERSIONS
───────────────────────────
┌────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1  │ Check the key events you want to import                   │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2  │ Verify each conversion has at least 1 event               │
│    │ (otherwise not importable)                                │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3  │ Click "Import and continue"                               │
└────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

STEP 3: CONFIGURE EACH CONVERSION
──────────────────────────────────
For EACH imported conversion, configure:

┌─────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Setting             │ Recommendation per type                    │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Goal and action     │ Choose most fitting category               │
│ optimization        │ (Purchase, Lead, Sign-up, etc.)            │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Conversion name     │ Prefix with "GA4 - " for recognition      │
│                     │ E.g.: "GA4 - Purchase"                     │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Value               │ - E-commerce: "Use different values"       │
│                     │ - Leads: "Use same value" + fill in        │
│                     │ - Note: GA4 sends value along              │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Count               │ - Purchase: "Every"                        │
│                     │ - Lead/Sign-up: "One"                      │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Click-through       │ 30-90 days (match your sales cycle)        │
│ window              │                                            │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ View-through        │ 1-7 days (conservative)                    │
│ window              │ Display/Video: 7 days                      │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Attribution model   │ Data-driven (recommended)                  │
│                     │ Sync with GA4 model if possible            │
└─────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Primary vs Secondary Conversions

PRIMARY VS SECONDARY CONVERSIONS
==================================

DEFINITION:
├── PRIMARY: Used for Smart Bidding optimization
├── SECONDARY: For observation/reporting only
└── Account default: New imports are secondary

LOCATION: Google Ads → Goals → Conversions → [Conversion] → Edit goal

┌─────────────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────────┐
│ Conversion type     │ Primary/Secondary │ Rationale             │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ Purchase            │ PRIMARY           │ Main e-commerce goal  │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ Generate Lead       │ PRIMARY           │ Main lead gen goal    │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ Sign Up             │ PRIMARY           │ Main SaaS goal        │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ Phone Call (60s+)   │ PRIMARY           │ Qualified call        │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ Begin Checkout      │ SECONDARY         │ Micro-conversion      │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ Add to Cart         │ SECONDARY         │ Micro-conversion      │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ Contact Form View   │ SECONDARY         │ Too early in funnel   │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ PDF Download        │ SECONDARY         │ Soft conversion       │
└─────────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────────┘

CONFIGURING PRIMARY CONVERSION:
┌────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1  │ Go to Goals → Conversions → Summary                       │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2  │ Click the conversion name                                 │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3  │ Click "Edit goal"                                         │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 4  │ At "Goal and action optimization":                        │
│    │ - Primary: "Use as primary action for bidding"            │
│    │ - Secondary: "Use as secondary action (observe only)"     │
├────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 5  │ Save                                                      │
└────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

IMPORTANT RULES:
├── Maximum 1-3 primary conversions (focus bidding)
├── Avoid conflicting primary conversions (lead + purchase)
├── PMax requires minimum 1 primary conversion
├── Too many primary = confusing bidding signals
└── Secondary conversions are still valuable for analysis

Smart Bidding Optimization

SMART BIDDING WITH GA4 CONVERSIONS
====================================

MINIMUM VOLUME REQUIREMENTS:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┐
│ Bidding Strategy            │ Minimum conversions             │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│ Maximize Conversions        │ 15/month per campaign           │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│ Target CPA                  │ 30/month per campaign           │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│ Target ROAS                 │ 50/month per campaign           │
│                             │ (with revenue value)            │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│ Performance Max             │ 30/month per account            │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┘

LEARNING PERIOD:
├── New conversion import: 7-14 days
├── Significant changes: 7 days
├── Avoid major changes during learning
└── Check "Learning" status in campaign overview

CONVERSION LAG SETTINGS:
─────────────────────────
LOCATION: Goals → Conversions → Settings → Conversion window

┌─────────────────────┬────────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│ Business type       │ Click-through      │ View-through      │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ E-commerce          │ 30 days            │ 1 day             │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ Lead generation     │ 30-60 days         │ 1-7 days          │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ B2B SaaS            │ 60-90 days         │ 7 days            │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ High-value purchase │ 90 days            │ 7 days            │
└─────────────────────┴────────────────────┴───────────────────┘

REPORTING DELAY:
├── GA4 to Google Ads sync: up to 24 hours
├── Conversion reporting: up to 48 hours
├── Attribution updates: up to 7 days
└── Plan your analyses with these delays

Conversion Value Optimization

CONVERSION VALUE CONFIGURATION
================================

WHEN TO USE VALUE:
├── E-commerce: always (transaction value)
├── Lead gen: fixed value per lead type
├── SaaS: trial value or LTV-based
└── B2B: deal value if known

SENDING GA4 VALUE:
──────────────────
GA4 event with value parameter:

gtag('event', 'purchase', {
  'value': 150.00,
  'currency': 'EUR'
});

gtag('event', 'generate_lead', {
  'value': 50.00,     // estimated lead value
  'currency': 'EUR'
});

GOOGLE ADS VALUE SETTINGS:
┌─────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Setting             │ When to use                                │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Use different       │ E-commerce (variable order values)         │
│ values for each     │ GA4 sends value automatically              │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Use same value      │ Lead gen (fixed value)                     │
│ for each            │ Fill in estimated value                    │
├─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Don't use value     │ Only for observation conversions           │
│                     │ Not recommended for primary                │
└─────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────┘

LEAD VALUE CALCULATION:
───────────────────────
Formula: Lead Value = (Close Rate x Avg. Deal Size)

Example:
├── Close rate: 10%
├── Avg. deal size: EUR 1,000
├── Lead value: 0.10 x EUR 1,000 = EUR 100 per lead

Lead type tiers:
┌─────────────────────┬────────────┬───────────────────────────────┐
│ Lead Type           │ Value      │ Rationale                     │
├─────────────────────┼────────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ Demo request        │ EUR 150    │ High intent, warm lead        │
├─────────────────────┼────────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ Contact form        │ EUR 75     │ Medium intent                 │
├─────────────────────┼────────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ Newsletter signup   │ EUR 10     │ Low intent, nurture needed    │
├─────────────────────┼────────────┼───────────────────────────────┤
│ Whitepaper download │ EUR 25     │ Research phase                │
└─────────────────────┴────────────┴───────────────────────────────┘

Output: Conversion Import Checklist Template

# GA4 Conversion Import Report

## Account Information
- **GA4 Property:** [Property name]
- **Measurement ID:** G-XXXXXXXXXX
- **Google Ads Account:** XXX-XXX-XXXX
- **Link Status:** Active / Not linked

## Key Events Status (GA4)
| Event Name | Key Event | Volume (30d) | Import Status |
|------------|-----------|--------------|---------------|
| purchase | ✅ | [X] | Imported |
| generate_lead | ✅ | [X] | Imported |
| begin_checkout | ❌ | [X] | Secondary only |
| add_to_cart | ❌ | [X] | Not imported |

## Google Ads Conversion Configuration
| Conversion | Goal Type | Count | Value | Attribution | Primary/Sec |
|------------|-----------|-------|-------|-------------|-------------|
| GA4 - Purchase | Purchase | Every | Dynamic | DDA | Primary |
| GA4 - Lead | Lead | One | EUR 100 | DDA | Primary |
| GA4 - Checkout | Add to cart | Every | - | DDA | Secondary |

## Conversion Windows
| Conversion | Click-through | View-through | Rationale |
|------------|---------------|--------------|-----------|
| Purchase | 30 days | 1 day | E-commerce standard |
| Lead | 60 days | 7 days | Long consideration |

## Smart Bidding Readiness
| Check | Status | Details |
|-------|--------|---------|
| Minimum volume (30/mo) | ✅/❌ | [X] conversions |
| Single primary focus | ✅/❌ | [X] primary conversions |
| Value tracking | ✅/❌ | [Dynamic/Fixed/None] |
| Learning period | ✅/❌ | [X] days active |

## Volume Analysis
- **Conversions last 30 days:** [X]
- **Expected volume next 30 days:** [X]
- **Suitable for Smart Bidding:** ✅/❌

## Recommendations

### Immediate Actions
1. [ ] [Action 1]
2. [ ] [Action 2]

### Optimization Suggestions
1. [ ] [Suggestion 1]
2. [ ] [Suggestion 2]

## Data Sync Verification
- **Last GA4 → Google Ads sync:** [Date/time]
- **Data lag:** [X] hours
- **Discrepancy percentage:** [X]% (target: < 15%)

## Notes
[Additional observations, deviations, or special configurations]

Optional: Enrich with Live Data

If the user has connected their GA4 account, check key event counts before setting up the import to establish a baseline:

# Get key event counts to verify volume and consistency before importing to Google Ads
ga4_run_report(
    property_id="YOUR_PROPERTY_ID",
    metrics=["keyEvents", "sessions"],
    dimensions=["date", "sessionDefaultChannelGroup"],
    start_date="30daysAgo",
    end_date="today"
)

Use this baseline to detect post-import discrepancies. If Google Ads shows significantly more conversions than GA4 key events, attribution windows or cross-device matching is inflating numbers.