If you’re running an AdWords account, you need to know how well it’s performing. Is that $10,000 you’re spending each month on AdWords, delivering more in return or are you simply paying for expensive hot air?
Google’s answer to that question is conversion tracking. Take a small code snippet and place it on your sales page. Anyone who clicked on your ad, finds their way to that page would be considered a sale or for AdWords sake, a conversion.
The problem with this approach is that it’s inaccurate and becoming less and less accurate.
The success of AdWords conversion tracking depends on a browser cookie. When you click on an AdWords ad, a cookie is set within your browser. If you happen to run across the page where the conversion tracking snippet was placed, your page view would be considered a conversion within AdWords.
It’s something of a perfect storm. So much is fighting against that little cookie, which makes it difficult to accurately track conversions. This is why it’s important to understand the various limitations to this form of tracking and learn how to work around them.
The AdWords conversion tracking cookie only lasts for 30 days. Are your visitors likely to accept cookies or keep them? Newer browsers are making it easier to not be tracked by default and people are becoming more concerned about their privacy.
Even if the cookie was left in place, the expiration of the cookie must be considered. If the purchase takes place after 30 days of the ad click, the conversion wouldn’t be tracked.
If one computer is used to click on the ad and another is used to purchase, this conversion also wouldn’t be tracked. Multi-device browsing is becoming a bigger issue nowadays. People are searching on their mobile devices and then proceeding to purchase on their desktop computers or the other way around. Different device, different cookie, no conversion!
You might have a situation where a person who clicked on the ad might not be responsible for making the final purchase. That tends to occur with business products. Different people, different browsers, no conversion!
So how do you deal with these overwhelming conversion tracking inaccuracies?
Start by understanding that AdWords conversion tracking can only take you so far. Keep in mind that it will be difficult to tell what percentage actually were tracked. Are you seeing 20% or 90% of those who have converted?
Start tracking what you can track. If you’re paying for clicks that ultimately leave your website within a few seconds, you might want to eliminate that traffic. Track those who stay on your site for a set amount of time. Use Google Analytics to accomplish this and import that goal into AdWords as a conversion.
If you are selling software and you’re offering a trial download, visitors will probably want to try before they buy. Tracking downloads will give you an idea of what is and what is not working within AdWords.
Start thinking about your website visitors. Get into their heads and think about what they would do after they clicked on your AdWords ad. What do you want them to do after they click on your ad?
Start tracking that if you can.
