Google Ads says you made 50 sales this month. Your shop’s order list says 30. Or the dashboard shows 40 leads, and the phone only rang for a handful of real jobs.
It’s easy to feel like someone is lying to you. Usually nobody is. The account is just counting the wrong things, and a proper Google Ads conversion tracking check will show you exactly where. Most of the time it’s fixable in an afternoon.
I’d put this ahead of any bid or budget change. If the numbers are wrong, every decision after them is a guess. You raise spend on a campaign that looks great but isn’t selling, and you pause the one that was quietly paying for itself.
These are the five checks I run first on every account I take over. You don’t need a developer or a paid tool. Everything below happens inside your Google Ads account.
1. What is Google Ads actually counting as a conversion?
Go to Goals, then Conversions, then Summary, and read through the list slowly. If you see page views, button clicks or “add to cart” sitting next to “purchase”, you’ve found your first problem.
Only actions that make you money should guide your bidding. That means a real purchase, a booked call, or a form that turns into a job. Set everything else to secondary. You’ll still see it in your reports, but it won’t steer the campaign anymore.
2. Is one sale being counted twice?
This one catches a lot of online stores. Two tags fire on the same thank you page, or the customer refreshes it, and one order turns into two conversions.
Pull last month’s numbers and put them side by side: conversions in Google Ads and real orders in Shopify or WooCommerce. If Ads is clearly higher, check how many tags fire on your order confirmation page. Google’s free Tag Assistant will show you in about a minute.
3. Is the Count setting right for leads and sales?
Every conversion action has a setting called Count, with two options: One or Every.
For leads, forms and calls, pick One. One person asking twice is still one lead. For sales, pick Every, because a customer really can buy twice. Get this wrong and your lead numbers grow every month without a single extra job behind them.
4. Are your phone calls real calls?
If you run a local service business, a call isn’t a job. A five second wrong number shouldn’t count as a conversion.
Set a minimum call length in your call conversion settings. Then go through a few recent calls and sort each one: booked, quote only, spam or wrong number. For the first time, you’ll see what you actually paid for.
5. Is the conversion value your real order value?
If you run an online store, make sure the conversion value is the actual order value, and decide whether it should include shipping and tax. If every sale shows the same fixed value, bidding can’t learn that a big order is worth more than a small one.
There’s one more trap. If your margins are thin, revenue alone can make a loss look like a win. I’ll cover margin in a separate post.
A two minute test you can do today
Take last month and write three numbers on a piece of paper:
- Conversions in Google Ads
- Real orders or booked jobs
- Money that actually reached your bank
If Ads and reality are close, you’re fine. If the gap is big, one of the five checks above will explain it. Fix that, wait two weeks, then compare again.
Where does tracking fit in a Google Ads plan?
I work in three steps, always in this order: website, tracking, ads. The website has to make it easy to buy or call, which is what my 10 point website checklist before running Google Ads is for. Tracking has to count only real results. Only then do I start changing the ads.
Most accounts I look at skip the middle step completely. If you want the full setup walkthrough, read how to set up GA4 and Google Ads conversion tracking the right way. And if you’d rather have it done for you, here’s how my Google Ads conversion tracking setup works.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Google Ads show more conversions than my real sales?
The usual causes are non sale actions set as primary conversions, one order counted twice, the Count setting on Every for leads, and calls of any length counted as leads.
Can Google Ads and GA4 show different numbers?
Yes. They use different attribution and counting rules, so a small difference is normal. A big gap against your real orders is what you should investigate.
How often should I check my conversion tracking?
Check it when you first set it up, after any change to your website or checkout, and once a month with the three number test above.
Do I need a developer to fix conversion tracking?
Not for these five checks. They’re all settings inside Google Ads. You may need help if the problem is a duplicate tag inside your website theme or checkout.
Want me to check your account?
Send me your website and Google Ads customer ID, and I’ll tell you which of these five checks is costing you the most. Get a free Google Ads audit.
Written by Md. Masudur Rahman, Google Ads Consultant. I help eCommerce stores, local service businesses and agencies get more sales and leads from Google Ads, with 5 years of hands on account management across the UK, USA and Canada.