Enhanced Conversions for Google Ads: What They Are and How to Set Them Up

Enhanced conversions help Google Ads measure conversions more accurately. When someone converts on your site, you send hashed customer data, like their email address, along with the conversion. Google matches it to signed-in Google accounts and can connect conversions that cookies alone would miss.

How it works

• A visitor fills in a form or completes a purchase.
• Your tag collects first-party data such as email, phone number, name and address.
• The data is hashed with SHA-256 before it is sent, so it is not sent in plain text.
• Google uses it to match the conversion to an ad interaction.

Enhanced conversions for web vs for leads

• For web: improves measurement of online conversions like purchases and sign-ups.
• For leads: lets you upload offline sales for leads that came from your website form, matched using the same hashed data.

Setup options

1. Google Tag Manager: enable enhanced conversions in the Google Ads conversion tag and provide user data through a variable. This is the most flexible option.
2. Google tag (gtag.js): send user data with the conversion event in code.
3. Automatic detection: Google tries to find form fields on the page. Quick, but less reliable.

Whichever you choose, also accept the customer data terms and turn on enhanced conversions in your Google Ads conversion settings.

Best practices

• Capture the email from the form or order data, not by scraping the page.
• Normalize data before hashing: trim spaces and use lowercase for emails.
• Respect consent. Only send data when you have the right to use it.
• Check the diagnostics in Google Ads a few days after launch.

What to expect

You usually will not see a sudden jump in conversions. Enhanced conversions work quietly in the background, improving how many conversions Google can attribute and giving Smart Bidding better data.

Need a hand with this?

If you are not sure your setup is sending the right data, request a free tracking audit. I will review your tags, events and conversion actions and send you a clear list of what to fix.