You need three pieces in place: a conversion action defined in Google Ads, the tracking code on your site, and verification that it works. Start in your Google Ads account under Tools > Measurement > Conversions, click the plus button, and choose your conversion source (website, app, phone calls, or import). For most businesses, website conversions matter most. When you create a website conversion action, Google generates two code snippets. The global site tag (gtag.js) goes on every page of your site, ideally in the header. The event snippet goes only on the conversion page, like a thank-you or checkout confirmation page. If you're running multiple campaigns or already have Google Analytics 4, use Google Tag Manager instead of hardcoding snippets. GTM lets you deploy and modify tracking without developer help every time you need a change. Configure your conversion settings carefully. Choose the right category (purchase, lead, sign-up), set a conversion value if applicable, and pick a counting method. "Every" counts all conversions, useful for ecommerce. "One" counts one conversion per click, better for lead gen where multiple form fills from the same person shouldn't inflate numbers. The attribution window defaults to 30 days for clicks and 1 day for views, but you can adjust this based on your sales cycle. After installing the code, test immediately. Google Tag Assistant Chrome extension shows you if tags fire correctly. Send a test conversion through (complete the action yourself), then check the conversion action status in Google Ads within 24 hours. It should show "Recording conversions" instead of "Unverified." At Ottawa SEO, we typically set up 3–5 conversion actions per client: primary conversions (purchases or qualified leads), secondary actions (phone clicks, email clicks), and micro-conversions (PDF downloads, video views). This tiered approach lets you optimize for hard conversions while understanding the full user journey. If you're spending over $3,000/month on Google Ads without conversion tracking, you're flying blind and likely wasting 30–50% of that budget on clicks that never convert.