E-commerce
September 18, 2026
Are you wondering how to set up the new Google Ads conversion actions to better manage your campaigns? The bottom line: conversion action sets allow you to prioritize your conversions so that smart bidding focuses on what really matters, like sales. It is a powerful lever to avoid diluting your budget on secondary objectives, but you must clearly understand the difference between a conversion and a conversion action to exploit it correctly.
So, how do you set up the new Google Ads conversion actions? On the agenda:
What is a conversion action in Google Ads?
Why create conversion action sets?
How to install the necessary tracking tags?
How to set priority levels for your conversions?
What checklist to follow before launching your sets?
Let's go. In this guide, we will detail each step, from the basics of conversion tracking to advanced optimization with concrete examples for e-commerce stores. You will learn how to avoid common pitfalls and make the most of this feature to improve your return on ad spend.
Summary
What is a conversion action in Google Ads?
A conversion action is a specific event that you consider important for your business, such as a purchase, a contact form submission, or a newsletter sign-up. In Google Ads, you define these actions to measure the performance of your keywords and ads. Each action corresponds to a goal you want to track, and you can have several of them.
For example, on an e-commerce store, you can track:
Sales: the completed purchase on your site.
Contact forms: an inquiry request.
Newsletter sign-ups: a visitor who leaves their email.
These actions are then used by Google Ads to optimize your campaigns, particularly through smart bidding. Understanding this concept is the foundation for correctly setting up your conversion action sets. It is essential to know that each conversion action can have its own value, allowing the algorithm to prioritize the most profitable actions. For instance, a sale can be valued at €50, while a newsletter sign-up is only worth €2. This valuation is crucial for bid strategies based on return on investment, like Target ROAS. By clearly defining your actions and their values, you give Google Ads the necessary information to optimize your campaigns efficiently and in alignment with your business goals.
Convert over 2,000 customers on average per month with Qstomy.
The world’s 1st Shopify AI dedicated to customer conversion
Empowering 200+ e-commerce merchants
Why create conversion action sets?
Without sets, Google Ads treats all your conversions the same way. If you have 50 conversions in total, but only 5 actual sales, the smart bidding algorithm optimizes for all 50, including forms and sign-ups. The result: you get more overall conversions, but your main goal, sales, stagnates.
Conversion action sets solve this problem by allowing you to create prioritized groups of conversions. You define priority levels: the most important conversions (like sales) in a "Tier 1" set, secondary ones (forms, sign-ups) in a "Tier 2" set. Thus, campaigns using these sets optimize specifically for the actions of the chosen level.
This is an effective way to align your bidding with your actual business goals, especially if you use strategies like Target CPA or Target ROAS. For example, if you have a campaign with a target cost per acquisition of €20, you can create a "Sales" set with only purchases, and another "Prospecting" set with forms. By assigning the "Sales" set to your main campaign, you ensure that the algorithm does not waste your budget on less profitable actions. This approach is particularly useful for online stores that have a complex sales funnel, where each step (add to cart, checkout, confirmation) can be tracked separately.
How to set up conversion actions in Google Ads?
To set up your conversion actions, start by opening your Google Ads account. In the menu, click on "Conversions" (or "Goals" depending on the version). You will see a list of your existing conversions and a button to create new ones. This is where you manage all your conversion tracking.
Before creating a set, make sure your conversion actions are already in place. If they are not, you will first need to define the conversions you want to track, such as sales or sign-ups. Once this is done, you can group them into sets.
The interface is intuitive, but it is important to clearly understand each option to avoid configuration errors that would distort your data. For example, you will need to choose the source of the conversion: website, app, phone, or import. For an e-commerce site, the "Website" source is generally the most appropriate. You will also need to define the conversion category (purchase, lead, etc.) and its value. Take the time to properly configure these settings, as they directly influence the quality of your data and the effectiveness of your smart bidding. Careful configuration from the start will save you headaches later on.
Which conversions should be tracked for an e-commerce store?
For an online store, the most relevant conversions are usually sales, but you can also track other actions that indicate interest, such as adding to the cart or viewing a category page. The important thing is to choose actions that reflect your business goals.
Ask yourself: what generates revenue? If sales are your priority, focus on tracking transactions. If you have a long sales funnel, newsletter sign-ups can be an indicator of progress. But beware: too many secondary conversions can drown out the algorithm.
Use sets to clearly separate what is essential from what is secondary, and thus maintain control over your optimizations. For example, you can create a "Sales" set with only transactions, and another "Engagement" set with cart additions and sign-ups. By assigning the "Sales" set to your remarketing campaigns, you ensure that the algorithm focuses on the users most likely to buy. Furthermore, by defining values for each action, you allow Google Ads to calculate the return on investment more accurately, which is essential for advanced bidding strategies.
How to install the necessary tracking tags?
To track conversions on your website, you must install two tags. The first is the global site tag, to be placed on all your pages. It works like a Google Analytics tag and also enables remarketing. The second is an event snippet, which triggers during a specific action, such as a purchase.
There are two types of snippets:
Page load: to be used when the conversion has a dedicated confirmation page, for example a "thank you" page after a purchase.
Click: to be used when the conversion occurs on the same page, such as a click on a form submission button.
Install these tags correctly to ensure your data is reliable. An error here can lead to missed or distorted conversions. To verify that your tags are working, use the Google Ads diagnostic tool or the Google Tag Assistant extension. You can also test your tags by performing a test conversion and verifying that it appears in your account. Make sure that the global tag is placed in the head section of your site, and that the event snippet is placed on the confirmation page or triggered by the appropriate click. Correct installation is the foundation of reliable tracking and effective optimization.
How to create a conversion action set?
In the "Conversions" section, look for the "Conversion action sets" tab. Click on "Create conversion action set". You will then be able to name your set and select the conversion actions to include.
For example, create a "Sales" set with only the "Purchase" action. Then another "Prospecting" set with forms and registrations. You can also create sets for specific campaigns, such as Display network campaigns that target the top of the funnel.
Once created, you can assign it to your campaigns. Campaigns that use this set will have their smart bidding optimized for the actions in this set only. It is important to note that you can assign a set to multiple campaigns, but each campaign can only use one set at a time. For Performance Max campaigns, you can also select a conversion action set during setup. Take the time to carefully choose the actions to include in each set, as this will determine the direction of your optimizations. A good practice is to start with two sets: one for sales and one for prospecting, and then adjust based on performance.
How to set priority levels for your conversions?
Prioritization is the heart of conversion action sets. You define your most important conversions in a "Tier 1" level, and secondary ones in a "Tier 2". For example, for a store, sales are in Tier 1, while newsletter sign-ups are in Tier 2.
This hierarchy lets Google Ads know what to focus on. If you use Smart Bidding, the algorithm will optimize for Tier 1 conversions, which can improve your return on investment. You can even create multiple tiers depending on the complexity of your funnel.
The idea is not to let the algorithm treat all conversions equally, as this can steer you away from your main goals. For example, if you have a ROAS target of 400%, you can define a "Sales" set with a conversion value of €50 per sale, and a "Prospecting" set with a value of €5 per form. By assigning the "Sales" set to your search campaigns, you ensure that the algorithm focuses on the clicks most likely to generate high-value sales. This approach allows you to maximize your return on investment while maintaining precise control over your objectives.
How do I import conversions from Google Analytics?
If you use Google Analytics, you can import your goals into Google Ads and use them as conversion actions. This allows you to track specific events, such as clicks on an add-to-cart button, without having to set up new tags.
To do this, in Google Ads, when creating a conversion, choose "Import" as the source, then select your Google Analytics goals. Once imported, they appear in your conversion list and can be included in sets.
This is a practical method to enrich your conversion data without duplication, and to leverage the power of GA4 in your advertising campaigns. For example, you can import GA4 events like "view_item" or "add_to_cart" and use them as secondary conversion actions. This allows you to track user engagement at every step of the funnel, without having to add extra code to your site. Additionally, by importing conversions with values, you can improve the accuracy of your smart bidding. Make sure to properly link your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts for the import to work correctly.
What pitfalls should be avoided with conversion action sets?
A common pitfall is to create too many sets, which can fragment your data and make optimization difficult. Keep sets simple and aligned with your goals. Another pitfall is forgetting to update your campaigns to use the new sets, making the configuration useless.
Also avoid tracking conversions that are not relevant to your business, such as clicks on non-essential elements. This can distort bidding decisions. Finally, regularly verify that your tags are working correctly, especially after changes to your site.
A clean and thoughtful configuration is key to getting the most out of this feature. For example, if you have too many sets, you risk not having enough data for the algorithm to learn effectively. It is recommended to start with one or two sets, then adjust based on performance. Additionally, ensure your sets are properly named and documented, so your team can easily understand the logic behind each configuration. Finally, do not forget to test your tags after each modification to your site, as a broken tag can lead to a loss of valuable data.
How to measure and adjust your performance?
After configuring your sets, monitor your performance in Google Ads. Compare campaigns that use sets with those that do not. Look at metrics such as cost per conversion, conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS).
If you have defined a "Sales" set, verify that the number of sales is increasing, even if the total number of conversions decreases. This is a sign that the algorithm is focusing on what matters. Use Google Ads reports to analyze this data in detail.
Feel free to adjust your sets based on the results. Flexibility is an asset, but do not change them too often to allow time for the algorithms to learn. For example, if you find that your "Sales" set is not generating enough conversions, you can increase your bid or broaden your audience. Conversely, if your "Prospecting" set generates many conversions but few sales, you can reduce its importance. The key is to follow trends over a sufficiently long period (at least two weeks) before making decisions. Use custom columns to display key metrics and facilitate analysis.
How does Qstomy complement your Google Ads strategy?
Qstomy, the Shopify AI agent, complements your Google Ads strategy by optimizing conversion on your store. While Google Ads attracts visitors, Qstomy guides them toward purchasing through personalized recommendations, upsell and cross-sell suggestions, and smart cart management.
Concretely, Qstomy can:
Increase the value of your conversions by suggesting complementary products during the checkout funnel.
Recover sales by tracking packages and managing customer service, which reduces abandonment.
Improve customer experience with responsive support, which can increase the likelihood of conversion.
By combining conversion action sets to target sales and Qstomy to maximize every visit, you create a more efficient funnel. For example, if a visitor arrives on your site via a Google Ads advertisement, Qstomy can recommend complementary products based on their browsing history, thereby increasing the average order value. Additionally, by managing cart abandonments, Qstomy can send personalized reminders, which recovers sales that would otherwise have been lost. This synergy between Google Ads and Qstomy allows you to make the most of every visitor while improving customer satisfaction.
What checklist should you follow before launching your sets?
Before you start, here is a checklist to avoid mistakes:
Define your goals: which conversions are essential for your revenue?
Install tags: verify that the global tag and event snippets are properly in place.
Create your sets: group conversions by priority level.
Assign sets: associate each set with the appropriate campaigns.
Test and adjust: monitor performance and modify as needed.
In short: conversion action sets give you control over what Google Ads optimizes. Use them to prioritize sales and improve your return on investment.
FAQ
Can I use Google Analytics goals as sets? Yes, import them into Google Ads and include them in your sets.
How many sets can I create? As many as needed, but keep it simple to avoid confusion.
Do sets affect automated bidding? Yes, they direct smart bidding towards priority conversions.
To go further: How to optimize an e-commerce site for Google (step-by-step guide) - Qstomy, Feedback loop: tracking feedback to optimize your products - Qstomy, Google Analytics for marketing: ads, traffic and performance (GA4) - Qstomy, How does Google rank Shopping ads? Ad Rank, feed and bidding - Qstomy, How to set up ecommerce tracking on Google Ads? Conversions and GA4 - Qstomy, How to optimize a product page to convert? - Qstomy, Optimizing your SEO strategy with AI: Google framework, process and Shopify - Qstomy.
Enzo
September 18, 2026
