In short: a conversion is the action you tell Google is worth something, and Smart Bidding will optimise towards it — so defining it badly misdirects the whole investment. What matters most is the distinction between primary actions (the ones that guide bidding) and secondary ones (only observed). And the value: without it, Google treats a €50 quote and a €5,000 quote the same.
We have repeated it across five modules and now it is time to develop it: tracking is the mother of all levers. Smart Bidding optimises towards whatever you tell it is a conversion; the reports judge by it; budget decisions come out of it. Before you install a single tag you have to make the decision in this lesson: what counts and what doesn't.
What is a conversion action?
A conversion action is a type of event you define in Google Ads as valuable: a completed purchase, a submitted form, a call longer than 60 seconds, a sign-up, a booking, a download. Each action has its own settings (category, value, count, window) and an account can have many. What is not a conversion: a visit, a click on a button with no consequence, watching a video, spending time on the page.
What is the difference between primary and secondary conversions?
Every action is either primary or secondary:
| Primary | Secondary | |
|---|---|---|
| Does Smart Bidding optimise towards it? | Yes | No |
| Does it appear in the «Conversions» column? | Yes | No (only in «All conversions») |
| What it's for | What genuinely earns money | Observing, diagnosing, intermediate steps |
The number one mistake in small accounts: everything primary. Purchase, add to basket, show phone number, tap WhatsApp, visit the contact page... Smart Bidding learns that «conversion» means anything at all and optimises towards the easiest and cheapest one: clicks on «show phone number». The conversions column goes up, the sales don't.
Rule: primary = what you would pay to get. One or two primary actions per goal; the rest, secondary, for looking at.
Should you assign a value to conversions?
Every action can carry a value: fixed (each lead = €50) or dynamic (the amount of each order). With values you can bid for ROAS and, above all, differentiate: a requested quote is worth more than a missed call. Even if you are not going to use ROAS yet, set values from the start: later on they will let you say «bring me what is worth most», not just «bring me lots».
Count one conversion or every conversion?
Per action you decide whether a person who converts several times after a click counts one time or every time:
- Every: purchases (three orders are three sales).
- One: leads (three submissions of the same form are still one lead).
With «every» on a form, an impatient user who clicks three times inflates your conversions and misleads Smart Bidding.
What is the conversion window and how long should it be?
How many days after the click the conversion still counts: 30 by default, configurable from 1 to 90. If your sales cycle is long (a home renovation, a master's degree), shorten it and you will lose real conversions; lengthen it and today's conversions will keep «arriving» for weeks (lesson 4). Set the window that matches your real cycle.
What are conversion categories for?
Every action carries a category (purchase, lead, sign-up, contact...) and Google groups them into conversion goals per campaign. Useful: one campaign can optimise towards «purchases» and another towards «leads» even though they share an account. Check on each campaign which goal it is using: by default it inherits all of the account's.
An example conversion map
A home renovation company with a website and a phone number:
| Action | Type | Value | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quote form submitted | Primary | €80 | One |
| Call from the ad > 60 s | Primary | €80 | One |
| Call from the website > 60 s | Primary | €80 | One |
| Click on «show phone number» | Secondary | — | One |
| Click on WhatsApp | Secondary | €20 | One |
| Visit to the contact page | Secondary | — | One |
Three primaries that mean «real contact», with the same value; everything else, observation. Smart Bidding chases contacts, not browsers.
💡 Ninja trick: this separation is the basis of our L1/L2 methodology: L1 are the browsing conversions (show phone number, WhatsApp, contact page) and L2 the real contact ones. The rule: L1 must never weigh more than half of the account's total conversion value, or Smart Bidding learns to bring in window-shoppers. The Ninja Scripts Agent calculates that split (%L1 Value, %L1 Clicks) in every account and warns you when it goes out of balance.
What you should remember
- A conversion = what you would pay to get. Primary only for that; secondary for observing.
- Values from day one, even if you're not bidding for ROAS yet.
- One for leads, every for purchases.
- Window = your real cycle.
- Check which goal each campaign is using: by default, all of them.