What you need to know about micro-conversions in Google Ads

By: Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach

If your Google Ads campaign is struggling to generate enough conversions, the answer to your problem may be micro-conversions.

Micro-conversions are those small, but crucial, steps a user takes on their path to conversion. Think "add to cart," "signing up for a newsletter," or "watching a product demo video." While they may not be the ultimate goal, they signal user interest and provide valuable insights for your campaigns.

When to Use Micro-Conversions in Your Google Ads Campaigns

Micro-conversions have many different use cases to help you improve your Google Ads performance. The most common scenario in which I'll suggest tracking micro-conversions is to boost Smart Bidding. When your campaign struggles to get enough conversions for Smart Bidding to work effectively, micro-conversions can be a game-changer.

By feeding the algorithm more data points, you can improve its accuracy and efficiency. For example, if you're running an ecommerce campaign, track "add to cart" actions as micro-conversions. This data can help your Maximize Conversion Value bid strategy identify users who are more likely to make a purchase, even if they don't complete the checkout process immediately.

Why does this work? Users who complete micro-conversions are more likely to be interested in your offerings and become paying customers. This additional data allows you (and the Smart Bidding algorithm) to refine your targeting and focus on those most likely to convert.

Tracking micro-conversions also helps you identify bottlenecks in your sales funnel. If users are dropping off at a certain stage, you can investigate and optimize that step to improve overall conversion rates. Leveraging micro-conversions lets you keep driving relevant traffic from Google Ads, so you can fix the problem on your website or in your sales process.

How to Use Micro-Conversions in Google Ads

1. Choose the Right Micro-Conversions: Select actions that are relevant to your business goals and clearly indicate user intent.
2. Set Up Conversion Tracking: In your Google Ads account, create new conversion actions specifically for your chosen micro-conversions.
3. Incorporate into Smart Bidding: Use micro-conversions as primary conversion actions in your account/campaign so that your Smart Bidding strategies will use them as an input.
4. Monitor and Analyze: Regularly track your micro-conversion data to identify trends, optimize your campaigns, and improve your overall conversion rates.

When to Remove Micro-Conversions from your Google Ads campaigns

While micro-conversions are incredibly helpful, they are a means to an end. The goal is to gather enough data to power your Smart Bidding algorithm for actual conversions. Once you consistently achieve a sufficient number of conversions (aim for at least 30, ideally 50 or more, within a 30-day period), you can consider removing micro-conversions from your tracking.

Don't Let Valuable Data Slip Away!

Micro-conversions are a powerful tool for any Google Ads advertiser. By understanding their importance and implementing them effectively, you can unlock new levels of campaign optimization and achieve better results.