Sound familiar?
- Google Ads reports conversions that never turn up as enquiries.
- Meta shows twice as many purchases as your shop received.
- Your consent banner blocks tags with no Consent Mode signals, so conversions disappear.
- Smart bidding (Max Conversions, tCPA, tROAS) is optimising towards the wrong action.
- Phone calls from ads are not tracked at all.
- Nobody knows what each tag in Google Tag Manager does.
Key facts
- Conversion tracking set-up starts from £145 + VAT one-off.
- Consent Mode v2 passes ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization to Google tags, per Google's developer documentation.
- Meta's developer documentation says pixel and Conversions API events need the same event name plus a shared event_id (or external_id and fbp) to deduplicate, within a 48-hour window.
- Meta scores Event Match Quality from 1 to 10; email, phone, IP, user agent, fbp and fbc are among the highest-weighted parameters.
- Google Ads Help says enhanced conversions send first-party data such as email, hashed with SHA256 before it leaves the browser.
- All tags are managed in Google Tag Manager in your own account.
Why conversion tracking decides how your ad money is spent
Modern ad platforms optimise automatically. Google Ads bidding strategies such as Maximise Conversions, target CPA and target ROAS, and Meta's Advantage+ campaigns, all learn from the conversions you send them. Send them the wrong signal and they will efficiently find more of the wrong thing.
dijitul marketing sets up conversion tracking from £145 + VAT one-off. We start with a tracking plan: what counts as a conversion for your business, which one the ad platforms should optimise for, and what each is worth. Then we build it, test it and hand it over with a written explanation. If GA4 itself needs setting up first, see our GA4 set-up service.
Consent Mode v2
In the UK, advertising cookies need consent under PECR. Consent Mode is how Google tags learn what the visitor chose. Google's developer documentation lists the main signals:
- ad_storage: cookies for advertising
- analytics_storage: cookies for analytics
- ad_user_data: whether user data can be sent to Google for advertising
- ad_personalization: whether data can be used for personalised ads such as remarketing
The documentation describes two set-ups. In basic mode, tags are blocked until the visitor chooses, and nothing is sent if they decline; Google uses a general model to estimate missing conversions. In advanced mode, tags load with consent denied and send cookieless pings, which allow an advertiser-specific model. We set up whichever you are comfortable with and make sure your banner actually sends the signals.
Meta pixel and Conversions API
The Meta pixel runs in the browser and can be blocked by browser settings, ad blockers or declined consent. The Conversions API (CAPI) sends the same events from a server. Using both gives Meta a more complete picture, but only if they are deduplicated.
Meta's developer documentation says redundant pixel and server events must share the same event name and either the same event_id or a combination of external_id and fbp, and that deduplication works within 48 hours. Without that, each purchase can be counted twice. We generate one event_id per action and pass it to both.
Meta rates the customer information sent with server events as Event Match Quality, a score from 1 to 10. Its documentation lists email, phone number, IP address, user agent, fbp and fbc among the highest-weighted parameters. Personal data such as email is normalised and hashed with SHA256. CAPI can be set up through Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, a server-side Google Tag Manager container or a partner tool, and server events respect the same consent choices as the pixel.
Google Ads enhanced conversions
Google Ads Help describes enhanced conversions as a supplement to your conversion tags that sends first-party data from your website, such as an email address, hashed with SHA256 before it leaves the browser. It helps Google match conversions to ad clicks when cookies are missing.
For lead forms, Google says at least an email (preferred) or phone number must be provided, and phone numbers must include the country code. Auto-tagging must be on. Google's current Tag Manager guide says enhanced conversions for web and for leads are now one combined setting. We map your form fields in Tag Manager and let the Google tag do the hashing, rather than hashing values ourselves.
Testing and handover
Every conversion is tested before we sign off. We submit real test forms, make test calls and place test orders, then confirm each one in Google Tag Assistant, GA4 DebugView, Google Ads conversion diagnostics and Meta Events Manager's test events tool. We check that consent choices change what fires, and that a refreshed order confirmation page does not record a second sale.
You get a short document listing every tag, trigger and conversion action, what it measures and how to check it still works. Tracking breaks quietly when a website changes, so we suggest a quick check after any site update. If you want results on one screen, add a reporting dashboard.
What you get
- A tracking plan listing each conversion action, its trigger and value
- Google Ads conversion actions with enhanced conversions
- GA4 key events aligned with the ad platform conversions
- Meta pixel and Conversions API with event_id deduplication
- Consent Mode v2 connected to your consent banner
- Call tracking from ads and website click-to-call
- Testing in Tag Assistant, GA4 DebugView and Meta Events Manager, with a written handover
How it works and what it costs
Google Ads management from £150 a month, social media management from £125 a month and email marketing from £95 a month, all + VAT. Ad spend is separate and paid to the platform. No long contracts.
Free review
We look at your current ads, social, email and analytics, or your plans if you are starting out, and tell you plainly what we would change.
Plan and price
You get a written plan with targets, budgets and a fixed monthly fee before anything starts.
Set up properly
Tracking and consent first, then campaigns, audiences, content calendars or email flows, all in accounts you own.
Run and improve
We manage it every week: search terms, bids, creative, posts and tests, cutting what does not pay and doing more of what does.
Report in plain English
A monthly report on leads, sales and cost per result, not vanity numbers, with what we will do next.
Frequently asked questions
How much does conversion tracking set-up cost?
dijitul marketing sets up conversion tracking for GA4, Google Ads and Meta from £145 + VAT one-off. The fixed price depends on the number of conversion actions, platforms and how your site is built.
What is Consent Mode v2?
It is Google's way of passing your visitors' cookie choices to Google tags. Version 2 added ad_user_data and ad_personalization to ad_storage and analytics_storage. Without it, Google has far less data to measure or model conversions from consenting and non-consenting visitors.
Do I need Meta Conversions API if I have the pixel?
It is strongly worth having. The pixel can be blocked in the browser; CAPI sends events from a server. Used together with a shared event_id for deduplication, Meta gets a more complete and accurate picture.
Why does Meta show more sales than we had?
Common causes are pixel and server events without a shared event_id, purchase events firing again when the confirmation page reloads, or Meta's attribution window counting view-through conversions. We check each in the set-up.
Can you track phone calls from ads?
Yes. We track taps on phone numbers from mobile, Google Ads call assets and calls from the website. Call recording or dynamic number insertion tools are separate subscriptions if you need them.
Is enhanced conversions safe for customer data?
Google's help documentation says the data is hashed with SHA256 before it leaves the browser and is used to match conversions. It should still be covered by your privacy notice and consent set-up, which we check.
Related
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We'll look at your ads, social, email and tracking, and tell you plainly what we'd change. No obligation.