How to Track Real Leads
If you’re running Google Ads and only tracking pageviews or thank-you pages, you’re probably missing the good stuff — the real actions that lead to work. Are you wondering how to track real leads with Google Ads and GA4?
Benefits to advertising with Google >
Most contractors aren’t selling products online. You’re selling services, trust, and reputation. So when someone hits that “Call Now” button, submits a quote request, or books a job through your site, that’s the moment that matters.
And with a few simple steps, you can track those moments inside Google Ads using your custom events from GA4. That way, Google knows what a lead looks like for your business and can help you get more of them.
How This Works for Trades and Contractors
Let’s say you already have some custom events set up in Google Analytics. These might track things like:
A form submission
A phone number click
A “Request a Quote” button
You can connect those events to Google Ads and mark them as conversions. That means your ads stop just tracking traffic and start tracking leads — the kind of activity that actually grows your business.
Why This Matters
If you’ve been pouring money into ads without seeing real results, this is usually the missing piece. Google can’t optimize what it doesn’t know. When you connect your real business goals to your ad account, it gets smarter and starts finding more people who take action.
This helps you:
See which keywords are bringing in the right people
Spend your budget more efficiently
Get better-quality leads over time
Simple Actions That Make a Big Difference
Here are a few things worth tracking as conversions if you’re in the trades:
“Call Now” clicks
Quote or contact form submissions
Any service-specific buttons like “Book a Free Inspection”
Email link clicks
You don’t need a massive e-commerce setup to make the most of your data. You just need to track what matters to you and feed that back into Google Ads.
Want to Get This Set Up Without the Headache?
We help trades and contractors get clear on what’s working, and make sure the tools are talking to each other properly. If you’re already using GA4 and Google Tag Manager, this is the next step. If you’re not there yet, we can help get you there too.
Your website should be more than a digital business card — it should be a lead machine. And your ads should reflect what actually works.
Learn about our services here > and let’s get it tracking.
