At the heart of any successful advertising campaign lies the ability to track and measure its impact. This is where Google’s Global Site Tag (gtag.js) comes into play. It allows advertisers to track their campaigns across multiple platforms, including Google Ads.
But what happens when a user clicks on an ad and then goes offline before converting? How can you track that conversion back to the original ad? This is where offline tracking in Google Ads using gclid comes in.
What is gclid?
gclid stands for Google Click Identifier. It’s a unique identifier that’s added to the end of the URL when someone clicks on a Google Ads ad. It’s essentially a tracking code that allows Google to measure the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns.
How does offline tracking work?
When a user clicks on your Google Ads ad, a gclid is added to the URL of the landing page. If the user converts while still online, Google can track the conversion back to the original ad using the gclid.
But what happens when the user goes offline before converting? In this case, Google still tracks the gclid and stores it in a first-party cookie on the user’s device. When the user comes back online and completes the conversion, the gclid is sent back to Google and the conversion is attributed to the original ad.
Why is offline tracking important?
Offline tracking is important because it allows you to accurately measure the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. Without it, you may be missing out on conversions that occurred offline.
For example, let’s say you run a campaign promoting a new product. Someone clicks on your ad but doesn’t convert immediately. They go to a physical store and purchase the product offline. Without offline tracking, you would have no way of knowing that the sale was a result of your advertising campaign.
By using offline tracking in Google Ads, you can accurately measure the impact of your campaigns and make data-driven decisions about where to allocate your advertising budget.
How to set up offline tracking in Google Ads
Setting up offline tracking in Google Ads is relatively straightforward. Here are the
Steps:
1. Add the gtag.js global site tag to your website.
2. Enable auto-tagging in your Google Ads account.
3. Set up conversion tracking in your Google Ads account.
4. Use a server-side or offline conversion import to upload your offline conversion data.
5. Use the gclid to match your offline conversions to the original ad.
By following these steps, you can set up offline tracking in Google Ads and start accurately measuring the impact of your advertising campaigns.
Conclusion:
Offline tracking in Google Ads using gclid is a powerful tool that allows advertisers to accurately measure the impact of their advertising campaigns. By using gclid, Google can track conversions that occur offline and attribute them back to the original ad.
Setting up offline tracking in Google Ads is relatively straightforward and can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns.
If you’re not already using offline tracking in your Google Ads campaigns, now is the time to start. By doing so, you can make data-driven decisions about where to allocate your advertising budget and maximise the return on your investment.