How-to · Updated October 12, 2026
Fix Google Ads conversion tracking after a website redesign
Updated October 12, 2026
45 minutes, then 24 to 48 hours for statuses to update
A new site can stop conversion tracking with no error, and reports read zero. Confirm the drop starts at the launch, check the Google tag or Tag Manager container is on every new page, match URL rules to the new thank-you address, keep the click id through redirects, then exclude the broken days.
Before you start
- Standard or Admin access in Google Ads, the levels that can edit campaigns, to change conversion actions and add a data exclusion. Read-only access is enough to view the reports in the first part.
- Publish access in Tag Manager, or the person who holds it, if the site uses Tag Manager.
- The launch date, and the old and new addresses of every page that counted as a conversion, such as the thank-you page after a form.
- Whoever built the new site. Most of the fixes are on the site, not in Google Ads.
Confirm the drop starts at the launch
This part shows which conversion actions stopped at the launch and whether the cause sits on the new site.
- In Google Ads, open Campaigns, click Segment, then under Conversions choose Conversion action. Set the date range to the two weeks before the launch and note each action's conversions, then set the same length after the launch. Note each action whose count fell to zero, or close to it.
- Open the Goals menu, then Conversions, then Summary, and hover over the status of each of those actions. Google is rolling out new labels, so it may read Misconfigured or Awaiting conversions, or an older label such as Unverified, Tag inactive or Needs attention.
- Compare with actions the site plays no part in, such as calls from the call button in your ads. If those held steady while website actions fell, the cause is on the new site rather than in Google Ads.
Put the tag back on every new page
Google's sitewide tagging checklist names this case: after moving domains, changing thank-you page addresses or redirecting pages, check that the Google tag is on all the new URLs.
- Open the Tools menu, then Data manager. Under Google tag, find your tag, click Manage and open its Tag coverage summary.
- Read the Tag status column. Not tagged means a page has never loaded your Google tag. No recent activity means it loaded the tag before but not in the last 30 days. New pages marked Not tagged are the gap the redesign left. An old address marked No recent activity is expected if it now redirects; it matters only if the page still loads and people still reach it. Use Add URLs for new pages the summary has not found yet.
- Have whoever built the site add the Google tag, or the Tag Manager container snippet, to every page template, in the head section. Google says it belongs on every page, and for calls from your website, on every page that shows the number.
- If the site uses Tag Manager, open the container's Versions and check the published version still holds the Google Ads conversion tags, plus either a Google tag on every page or a Conversion Linker tag on All Pages. Google says a container that loads a Google tag on every page does not also need a conversion linker.
- Ask for any tag left over from the old site to be removed. Google warns that a legacy conversion tag alongside a new one, or two Google tags or containers on one page, can double count or cause other problems.
Point conversions and redirects at the new pages
This part updates each conversion rule, trigger and ad link to the new addresses, then keeps Smart Bidding off the broken days.
- In Goals, Conversions, Summary, click the name of an action that fell, then Edit settings. If it was set up with a URL, it counts a page load, so a moved thank-you page leaves the old rule matching nothing and the action recording nothing. The site shows no error, and the status may change only days later.
- Read the rule: URL is, URL starts with or URL contains, then the address. Google says to confirm the exact URL is specified in the action's settings. Change it to the new thank-you page and click Save, then Done. A judgment, not Google's rule: URL contains with a stable part of the path, such as thank-you, survives small address changes better than URL is.
- For a tag in Tag Manager, check its trigger. Google says conversion tags must fire on the correct trigger, such as a thank-you page load or a form submission, and a rebuilt form or a moved thank-you page can leave the old trigger matching nothing.
- If the conversion now happens on another domain you own, set up cross-domain tracking. If it happens on a third party's domain, such as a booking or payment tool, Google says this won't work in the long term unless that third party puts sitewide tags on its pages.
- Open the Campaigns menu, then Insights and reports, then Landing pages. For each old address that now redirects, change the final URL in the ad to the new address. Google says a redirect has to pass the click id (GCLID) on to the final landing page, and a direct link takes the redirect out of the question. If redirects stay, ask the developer to make them carry the whole query string.
- Click one of your ads to test the new site. Google says a small share of sites serve an error page when auto-tagging adds its parameter. If you get an error, Google says to turn auto-tagging off, have the developer allow extra URL parameters, then turn it back on.
- Once the fixes are live, if your campaigns use Smart Bidding, add a data exclusion from the launch date to the day of the fix, starting earlier by your usual delay between click and conversion. Google says to apply it as soon as you find the problem and not to remove it afterward. Google also says exclusions are not meant for long periods, and after a week or more of affected clicks, results may stay unsteady for one or two conversion cycles.
Check it worked
Test each fixed action with Tag Assistant. In Summary, choose All conversions from the Conversions drop-down, hover over the action's status and click Troubleshoot, then Continue. Google offers this for Unverified, Tag inactive and Needs attention. Enter your home page or a landing page, not the thank-you page, and click Connect. If the site uses Tag Manager, you may need to choose Debug live version in the Tag Assistant window.
On the new site, complete the conversion, such as sending the form, then click Finish. If nothing registered, click I thought I already triggered it to see Google's reasons. For other statuses, open tagassistant.google.com, click Add domain and Connect, and watch the Tag Assistant window for the conversion tag firing when you complete the conversion; the Finish step and the status update below apply only to a session started from Troubleshoot.
Google updates the actions verified in a Troubleshoot session after about 30 minutes. A verified action reads No recent conversions until a real conversion arrives, then Recording. After tag changes, Google says to allow 24 to 48 hours for statuses to update.
A week after the fix, run the segment from the first part again on a week before the launch and the week since the fix. Each website action should be back near its level before the launch for similar traffic, and the Tag coverage summary should show the new pages as Tagged. Google says a page can take up to 24 hours to update there from live traffic.
Before the next redesign
Give whoever builds the site a list of every conversion page and form, and the rule that the Google tag or container goes on every template. On launch day, update URL rules and final URLs and run Tag Assistant on the live site.
If the launch will break tracking for a known window, Google says a data exclusion can be set ahead of time for future dates, and that it usually takes effect within a day.
Conversions came back at double the old level
Two tags may now fire on the same conversion: the old one copied into the new template and a new one added in Tag Manager. Google says to remove legacy conversion tags from converting pages to avoid double counting, and that two Google tags or containers on one page can also cause problems. Run Tag Assistant on the conversion page to see what fires. A judgment, not Google's rule: if you use Tag Manager, keep the tag in its published version and remove the hard-coded one.