How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Send qualified leads and closed sales back to Google Ads
Updated October 11, 2026
1 hour to set up, then a few minutes per upload
Create Qualified lead and Converted lead actions in Google Ads, keep each lead's click ID and email, and upload each stage once with its real value and the lead's ID as order ID. Wait for the final amount: a resend of the same conversion is dropped, and an upload without a click ID may never be correctable.
Before you start
- Leads stored with what Google matches on: the click ID (GCLID) saved when the form was sent, and the email or phone the person typed.
- Enhanced conversions turned on and the customer data terms accepted in Google Ads, if you will send email or phone.
- A value for each stage, such as an average worth of a qualified lead and the actual amount of each closed sale.
- Access to the Google Ads account that owns your conversion actions. If a manager account tracks conversions, create the actions and upload there.
Create one action for each stage
Google has replaced the old imported leads goal with two goal types, Qualified lead and Converted lead, and each stage you report needs its own action.
- In Google Ads, click the Goals icon, open the Conversions drop-down, click Summary, then + Create conversion action.
- Choose the option for conversions you import rather than tag. Google's pages name it two ways, Import then CRMs, files, or other data sources, or Conversions offline; take whichever your screen shows, and choose conversions tracked from clicks.
- Under Goal and action optimization, select Qualified lead, finish the required details, click Create and continue, then Done. The Conversions offline screen has no such drop-down and asks for a conversion category instead.
- Repeat for a second action set to Converted lead.
- Wait 4 to 6 hours before the first upload. Google says conversions uploaded to a new action sooner may take 2 days to appear.
Create these before relying on the click IDs you collect. Google's setup page says early conversions cannot be imported if the action did not exist first.
Keep what Google needs from the moment the lead arrives
An upload can only be matched on what was saved when the form was sent, so the lead record has to carry it from day one.
- Save the GCLID with every form lead in a hidden form field. Google says the click ID is case sensitive, and its sample script keeps it in the visitor's browser for 90 days, the same as the upload window.
- Save the email and phone exactly as the person typed them. Google matches uploaded email and phone against what its tag saw on the form, and against signed-in Google accounts.
- Give each lead a lasting ID of its own, such as its CRM record number, and use it as the Order ID on each stage you upload. Google caps the ID at 64 characters and says it must not include anything that could identify the customer, and its adjustment tools look a conversion up by it.
Upload each stage once, with its final value
Each upload should be the last word on that stage, because sending the same conversion again does not overwrite it.
- When a lead qualifies, upload one row to the Qualified lead action with its GCLID, email or phone, the exact action name, the conversion time with its time zone, the order ID and the value.
- When the sale closes, wait until the final amount is known, then upload one row to the Converted lead action with that amount as the value.
- Do not plan to fix a placeholder value by sending the row again. Google counts a conversion with the same identifier, action name and time once and lists the rest as duplicates, and its transaction ID page says Google may process only the first instance of an ID. A resend with a new time and no order ID may count twice instead.
- Upload within 90 days of the ad click, or 63 days for enhanced conversions for leads (uploads that carry email or phone). Fill in Ad User Data and Ad Personalization consent where your upload method has them.
A value that changes after upload can be restated through a conversion adjustment, within 54 days, though Google says bidding reads a restatement only up to 7 days after the conversion is first recorded. Google's adjustment page looks a conversion up by order ID, or by click ID and conversion time. A conversion uploaded by email or phone with no click ID has only the order ID to go on, and if Google does not find it that way, nothing else can, so treat its first value as final.
Check it worked
Open Goals, then Conversions, then Uploads. Each upload shows a Status and Results, and Download errors lists rows that failed with a reason. Rows sent by email or phone for people who never clicked an ad are listed with an Unknown clicks error, which Google says is expected and can generally be ignored. Allow 24 to 48 hours for processing.
Then open Campaigns, set the date range to cover the conversion times you uploaded (not the upload day), and add the All conv. (by conv. time) column. The standard Conversions column files the same conversions under the ad click date instead. If accepted uploads still do not show after two days, work through the checks for missing offline conversions.
Which stage should bidding chase
Google's case for these goals is that bidding learns from the leads that turned into business, not from every form fill. A judgment, not Google's rule: make a stage Primary only once it happens often enough each month to give bidding a steady signal, and keep the rest Secondary so they report without steering bids.
Email or phone with no click ID
Google recommends sending the GCLID whenever you have it, and requires it when no tag collects the email or phone on the form. Without a click ID, Google has to match the person instead, which it can only do where it saw the same details on your site or in a signed-in account, and the conversion then has no click ID to correct it by.