How to Import Google Analytics Goals to AdWords

Bringing your Google Analytics goals into Google Ads is one of the smartest ways to get a complete picture of your campaign performance. This step-by-step guide will walk you through the entire process, from getting your accounts ready to understanding the data once it's imported.

Why Import Google Analytics Goals into Google Ads?

Your Google Ads account is a pro at telling you who clicked your ad and converted on a specific action, like a purchase or a form submission. But what about all the valuable interactions that happen along the way? That’s where Google Analytics shines. By importing your Analytics goals, you’re not just tracking the final sale, you’re giving Google Ads the full context of the customer journey.

Here’s why it’s a game-changer:

• Richer Conversion Data: Google Analytics allows you to track goals that aren't necessarily final "money" conversions but are strong indicators of engagement. Think "viewed 3+ pages," "spent over 2 minutes on site," "watched an explainer video," or "downloaded a PDF." These are the micro-conversions that often lead to your main business objective.
• Optimize for the Entire Funnel: When Google Ads only sees the final conversion, it optimizes for that one action. By importing engagement goals, you teach the algorithm what a high-quality lead or an engaged visitor looks like. It can then start finding more people who exhibit these behaviors, warming them up for the final conversion.
• Smarter Bidding Strategies: This richer data is fuel for Google's automated bidding strategies like Target CPA or Maximize Conversions. The algorithm gets more signals to work with, allowing it to make more informed decisions about who to show your ads to and how much to bid.
• Unified Reporting: You spend less time bouncing between Google Ads and Google Analytics tabs trying to connect the dots. With your key metrics in one place, you can analyze performance more efficiently and see how ad clicks translate directly into on-site engagement.

Before You Start: The Pre-Flight Checklist

Before jumping into the import process, make sure you have a few things sorted out first. This will prevent headaches and ensure everything works smoothly. Run through this quick checklist:

• ✅ You have Admin access to both your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts. You'll need sufficient permissions to link accounts and modify settings.
• ✅ Your Google Analytics and Google Ads accounts are already linked. If they aren't, don't worry - we'll cover how to do that in the next section.
• ✅ Auto-tagging is enabled in your Google Ads account. This is a non-negotiable step that allows Analytics to correctly attribute traffic from your ads.
• ✅ You have existing Goals or Conversion Events configured in Google Analytics. The process imports existing goals, it doesn't create new ones for you. This could be anything from a "Destination" goal (like visiting a thank-you page) to an "Event" goal in Universal Analytics or a Conversion Event in GA4 (like a button click).

First, Link Google Analytics and Google Ads

If your accounts aren't already communicating, you need to connect them. This bridge is what allows goal data to flow from one platform to the other. Here's how to set it up.

For Universal Analytics (UA) Properties:

1. Sign into your Google Analytics account.
2. Click on 'Admin' (the gear icon) at the bottom left.
3. In the center 'Property' column, find and click on 'Google Ads Linking'.
4. Click the red '+ NEW LINK GROUP' button.
5. You'll see a list of Google Ads accounts associated with your email. Check the box next to the account you want to link and click 'Continue'.
6. Give your link group a recognizable title. Under 'Link configuration', toggle ON the data view(s) where you want to see your Ads data.
7. Click the 'Link accounts' button. You're all set! Wait a few minutes for the link to become active.

For Google Analytics 4 Properties:

1. Sign into your Google Analytics account.
2. Click on 'Admin' (the gear icon) at the bottom left.
3. In the center 'Property' column, scroll down to the 'Product Links' section and click on 'Google Ads Links'.
4. Click the blue 'Link' button in the top right.
5. Click 'Choose Google Ads accounts' and select the account you wish to link. Click 'Confirm'.
6. Click 'Next'. Keep 'Enable Personalized Advertising' turned on and ensure 'Enable Auto-Tagging' is also on. Click 'Next' again.
7. Review your settings and click 'Submit'.

Once linked, it can take up to 24 hours for data to start flowing between the platforms, so don't be alarmed if you don't see results immediately.

Next, Confirm Auto-Tagging is Enabled

Auto-tagging is a setting in Google Ads that automatically appends a parameter - the 'gclid' (Google Click Identifier) - to your URLs. This is how Google Analytics can tell with certainty that a visitor came from a specific Google Ads campaign, ad group, and keyword. With this disabled, Analytics just sees the traffic as 'google / cpc' without any of the rich detail needed for proper reporting.

Most of the time, this is enabled by default, but it's always worth checking:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. In the navigation menu on the left, click 'Settings' and then 'Account settings' from the sub-menu.
3. An 'Auto-tagging' section should be visible. Expand it if it isn't.
4. Confirm the box next to "Tag the URL that people click through from my ad" is checked.
5. If not, check the box and click 'Save'.

The Main Event: Importing Your Google Analytics Goals

With the foundations in place, you're ready to import your goals. The process is straightforward and only takes a couple of minutes.

1. Log back into your Google Ads account.
2. Click the 'Tools and Settings' icon (the wrench 🔧) in the top-right corner.
3. Under the 'Measurement' column, click on 'Conversions'.
4. On the Conversions summary page, click the blue '+ New conversion action' button.
5. You'll be asked what kind of conversions you want to track. Select 'Import'.
6. You'll see several options. Choose either "Google Analytics (UA)" or "Google Analytics 4 properties" based on which version you linked, then click 'Continue'.

If You're Importing from Universal Analytics (UA):

1. After selecting 'Google Analytics (UA)', you will land on a page that lists all the goals and eCommerce transactions from your linked Analytics views.
2. Take a look at the list and check the box next to each goal you want to import into your Google Ads account.
3. Once you've selected your goals, click the 'Import and Continue' button.
4. You'll see a confirmation screen telling you that you've successfully imported your goals. Click 'Done' and you're finished!

If You're Importing from Google Analytics 4:

The process for GA4 is very similar, but it looks for 'conversion events' instead of 'goals'. In GA4, any event can be marked as a conversion within the Analytics interface.

1. After selecting 'Google Analytics 4 properties', choose 'Web' and click 'Continue'.
2. You will see a list of the events you’ve marked as conversions in your GA4 property.
3. Check the box next to each conversion event you want to start tracking within Google Ads.
4. Click the 'Import and Continue' button and then click 'Done' on the next screen.

What Happens Next? Understanding Your Imported Data

Congratulations! You've now connected your Ads data with your site engagement data. But what do you do with it?

First, be patient. Imported conversions won't appear instantly. After importing, Google Ads will begin crediting conversions for clicks that happen from that point forward. Your reporting in Ads will show conversion data within 3 hours for GA4 imports and 9 hours for Universal Analytics imports. Crucially, historical data from before the import will not be added to Google Ads.

You can see your new conversion actions listed in your main Conversions table. Clicks on the appropriate campaigns will start to register conversions in the 'Conversions' column alongside any conversions you're tracking natively in Ads. This allows you to compare which campaigns drive newsletter signups versus which campaigns drive phone calls, all in one view.

You can now:

• Customize your columns: Make sure the 'Conversions' column is visible on your Campaigns, Ads, and Keywords pages. This lets you see at a glance how many goal completions are attributed to your ad clicks.
• Update your bidding strategies: If one of your new goals is now the most important action you want to drive, you can tell your campaign to optimize for it. Simply go to that campaign's settings and under the 'Bidding' section, you can select which specific conversion actions you want your Smart Bidding strategy to target.
• Analyze with greater context: Look for trends. Do certain keywords drive a lot of blog reads (a GA goal) but few final sales (an Ads conversion)? Maybe that keyword is better for top-of-funnel content rather than bottom-of-funnel ads. These insights help you refine your strategy to match user intent.

Final Thoughts

Connecting your Google Analytics goals to Google Ads is an essential step towards building a truly data-driven advertising strategy. It moves you beyond simple click-and-buy metrics, offering a complete view of how users engage with your brand after they click, which is crucial for making smarter decisions about your budget and creative.

At Graphed, we know that combining data from different marketing tools can be a pain. That’s why we help you connect all your data sources - like Google Analytics, Google Ads, and your CRM - in just a few clicks. With Graphed, you can simply ask questions in plain English, like "Compare my Google Ads CPA vs. customer registrations this month," and get a real-time dashboard instantly. It saves you from the manual work of building reports and helps you find the insights you need to grow your business.