Track Ninja Forms submissions as conversions in Google Ads

Google Ads is a great way to bring new leads and customers into your business, but actually getting conversion tracking set up properly is hard.

Tools like Google Tag Manager require you to write custom JavaScript to listen for form submissions, extract the lead's name, email, etc and anonymise it with SHA-256, and then set up triggers, tags, variables, etc. just to send the data back to Google Ads.

There are simpler approaches like tracking thank you page visits, but they can quietly drop up to 30% of your conversions thanks to ad blockers, privacy features built into browsers (like Safari), or people clicking your ad on their phone and then converting later on their laptop.

So what's the right way to do it?

In this article, we'll walk through how to set up proper conversion tracking in Google Ads when someone submits a Ninja Form on your WordPress site (using an approach known as server-side tracking).

Why you need to send conversions to Google Ads server-side

Having accurate conversion tracking set up is the foundation for success with Google Ads.

That's because Google Ads uses smart bidding technology to pull together thousands of signals about a searcher (like their location, their browsing history, the time of day, the device they're on, etc) to figure out whether a particular person is likely to buy your product or service, and then uses that to bid higher or lower based on how good a fit they are for your business.

But that only works if you have accurate conversion data flowing in. You need to tell Google "this person converted and this one didn't" so it can learn what your best leads look like.

The problem with the usual conversion tactics (like tracking thank you page visits or relying on Google Tag Manager) is that they send conversions to Google through the visitor's browser, and that approach has a few issues:

• Ad Blockers — Ad blockers stop the Google Tag from loading on your site, which means it can't track anything the user does there (including submitting a Ninja Form).
• Privacy Features in Browsers — Browsers like Safari ship with built-in technologies that limit how long the Google Tag can track a visitor (so if someone clicks your ad and converts 3 days later, it wouldn't be able to be tied back to the original ad click).
• Using multiple devices — A lead might click your ad on their work computer but come back to convert later on their home computer (or their phone), which means the original ad click can't be tied back to the eventual conversion.

This is why server-side tracking is the right answer. Instead of relying on things happening in the browser and hoping it all works, you essentially send a direct, private message to Google's servers with the lead's details, which means the information isn't blocked by ad blockers or privacy settings.

And this has been shown to significantly increase the results you get from Google Ads. In fact, Google's own data indicates that server-side tracking typically delivers a 23% average increase in total recorded conversions and a 10% reduction in cost per conversion (because Google's algorithms have the data they need to understand what a good lead looks like for your business, and can bid higher when similar people search for your keywords).

3 simple steps to send server-side conversions to Google Ads from Ninja Forms

Here are the 3 steps to wire up server-side conversion tracking between Ninja Forms and Google Ads.

Step 1: Build your Conversion Flow in Converly

Converly is the tool that bridges Ninja Forms and Google Ads, sending each submission directly to Google's servers as a conversion.

In the screenshot above, you can see Converly's workflow builder. If you've spent any time in tools like Zapier or HubSpot Workflows, the layout will feel immediately recognisable.

You simply choose your trigger (in this case, a Ninja Forms submission), then add the actions you want fired (such as a Google Ads conversion).

That really is the whole setup. A few clicks and you have server-side conversion tracking in your Google Ads account.

Step 2: Add the Converly code to your website

After you publish the Conversion Flow, Converly provides you a small snippet of JavaScript to install on your WordPress site.

Because Ninja Forms runs on WordPress, you have several easy ways to drop the snippet in. Most themes have a Custom Code or Header Scripts area in their settings, or you can use free plugins like Insert Headers and Footers plugin to add it in. Alternatively, if you already manage tags through Google Tag Manager you can deploy it from there.

Step 3: Test it works

To confirm everything is working, head back to your website and submit one of your Ninja Forms.

Then jump back into Converly, open your Conversion Flow, click the 3 dots menu in the top right corner, and choose View Logs.

On the logs screen, click into your test record to inspect everything Converly captured and see whether the conversion was successfully sent to Google Ads.

You can drill in even further to see the exact payload that was delivered to Google Ads and the response Google's servers returned.

If your test entry shows up in the logs and the Google Ads delivery is marked successful, you're done. From start to finish, the whole setup usually takes under 10 minutes.

Why Converly is the best way to send conversions to Google Ads from Ninja Forms

There are a handful of other paths you could take to send Ninja Forms submissions into Google Ads, so why pick Converly over the alternatives? A few things really set it apart:

1. Easy to set up

The default route most people try is Google Tag Manager. Going down that road means writing custom JavaScript to capture form submissions, extracting the lead's name and email and pushing them into the DataLayer, figuring out how to hash that data with SHA-256 (which Google requires for privacy reasons), and then wiring up variables, triggers, and tags.

It's worse with Ninja Forms specifically. Submissions are AJAX-based and only surface inside a nfFormReady JavaScript event, so before you can do any of the above, you have to hand-roll a custom GTM listener just to know a submission even happened.

If you're not already a developer (or Google Tag Manager expert), this is a lot to learn.

Converly removes all of that friction. You simply choose your trigger (a Ninja Form being submitted), choose your action (a Google Ads conversion), and you're done. No custom code, no listeners, no complex setup, just straightforward conversion tracking that works.

2. Not affected by ad blockers and privacy restrictions

When you opt for Google Tag Manager (or something even simpler like a thank you page hit), you can expect that a significant chunk of your conversions will never reach Google's servers, because ad blockers and privacy-focused browsers shut the Google Tag down before it can load.

One study that examined over 7 million conversions found that around 30% of them were being missed by browser-based tracking. Roughly 5% of those losses traced back to ad blockers, and the larger 25% slice came from browser-level privacy protections.

Converly avoids that problem entirely by sending conversions directly to Google's servers. There's nothing in the browser for ad blockers or privacy features to interfere with, so the numbers in your Google Ads account end up far closer to reality.

3. Works across devices

It's pretty common for a lead to first land on your site on one device (their phone, for example) and then wait until they're back at a computer to actually fill out the form.

If you're sending conversions in the browser (with a tool like Google Tag Manager), it can't connect those two sessions because they happened on different browsers on different devices.

Converly takes a different approach. It sends the lead's data (like their name, email, phone and so on) directly to Google's servers, which means Google has the data it needs to tie the conversion that happened on their computer back to the original ad click on the phone, so your ads get proper credit for the conversions they actually drove.

4. Sends more data

Not only does Converly send the lead's name, email, phone, etc. to Google Ads to help match ad clicks to conversions, it also captures technical signals like the GCLID, IP address, and User Agent and forwards them along too.

That ultimately means Google Ads has much more information about the person who converted, and can use that information to better match the conversion back to an ad click (even one that happened on a different device several weeks earlier).

The end result for you is more accurate conversion tracking, and better data to optimise against inside Google Ads.

5. Supports multiple tools and platforms

Converly works with more than 100 different form builders, scheduling tools, chat widgets, and more.

It can also deliver conversion events to Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Microsoft Ads, and a host of other platforms.

So if you ever add a new tool to your website (like a chat widget or scheduling tool), or if you start advertising on a new platform, you don't have to rebuild your conversion tracking from scratch. A few clicks inside Converly and the new piece is connected.

3 things you can do when you properly send conversions to Google Ads from Ninja Forms

Once Google Ads has reliable conversion data flowing in, a lot of capabilities suddenly open up that simply don't work without it.

1. Report on conversions by campaign, ad group, keyword, etc.

With proper conversion tracking in place, the reports in Google Ads start showing more than just impressions and clicks. You'll see total conversions, conversion rate, cost per conversion, return on ad spend, and a lot more.

Plus, you can slice and dice all of those metrics by campaign, ad group, keyword, individual ad, country, and plenty of other dimensions.

That kind of visibility helps you see which campaigns, ad groups, keywords, etc are actually driving real leads for your business, and where the biggest opportunities to grow leads or reduce costs are.

2. Use Google's Smart Bidding technology

Manual bidding means you set a max cost per click and Google will bid evenly for anyone who searches your keywords (even if they're not a great fit for your business).

Smart bidding flips that around: you tell Google your business goal (for example, getting leads at $45 each) and Google handles the actual auction bids for you. It takes into account everything it knows about each searcher (age range, location, device, recent browsing behaviour, and so on) and increases or decreases bids based on how likely that person is to convert into a lead for you.

But it only works when conversion tracking is solid. You need to be able to tell Google 'This person converted and this person didn't' so that it knows what a "good" lead looks like for your business. If you don't have accurate conversion tracking set up, you either can't use smart bidding, or worse, it will burn budget chasing clicks from people who will never convert because they aren't a good fit for your business.

But by using Converly to send server-side conversions to Google Ads, you're giving the smart bidding algorithm the inputs it needs to bid higher on your ideal customers and lower on others, which usually means more leads at a lower cost per lead.

3. Retarget people who visited your site but didn't convert

When accurate conversion data is flowing into Google Ads, you can also build remarketing audiences of people who visited your site but didn't fill out a form.

From there, you can re-engage them across multiple Google surfaces:

• Search — Bid more aggressively (or less if you want) when these people search for your keywords again.
• Display — Show display ads to this audience as they browse other sites on the web (using the Google Display Network).
• YouTube — Serve them YouTube pre-roll and in-stream ads so your brand stays top of mind when they're watching videos.

Wrap Up

If you want to send a conversion to Google Ads every time someone submits a Ninja Form on your website, then Converly is a great way to do it.

Because conversions get sent directly to Google's servers, they aren't blocked by ad blockers or privacy-focused browsers. And because Converly also forwards a rich set of lead details (name, email, phone, Google Click ID, IP address, browser, device, and so on), Google has the best possible chance of matching each conversion back to the original ad click.

The best part? The whole thing can be set up in just a few minutes and comes with a 14-day free trial, so go ahead and check it out today!