How to test my Google Ads conversion tracking tag?
To find out whether the tracking of conversions (orders) made on your store as a result of one of your Google Ads ads is working properly, you need to test the triggering of the "conversion tag". This tag is a tool that records conversion values (price and currency) and sends them, or not, to your Google Ads interface.
Please note that the conversion values will be sent to your Google Ads account ONLY IF the conversion comes from one of your Google Ads.
Here's how to test your tag correctly:
Note: The conversion tracking tag is placed on the order confirmation page. It is therefore necessary to make a test order and check that the tag is triggered on the order confirmation page, as explained below:
Step 1: Tag Assistant Companion setting up
First of all, you have to install the Google's "Tag Assistant Companion": in Google Chrome's browser (if you don't have Chrome, you can easily install it by clicking here), install the Google assistant tag by copying and pasting this link or by clicking here if you already are in a Chrome's browser.
Once you've installed Tag Assistant Companion, pin it to your browser for ease of use. To do this, click on the extensions icon in the top right-hand corner of your Chrome browser, then on the pin corresponding to the Tag Assistant Companion extension:
Step 2: Deactivating ad blockers
Deactivate any ad blockers that may be installed on your browser (such as "AdBlock" or others) for your store's domain. If you don't do this, the test may not work and you won't know if the tag is triggered correctly.
Step 3: Consent configuration
Configure consent management
Configure your consent management correctly. To do so, please follow this FAQ.
Accept cookies
Whatever your cookie consent banner module, it's important to perform the following test by accepting all cookies on your cookie consent banner. This is because we'll be testing the technical implementation of your tag, so if the test works when all cookies are enabled, this means that everything is technically in place for tracking information to be sent to Google. Secondly, you can test the different types of consent. If you then find that your Google Ads account stops receiving data, or that there is an abnormal drop in the amount of conversions being sent, then the problem lies with your cookie banner module (see the end of this FAQ).
Step 4: Test order and verification of conversion tracking tag operation
After accepting cookies on your consent banner, place a test order on your store. Important: don't perform the test with a free order, as PrestaShop does not redirect to the order confirmation page for free orders.
Once on the order confirmation page, click on the Tag Assistant Companion icon in the top right-hand corner of your browser:
The Tag Assistant opens in a new tab.
Delete the URL indicated in the "Your website's URL" field and replace it with the full URL of the order confirmation page, by copying and pasting:
This is because the URL automatically detected by the tool is truncated (in particular, the order identifiers are removed). You must therefore delete it and enter the full URL for the test to work.
Click on "Connect" for the assistant to analyze your page and detect whether your test order information has been sent to Google by your tag:
Wait for the connection to be established. The confirmation page for your test order, connected to Tag Assistant, will open in a new tab:
Return to the Tag Assistant tab, a "Connected" window should appear if the connection was successful, click on "Continue":
If your tag is detected by the Assistant, you should see its Google Ads conversion tracking ID displayed:
In the left-hand menu, click on "Conversion" and then on "Data Layer". If the tag has been successfully triggered, you should see the "conversion" event in the "API Call" section and the order information in the "Data Layer":
Here's how to interpret the data in our example:
- event : "conversion" -> the event is a conversion (a purchase)
- send_to : "AW-999999/azeezerty" -> corresponds to the conversion ID followed by the conversion label of the Google Ads Conversion Tracking tag detected
- value : "331.66" -> corresponds to the value of the order
- currency : "USD" -> corresponds to the order currency (dollar)
- transaction_id : "24" -> corresponds to the ID order
- If you can see the conversion information in the Data Layer, this means that your conversion tracking tag is working properly.
Note: Please note that even if the test works, you won't see the test order information in your Google Ads account, since you didn't perform the test after clicking on an ad. You've simply verified that the technical implementation and sending of the information to Google is done correctly. Google did receive the test order information, but did not record it, as Google only displays information in your account about orders placed following a click on a Google Ads ad. That said, if the previous test works, it means that technically everything is in place for tracking to be done correctly in Google Ads.
If, afterwards, you don't see any orders coming up in your Google Ads account, or if you notice a significant drop in the number of orders, start by checking that the conversion tracking configuration in your Google Ads account has been set up correctly. If this doesn't solve the problem, then maybe :
- either the orders placed by your customers have not been made following a click on a Google Ads advert
- or your cookie consent banner is not working properly: please refer to this FAQ.
- If you don't see any data in the Data Layer, this means that the Google Ads tag has been blocked. Please refer to this FAQ for possible causes and solutions. Once you've solved the problem(s), repeat the test as described above.