How to capture the GCLID in Instapage forms
Learn how to capture the GCLID every time someone submits a form on your Instapage landing pages, so you can send it to your CRM and other tools (and ultimately pass it back to Google Ads).
Attributer makes it simple to capture the GCLID in your Instapage forms. Just add a hidden field to your forms and Attributer will automatically populate it with the GCLID when a visitor submits. On top of that, it also captures UTM parameters and other attribution data as well.
Finding it hard to tell which Google Ads campaigns are actually bringing in leads and customers? You're not alone.
Tools like Google Analytics are great at showing how many visitors your ads are driving to your site, but they fall short when it comes to telling you which of those visitors actually turned into leads or paying customers.
The good news? There's a solution.
In this article, I'll walk you through how to use Attributer to capture the GCLID every time someone submits a form on your Instapage landing pages, and then send that data into your CRM and back to Google Ads as an offline conversion.
3 steps for capturing the GCLID in Instapage forms
Capturing the GCLID is easy when you pair Attributer with your Instapage forms. Here's how to set it up:
1. Install Attributer on your website and add a hidden field
When you sign up for a 14 day free trial of Attributer, you'll receive a small snippet of code to install on your website.
Adding it to your Instapage landing pages is quick and straightforward. You can place the code in the JavaScript section of your page settings, and you can apply it to individual pages or use it across multiple landing pages.
Once that's done, you'll need to add a hidden field to your Instapage forms. Simply add a new hidden field and label it 'GCLID'. This gives Attributer a place to write the GCLID so it gets included with every form submission.
If you need a hand, full step by step instructions can be found here.
2. Attributer writes the GCLID into the hidden field
When a visitor clicks one of your Google Ads and arrives on your site, Attributer extracts the GCLID from the URL and saves it in their browser.
Then, when they fill out a form on your Instapage landing page, Attributer automatically populates the hidden field you set up earlier with that stored GCLID.
3. GCLID is captured with each form submission
When the form is submitted, Instapage captures the GCLID along with all the other details the lead entered (like their name, email, and so on). You can see it in the form submissions section of your Instapage dashboard, and it will also be included in any lead notification emails that Instapage sends.
From there, you can use Instapage's built-in integrations or third-party tools like Zapier or Make to send the data into your CRM or whatever other tools you need it in.
How to send the GCLID back to Google Ads and mark it as an offline conversion
Before you can send the GCLID back to Google Ads, you'll need to create a new conversion action.
To get this set up, log into your Google Ads account and click on Goals in the sidebar, then navigate to Conversions. From there, hit the button to create a new conversion and select Offline Conversion from the available options.
Then, in the final screen when it asks you to add a data source, select the option to ‘Add data source later’.
Once your conversion action is set up in Google Ads, you need to decide which stage of your sales process should trigger the GCLID being sent back to Google. Getting this part right matters.
A lot of businesses wait until a deal is fully closed before sending the conversion to Google Ads. That might sound like the right approach, but it can actually hurt your performance. Google's smart bidding strategies (like Maximise Conversions, Maximise Conversion Value, or Target CPA) typically need at least 50 conversions per month to work properly.
If you're not closing 50 deals a month, you'll get better results by tracking an earlier step in your sales process, like when a new deal is created in your CRM. That way, you're still sending Google a meaningful signal (i.e. a lead that your sales team has qualified) while giving smart bidding enough data to optimize effectively.
Once you've decided on your trigger point, head into Zapier and create a new Zap. Set the trigger to match the moment you chose. For example, if you want to send the offline conversion when a deal is created for a contact, use that as your trigger.
Next, select Google Ads as the Action and then select the ‘Send Offline Conversion’ as the event.
Finally, you just need to map the GCLID from your CRM (or wherever you are storing it) to the correct field in Zapier.
That’s it! You have now set up offline conversions in Google Ads. It’s a good idea to test it’s working before piling money into ads, and you can read more about how to do that here.
Why Attributer is the best way to capture the GCLID in Instapage forms
There are other ways to capture the GCLID in Instapage forms, so why go with Attributer over the alternatives?
Here's what sets it apart:
1. Remembers the GCLID as visitors browse your site
Most other methods for capturing the GCLID only work if it's still in the URL when the form is submitted.
That can be a real problem. Think about it: someone clicks your Google Ad and lands on your landing page, but they don't convert right away. Maybe they leave and come back a few days later, or maybe they browse around your main site first. In those cases, the GCLID would no longer appear in the URL, so it wouldn't be captured.
Attributer works differently. It stores the GCLID in the visitor's browser, so it doesn't matter if they navigate through other pages on your site before filling out a form (or even leave and come back days later). The GCLID still gets captured every time.
2. Captures UTM parameters as well
Attributer doesn't just capture the GCLID. It also captures any UTM parameters you've added to your campaigns.
For example, let's say you're running ads for an accounting software company. When someone clicks one of your Google Ads and submits a form, Attributer would pass the following data through with each form submission (based on the UTM parameters behind your ads):
- Channel = Paid Search
- Channel Drilldown 1 = Google
- Channel Drilldown 2 = Small Business Accounting Campaign
- Channel Drilldown 3 = Best Accounting Software
- Channel Drilldown 4 = Free Trial Ad
3. Captures information on users from organic channels
Attributer also captures details on leads who come to your site through organic channels like Organic Search, Organic Social, Referral, or Direct Traffic.
Sticking with the accounting software example, if someone finds your business through a regular Google search, Attributer can pass through information like:
- Channel = Organic Search
- Channel Drilldown 1 = Google
- Channel Drilldown 2 = www.google.com (or whatever search engine domain they used)
- Channel Drilldown 3 = Best Accounting Software (or whatever keyword they searched for, if available)
How Attributer helped Harris Federal Law track which Google Ads are truly generating customers & revenue
Harris Federal Law Firm is a legal practice in Washington D.C that specializes in helping federal employees secure their benefits.
They were investing heavily in Google Ads and tracking website traffic through Google Analytics, but there was a significant gap. They had no way of knowing which visitors were actually turning into leads and customers.
That's when they discovered Attributer.
Once it was up and running, Attributer started passing attribution details (like campaign, ad group, ad, keyword, GCLID, and more) through every time someone filled out a form on their site. That data was then sent to their CRM along with the lead's contact information (name, email, etc).
This gave the team the ability to run reports showing which campaigns were generating real, paying customers and which ones were simply burning through budget without delivering results.
One of the biggest findings? A number of their display campaigns were driving plenty of traffic but barely any paying clients. Armed with that insight, they reallocated their budget toward the search campaigns that were actually producing results.
The outcome? More customers while spending less on ads.
"With Attributer we can see which campaigns are actually generating customers & revenue, rather than just website visitors. We were able to see that some of our campaigns were driving lots of visitors but few of them converted into leads and customers. Now we’re able to reinvest that budget into other campaigns that we can see are generating revenue."
Nick Child - Director of Marketing, Harris Federal Law Firm
Wrap Up
Want to capture the GCLID in your Instapage forms and send it to your CRM so you can fire offline conversions back to Google Ads? Attributer makes it easy.
It saves the GCLID as visitors browse your site (even if they leave and come back days later), and automatically passes it along with every form submission.
Best of all, it's free to get started and you can be up and running in under 10 minutes. Start your 14 day free trial today and start capturing the GCLID in Instapage right away.
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About the Author
Aaron Beashel is the founder of Attributer and has over 15 years of experience in marketing & analytics. He is a recognized expert in the subject and has written articles for leading websites such as Hubspot, Zapier, Search Engine Journal, Buffer, Unbounce & more. Learn more about Aaron here.