How to capture the GCLID in FormAssembly forms
Learn how to capture the GCLID with each submission of your FormAssembly forms and send it to your CRM and other tools (and back to Google Ads).
Are you running Google Ads but struggling to figure out which campaigns, ad groups, and keywords are actually generating leads and customers for your business? You're not alone.
Tools like Google Analytics can show you how many website visitors you got from your ads, but they don't tell you which ads are bringing in real leads or paying customers. That's a huge problem when you're trying to justify your ad spend or figure out where to invest more budget.
The good news? There's a solution.
In this article, I'll walk you through how to use Attributer to capture the GCLID in FormAssembly with every submission. I'll also show you how to send that data into your CRM and then back into Google Ads as an offline conversion, so you can finally track the leads and customers your Google Ads campaigns are generating.
3 steps for capturing the GCLID in FormAssembly
Capturing the GCLID is really straightforward when you use Attributer with FormAssembly. Here's how the whole thing comes together:
1. Install Attributer on your website and add a hidden field
When you start your 14 day free trial of Attributer, you'll receive a small snippet of code to add to your website.
The way you install it depends on what website builder you're using. Most platforms (like WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, etc.) have a section where you can add code to the Head of your site. If you use Google Tag Manager, you can add it through there as well.
After that, you need to add a hidden field to your FormAssembly forms. You can do this by dragging a "Hidden Field" component into your form builder. Then, set the default value to [gclid]. This gives Attributer a place to store the GCLID so it gets included with every form submission.
2. Attributer writes the GCLID into the hidden field
When someone arrives on your website afterc licking one of your Google Ads, Attributer picks up the GCLID from the URL and stores it in their browser. This means that even if they browse your site for a while before filling out a form (or leave and return later), the original GCLID from that first visit is still preserved.
Then, when they finally complete a form on your site, Attributer writes the saved GCLID into the hidden field you set up earlier.
3. GCLID is captured with each form submission
Finally, when the form is submitted, the GCLID is captured in FormAssembly along with all the other information the lead entered into the form (like their name, email, etc).
You can then send the GCLID to your CRM and other tools using FormAssembly's native connectors or a third party tool like Zapier.
How to send the GCLID back to Google Ads and mark it as an offline conversion
Before you can send the GCLID back into Google Ads, you need to set up a new conversion.
To do this, log into your Google Ads account, open the Goals section in the sidebar, and select Conversions. Once you're on the Conversions page, click the option to create a new conversion and choose Offline Conversion from the list.
Then, in the final screen when it asks you to add a data source, select the option to ‘Add data source later’.
Once you've got your conversion set up in Google Ads, you need to figure out the right moment in your sales process to send the GCLID back to Google. The key is picking a point that actually matters for your business.
A lot of businesses hold off until a deal is completely closed before they fire the conversion back to Google Ads. That makes sense on the surface, but it can actually slow you down. Google's smart bidding options (think Maximise Conversions, Maximise Conversion Value, or Target CPA) typically need at least 50 conversions per month to do their job effectively.
If you're closing fewer than 50 deals each month, you're better off tracking something earlier in the process, like when a deal first gets created in your CRM. This way, Google has enough data to work with and can actually optimise your campaigns.
After you've decided on that point in your funnel, jump into your Zapier account and set up a new Zap. Choose a trigger that matches the moment you picked. For example, if you want to send the offline conversion to Google Ads when a deal gets created for a contact, that's the trigger you'd choose.
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 FormAssembly
There are other ways to capture the GCLID in FormAssembly, so what makes Attributer the best choice?
Here's why it's the way to go:
1. Remembers the GCLID as visitors browse your site
Most other tools out there, including the URL parameters feature in FormAssembly, only capture the GCLID if it's still sitting in the URL when someone actually submits the form.
That causes problems fast. Let's say someone clicks your Google Ad, lands on your homepage, then navigates over to your Contact Us page to fill out the form. The GCLID drops off the URL and you lose it completely.
Attributer solves this. It saves the GCLID in the visitor's browser, which means it doesn't matter if they click around your site for a while before filling out a form (or even leave and return days later). The GCLID gets captured every single time.
2. Captures UTM parameters as well
Attributer doesn't just capture the GCLID. It also grabs any UTM parameters you've added to your campaigns.
For instance, imagine you're running ads for an accounting firm. When someone clicks one of your Google Ads and fills out a form, Attributer would send this information into FormAssembly (based on the UTM parameters behind your ads):
- Channel = Paid Search
- Channel Drilldown 1 = Google
- Channel Drilldown 2 = Tax Services Campaign
- Channel Drilldown 3 = Small Business Accountant Sydney
- Channel Drilldown 4 = Free Consultation Ad
3. Captures information on users from organic channels
Attributer also captures details on leads who find your site through organic channels like Organic Search, Organic Social, Referral, or Direct Traffic.
Sticking with the accounting firm example, if someone discovers 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 = Small Business Accountant Sydney (or whatever keyword they searched for, if available)
Wrap Up
Looking to capture the GCLID in FormAssembly and send it to your CRM so you can fire offline conversions back to Google Ads? Attributer handles it all for you.
It retains the GCLID as visitors navigate your site (even if they bounce and return days later), and automatically passes it with each form submission.
Best of all, it's free to try and you can have everything running in under 10 minutes. Kick off your 14-day trial today and start capturing the GCLID in FormAssembly immediately.
Get Started For Free
Start your 14-day free trial of Attributer today!
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.