How to capture the GCLID in Unbounce forms
Learn how to capture the GCLID with every form submission on your Unbounce landing pages, so you can pass it into your CRM and other tools (and eventually send it back to Google Ads).
Attributer makes it easy to capture the GCLID in Unbounce forms. Just add a hidden field to your forms and Attributer will automatically write the GCLID into it when someone submits. It also captures UTM parameters and other data too.
Struggling to figure out which of your Google Ads campaigns are actually generating leads and customers? You're not alone.
While tools like Google Analytics do a solid job of tracking how many visitors your ads send to your website, they can't tell you which of those visitors went on to become actual leads or paying customers. And without that visibility, it's nearly impossible to know if your ad spend is paying off or which campaigns are worth scaling.
The good news? There's a solution.
In this article, I'll show you how to use Attributer to capture the GCLID with every form submission on your Unbounce landing pages, and then pass that data into your CRM and back into Google Ads as an offline conversion.
3 steps for capturing the GCLID in Unbounce forms
Capturing the GCLID is simple when you combine Attributer with your Unbounce forms. Here's how to get it done:
1. Install Attributer on your website and add a hidden field
When you start a 14 day free trial of Attributer, you'll get a small piece of code to add to your website.
Installing it on your Unbounce landing pages is quick and easy. You can add the code through the Script Manager in your Unbounce account, which will apply it across all your landing pages (or you can just add it to individual pages if preferred).
Once that's in place, you'll need to add a hidden field to your Unbounce forms. Just add a new hidden field and label it 'GCLID'. This gives Attributer somewhere to write the GCLID so it gets passed along with every form submission.
If you need help, then full step-by-step instructions can be found here.
2. Attributer writes the GCLID into the hidden field
When someone clicks on one of your Google Ads and lands on your site, Attributer grabs the GCLID from the URL and stores it in their browser.
Then, when they complete a form on your Unbounce landing page, Attributer automatically writes that saved GCLID into the hidden field you set up earlier.
3. GCLID is captured with each form submission
When the form is submitted, Unbounce captures the GCLID along with everything else the lead entered (like their name, email, and so on). You can view it in the Leads tab of your Unbounce Page Overview, and it will be included in the email notifications that Unbounce sends.
Once it's captured, you can use Unbounce's built-in integrations or third-party tools like Zapier or Make to send the data into your CRM or any other tool 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 set up a new conversion action.
To do this, log into your Google Ads account and click on Goals in the sidebar, then head to Conversions. From there, click the button to create a new conversion and choose Offline Conversion from the list of 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 right is important.
Many businesses hold off until a deal is fully closed before sending the conversion to Google Ads. That might seem logical, but it can actually work against you. Google's smart bidding strategies (like Maximise Conversions, Maximise Conversion Value, or Target CPA) generally need at least 50 conversions per month to work effectively.
If you're not closing 50 deals a month, you'll see better performance by tracking an earlier step in your sales process, like when a new deal is created in your CRM. This way, you're still sending Google a positive signal (i.e. a lead that your sales team has qualified) while also making sure there's enough volume for smart bidding to do its thing.
Once you've picked 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 Unbounce forms
There are other ways to capture the GCLID in Unbounce forms, so why choose Attributer over the alternatives?
Here's what makes it stand out:
1. Remembers the GCLID as visitors browse your site
Most other methods for capturing the GCLID only work if it's still present in the URL at the time the form is submitted.
That can be a problem. Think about this: someone clicks your Google Ad and lands on your landing page, but they don't convert straight away. Maybe they leave and come back a few days later, or maybe they browse around your main site a bit first. If that happens, the GCLID would no longer be in the URL, so it wouldn't be captured.
Attributer handles this differently. It stores the GCLID in the visitor's browser, so it doesn't matter if they browse through other pages on your site before completing a form (or even leave and return a few days later). The GCLID is still captured every 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 example, imagine you're running ads for a project management software company. When someone clicks one of your Google Ads and fills out a form, Attributer would pass the following information through with each form submission (based on the UTM parameters behind your ads):
- Channel = Paid Search
- Channel Drilldown 1 = Google
- Channel Drilldown 2 = Project Management Campaign
- Channel Drilldown 3 = Best Project Management Software
- Channel Drilldown 4 = Free Trial Ad
3. Captures information on users from organic channels
Attributer also picks up details on leads who arrive at your site through organic channels like Organic Search, Organic Social, Referral, or Direct Traffic.
Continuing with the software company 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 Project Management 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 Unbounce forms and send it to your CRM so you can fire offline conversions back to Google Ads? Attributer makes it simple.
It stores the GCLID as visitors browse your site (even if they leave and come back days later), and automatically includes it 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 Unbounce 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.