The easiest way to capture Google Ads data in Everest Forms

Here's an easy way to capture Google Ads data in Everest Forms so you can track which campaigns are generating leads.

Google Ads is a fantastic way to attract new customers and leads for your business. However, to optimize your approach, you need to determine which ads, campaigns, and ad groups are most effective. Otherwise, how will you know what to do to enhance your results?

Enter Attributer.

In this article, we'll guide you through the four easy steps to utilize Attributer and capture Google Ads data in Everest Forms, such as the campaign, ad group, or keyword that generated your leads.

Why it's important to track customers and revenue from Google Ads

Imagine you own a pool equipment sales and installation business, and currently, you're promoting your products through Google Ads. You have two campaigns set up, one for Pool Pumps and another for Pool Cleaners.

If you rely solely on Google Analytics to monitor the performance of these campaigns, your statistics may resemble the following:

	Pool Pumps Campaign	Pool Cleaners Campaign
Spend	$2,000	$2,000
Visitors	200	100
Goal Completions	20	10

Suppose you only had access to information about website visitors and completed forms. In that case, it might appear that the Pool Pumps campaign outperformed the Pool Cleaners campaign as it resulted in twice the number of completed forms.

But just imagine if you could also track how many of those leads converted into paying customers and how much revenue each of them generated. You would then have statistics like the following:

	Pool Pumps Campaign	Pool Cleaners Campaign
Spend	$2,000	$2,000
Visitors	200	100
Leads	20	10
Customers	2	5
Revenue	$8,000	$25,000

Tracking the number of customers and revenue generated from each Google Ad campaign is essential to understanding what works best. Surprisingly, the Pool Cleaners Campaign outperforms the Pool Pumps Campaign as revealed by the following numbers:

The Pool Cleaners Campaign obtained 5 customers, while the Pool Pumps Campaign only got 2 customers.
The lead-to-customer conversion rate of the Pool Cleaners Campaign is 50%, which is five times higher than the Pool Pumps Campaign's 10%.
The average customer value of the Pool Cleaners Campaign is higher at $5,000 per customer compared to the Pool Pumps Campaign, which is at $4,000 per customer.
The cost of acquiring a customer is cheaper in the Pool Cleaners Campaign, which costs $400 versus $1,000 in the Pool Pumps Campaign.
The Pool Cleaners Campaign has a Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) that is three times higher.

These numbers illustrate the importance of tracking where each lead comes from and which ones convert into customers. By doing so, it becomes possible to adjust your Google Ads strategy and double down on what's working.

4 simple steps to capture Google Ads data in Everest Forms

Attributer makes it easy to capture Google Ads data in Everest Forms. Here's how it works:

1. Add UTM parameters to your ads

To begin, you must include UTM parameters in your existing Google Ads.

In case you're not familiar with UTM parameters, they're simply additional text snippets that you append to the end of the URL you wish to direct visitors from your campaigns. These snippets assist analytics tools such as Attributer in identifying the source of the visitor.

For instance, if you want someone to visit a page such as attributer.io/integrations/everestforms, your final URL with UTM parameters should look like this:

attributer.io/integrations/everestforms?utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=brand-campaign

While the information included in UTM parameters is customizable, for Google Ads, it's generally recommended to follow this format:

UTM Medium = Paid search
UTM Source = Google
UTM Campaign = Your Google Ads campaign name
UTM Term = The ad group name the ad is part of
UTM Content = The keyword they searched for (which can be added automatically using ValueTrack parameters)

Fortunately, adding UTM parameters to your URLs is a simple process, and we've outlined the best way to do it in Google Ads in this article.

2. Add hidden fields to your forms

After adding UTM parameters to your Google Ads, the next step is to include hidden fields in your lead capture forms, such as Contact Us or Request a Quote forms on your website.

Hidden fields are fields on your form that are not visible to visitors but allow tools like Attributer to input information without their knowledge.

To capture Google Ads data, you need to include the following hidden fields in your forms:

Channel
Channel Drilldown 1
Channel Drilldown 2
Channel Drilldown 3
Landing Page
Landing Page Group

Adding hidden fields to your existing Everest Forms is a straightforward process. You can simply drag and drop the 'Hidden' field type into your form. Detailed instructions are available here:

3. Attributer writes Google Ads data into the hidden fields

Once you have added hidden fields to your forms, Attributer can start monitoring the origins of your website visitors. After a visitor completes one of your Everest Forms, such as a Contact Us or Request A Quote form, Attributer will fill out the hidden fields with relevant Google Ads data, sourced from the UTM parameters you have added.

For example, imagine you are a marketer at Dropbox and someone arrives at your website through a Google Ads campaign. Attributer will fill out the hidden fields as follows, based on the UTM parameters you used:

Channel = Paid search
Channel Drilldown 1 = Google
Channel Drilldown 2 = Brand campaign
Channel Drilldown 3 = Free account ad

In addition to capturing UTM parameters, Attributer also records the visitor's landing page, such as 'dropbox.com/features/cloud-storage', as well as the initial landing page group, such as 'features'.

4. Google Ads data is captured in Everest Forms

Once visitors submit the form, the Google Ads data (entered by Attributer into the hidden fields) is gathered alongside the visitor's name, email, phone number, and company name, provided in the form.

By capturing this data in Everest Forms, you can:

Incorporate it into the new lead notification emails that Everest Forms sends out
Forward it to your CRM, such as Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive, and many others.
Export it to a spreadsheet and produce charts and graphs that show the number of leads and customers you receive from each Google Ads campaign.

Why Attributer is the best way to capture Google Ads data in Everest Forms

What makes Attributer the best option for capturing Google Ads data in Everest Forms?

These 4 things:

1. Attributer captures all traffic sources

In addition to providing attribution data on Google Ads leads, Attributer also offers insights into leads that come to your website via other channels such as Organic Social, Referral, Direct, Paid Social, or Organic Search. This comprehensive data enables you to gain a clear picture of the source of ALL your leads and customers, rather than solely those who clicked on your Google Ads. Therefore, you can make informed decisions about how to allocate your resources to maximize growth.

2. Attributer remembers the data as visitors browse your site

There are alternative methods to capture Google Ads data in Everest Forms, however, these methods require UTM parameters to be present in the URL of the page where the form is filled out. This poses a problem as UTM parameters are lost when a visitor fills out the form on a different page from where they initially landed.

For instance, a visitor clicks on your Google Ad and lands on your website's homepage. They then navigate to the Contact Us page to fill out a form. The UTM parameters will not be captured because the form wasn't filled out on the same page where they first landed.

Fortunately, Attributer resolves this issue by saving the UTM parameters in a cookie within the visitor's browser. As a result, the UTM parameters will be captured in Everest Forms regardless of the page where the form was completed.

Using Attributer means that you will get accurate data about the number of leads generated by your Google Ads, even if the form was filled out on a different page from the landing page.

3. Provides cleaner data

Attributer was developed to accommodate disparities in UTM usage and to properly match leads with the appropriate channel.

For example, suppose you use utm_source=google in certain campaigns and utm_source=adwords in others, which is typical if different people or agencies have managed your Google Ads at different times. In that instance, Attributer can still attribute the lead to the correct channel, which in this scenario would be Paid Search.

This guarantees that you receive more precise details on the number of leads originating from your Google Ads.

4. Attributer captures landing page data

Attributer not only captures Google Ads data, but it also tracks the landing page URL (e.g., https://attributer.io/blog/capture-utm-parameters-everestforms) and its group (e.g., /blog). With this information, you can generate comprehensive reports that display the number of leads and customers coming from specific areas of your website, such as your blog. Moreover, you can drill down and analyze the performance of each blog post by viewing the number of leads and customers it generates.

Wrap up

Attributer automatically captures the UTM parameters from your Google Ads every time a visitor submits a form through Everest Forms on your website. This allows you to easily track and analyze the performance of your campaigns, including the number of leads generated, the top-performing campaigns, and the keywords that are driving traffic to your site.

But that's not all. Attributer also captures data on leads from other sources, such as Organic Search and Organic Social, giving you a complete view of where your leads and customers are coming from.

And the best part? Attributer offers a completely free 14-day trial, so you can try it out and see the benefits for yourself. Start tracking your campaigns and improving your business with Attributer today!

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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.