How to Track Google Ads Leads in HubSpot

If you run Google Ads and HubSpot together, you have probably seen a contact whose source says Paid search. That label is useful to your team. Google never sees it.

Here is how to close the gap. You will send new leads and deal values from HubSpot back to Google Ads, so Google can tell a good click from a bad one.

Why HubSpot's source field isn't enough for Google

HubSpot can tell you a contact came from paid search. Google needs three more things before it can learn from a lead:

• The GCLID, which is the ID of the exact ad click.
• A conversion that happens after the form, like a new lead or a deal.
• A value, so it can tell a $200 lead from a $20,000 one.

SourceLoop holds the click ID and the visitor's journey. It writes the source details into HubSpot and sends the conversions to Google.

What you need before you start

• Google Ads with auto-tagging turned on.
• A HubSpot user who is allowed to connect apps.
• A SourceLoop workspace, and the Admin or Owner role.
• A form on your Google Ads landing page. It can be a HubSpot form or another tool.

How to track Google Ads leads in HubSpot

Eight steps in total. Steps 1 to 5 get your HubSpot data in shape. Steps 6 to 8 connect it to Google.

Step 1: Install the SourceLoop tracking script

Copy the snippet from Setup, then Tracking code, and paste it into the head of every page. This is what records the GCLID when someone arrives from your ad.

Step 2: Check that your forms are tracked

SourceLoop works with HubSpot forms and most other form tools. Follow the HubSpot Forms guide for the forms on your ad landing pages. Then submit a test form and look for the lead in Contacts Hub.

Step 3: Connect HubSpot

In SourceLoop, open Setup and click the CRM tab. You will see a card for each supported CRM.

Open the HubSpot card and click Connect. Sign in to HubSpot and approve the access SourceLoop asks for. When you are sent back, the card shows HubSpot as connected.

The connect HubSpot guide has the details and the sync options.

Step 4: Put the source data on each contact

SourceLoop writes first and latest source, medium, campaign and landing page into contact properties in HubSpot. Your reps see where each contact came from, and you can build HubSpot reports on the same fields. The push UTMs to HubSpot guide lists the properties.

Step 5: Match HubSpot lifecycle stages to SourceLoop

HubSpot uses lifecycle stages to show how far a contact has moved. The defaults run from Subscriber and Lead up to Customer, and you can add your own. Read HubSpot's lifecycle stage guide if you need a refresher.

In SourceLoop, match each HubSpot stage to the stage you want to report on. The stage mapping guide walks through it. Do this before you set up Google, so your reports and your conversions use the same definitions.

HubSpot's lifecycle stage mostly moves forward. Ask reps to move contacts ahead and avoid resetting them.

Step 6: Connect Google Ads and create the conversion action

Connect your account under Setup, Ad Platforms, Google Ads. The connect Google Ads guide shows how. Then, in Google Ads:

1. Open Tools, then Conversions, then New conversion action.
2. Pick Import, then Other data sources, then Track conversions from clicks.
3. Name it, for example SourceLoop HubSpot Deal.
4. Copy the ID from the end of the action's URL.

Step 7: Decide what Google should hear about

Back in SourceLoop, open the Google Ads drawer and click Add conversion mapping. You can add one mapping for each thing you want Google to know.

• A new lead. Use the trigger Conversion created. It fires when a form is submitted.
• A deal value. Use Expected revenue updated, with the value source set to quote_value. It fires when the amount on the lead changes.

For each one, paste the Conversion Action ID and choose last touch or first touch. Last touch credits the visit that converted. First touch credits the first visit. Leave the dedup window at 1440 minutes.

Send each conversion to Google from one place only. If HubSpot's own Google Ads connection already sends form fills, use SourceLoop for deal values, or Google may count the same lead twice. All the settings are in the Google Ads conversions guide.

Step 8: Test the whole path

1. Submit a form on your landing page, using a link that has a GCLID if you can.
2. Find the contact in HubSpot and check the source properties.
3. Open Setup, Ad Platforms, Google Ads, then Sync log, to see what was pushed.
4. Check Google Ads after 6 to 24 hours.

The action may show Pending verification for a while. That goes away once Google has received real conversions.

Which leads are worth sending to Google?

Not every form fill is a good lead. If you tell Google they all count the same, it will find you more of the cheap ones.

• Make the deal value your main goal, because it carries real money.
• Keep the new lead action as a secondary goal. In Google Ads, untick Include in Conversions for it.
• If you get very few deals, run the lead action as the main goal for a while, then switch.

Remember the clock. Google keeps a GCLID for 90 days, so a deal that closes in month four can't be matched to its click. Send the lead event early to cover that.