Google Ads helps tour operators and business owners reach a wider audience by targeting potential customers actively searching for experiences, leading to increased visibility and bookings. Integrating Google Ads with TripWorks is valuable because it allows you to track purchases as conversions, providing insights into campaign performance.

This article will walk you through the full setup — both on the Google Ads side and in TripWorks. These steps assume you are using Google Tag Manager (GTM), which is the most common setup.

Step 1: Create a Purchase Conversion Action in Google Ads

1. In Google Ads, go to the Goals tab and click Summary.
2. If you already have a conversion action set up as "Purchase", skip to Step 2. Otherwise, click Create New Conversion Action.
3. Select Website and enter your website URL.
4. Click Create conversion action manually.
5. Configure the following settings:
   • Goal and Action: Purchase
   • Conversion Name: TripWorks
   • Value: Select "Use different values for each conversion" and set the default dollar amount to $1. (TripWorks will send the actual booking value automatically.)
   • Count: Every
   • Click-through conversion window: 90 days (recommended for travel and tours)
   • Attribution: Data-Driven
   • Enhanced Conversions: Managed through Google Tag Manager
6. Click Done, then Save and Continue.

Step 2: Get Your Conversion ID and Label

1. After saving, you should see a page with three tabs at the top.
2. Select Use Google Tag Manager.
3. This will display your Conversion ID and Conversion Label. Copy both of these values — you will need them for TripWorks.

Step 3: Set Up Your Google Ads Integration in TripWorks

1. From the toolbar, go to More > Discover More

2. Choose Google Ads under the Integrations section

3. Complete Step 1 to Enable Cross-Domain Linking

4. Complete Step 2 by adding your Google Ads Conversion ID and Conversion Label (the values you copied in Step 2 above).

5. Ensure the Active checkbox is selected
6. Choose Save

Step 4: Set Up UTM Campaign Tracking

You need to add a UTM tracking template to each of your active campaigns in Google Ads:

1. In Google Ads, go to the Campaigns tab.
2. Click the Settings icon for one of your campaigns.
3. In the side menu that appears, click the dropdown for Additional Settings.
4. Select Campaign URL Options.
5. In the Tracking Template field, paste the following:

{lpurl}?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={campaignid}&utm_content={adgroupid}&utm_term={keyword}

6. Click Save.