Google Ads offline conversion tracking allows you to upload conversion data that happens outside your website — phone orders, in-store purchases, CRM deal closures, and any other conversion that cannot be tracked with a browser tag. When you upload this data with matching click IDs (gclid), Google Ads can attribute those offline conversions to the campaigns, keywords, and ads that drove the original click.
When Offline Conversion Tracking Is Valuable
- Retailers with both online and offline channels: if a customer clicks a Google Ad, visits your store, and buys in person, that sale is invisible to standard online tracking but can be uploaded as an offline conversion.
- Phone-heavy businesses: if customers call your business after clicking an ad and buy over the phone, those sales can be uploaded as offline conversions (often used with call tracking platforms).
- Long B2B sales cycles: if a prospect clicks a Google Search ad, fills out a form, and closes a deal 60 days later, you can upload the deal closure as an offline conversion linked to the original click.
- Lead quality feedback: similar to the Meta CAPI lead quality approach — send qualified lead and closed deal events back to Google Ads so Smart Bidding optimises for quality leads rather than just form submissions.
How Google Ads Offline Conversion Tracking Works
Step 1: Capture the gclid at the point of first contact
When a user clicks your Google Ad, Google appends a gclid parameter to your landing page URL. You must capture this gclid at the first touchpoint (form submission, phone call, initial visit) and store it in your CRM or sales system alongside the prospect/customer record.
To capture gclid automatically on form submission: read the gclid URL parameter with JavaScript when the page loads and populate it into a hidden form field. When the form is submitted, the gclid is stored in your database or CRM alongside the contact details.
Step 2: Create an Offline Conversion action in Google Ads
In Google Ads, go to Tools → Conversions → + New conversion action → Import → CRM or other data source → Track conversions from clicks.
Set up the conversion action:
- Conversion name: Offline Purchase (or Qualified Lead, Closed Deal, etc.)
- Revenue: fixed or variable depending on whether you upload deal values
- Click-through window: typically 30–90 days for B2B, 30 days for retail
Step 3: Create the offline conversions CSV
When offline conversions occur, create a CSV file with:
- Google Click ID: the gclid captured at first contact
- Conversion Name: the name of the conversion action (matches exactly the name you created in Step 2)
- Conversion Time: when the offline conversion occurred (ISO format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS+TZ)
- Conversion Value: optional, the value of the conversion
- Currency Code: if including value
Step 4: Upload the CSV to Google Ads
In Google Ads, go to Tools → Conversions → Upload. Select your Offline Conversion import action. Upload the CSV. Google will process the file and match gclids to specific ad interactions. Status “Success” means the gclid was matched. “No matching click” means the gclid was not found (typically because the click was more than 90 days ago, the gclid was not captured correctly, or gclid was stripped by a URL parameter removal).
Automate Offline Conversion Uploads
Manual CSV uploads are tedious. Automate using:
- Google Ads API: programmatically upload conversions via the Google Ads API from your CRM or order management system
- Zapier: trigger a conversion upload when a CRM record status changes
- GA4 Measurement Protocol: if the offline event has a gclid, you can also send it to GA4 and import GA4 conversions to Google Ads
Google Enhanced Conversions for Leads
A simpler alternative to traditional offline conversion tracking: Enhanced Conversions for Leads. This approach hashes the customer’s email at the online touchpoint (form submission), matches it against Google account sign-ins, and attributes offline conversions based on email matching rather than gclid. It requires less precise gclid capture and is easier to implement for B2B lead gen.
Book your free Shopify tracking audit here and we will help you set up offline conversion tracking that connects your full sales pipeline to your Google Ads campaigns.