Question from Reddit user:
I keep hearing about the power of uploading conversion data manually to Google Ads. And it looks like CRMs are necessary for it. Is that true?
I want to look into it, if it’s a must have, but it’s not like I’m working with big-budget clients for the time being (restaurants, physiotherapists,…)
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
No, you absolutely don’t need to pay for a full CRM to start uploading conversion data to Google Ads, especially not for small businesses like restaurants or physiotherapists.
While a CRM makes the process automatic and scalable, the core requirement is just a way to reliably record the customer’s offline action and match it back to the original Google ad click ID (gclid).
An excellent, affordable, and flexible alternative is to build a server-side data pipeline using the Google Ads API, combined with Google Tag Manager and a server-side container hosted on a cost-effective platform like Stape or Google Cloud Platform.
This setup allows you to capture the necessary identifiers and then manually or semi-automatically upload the conversion data using a spreadsheet or a simple script, bypassing the need for an expensive, complex CRM integration.
The long answer is:
The power of manually uploading conversion data, often referred to as Enhanced Conversions for Leads or Offline Conversion Tracking (OCT), is that it allows you to feed actual business outcomes back to Google Ads for better Smart Bidding optimization, which is incredibly valuable even for small budgets.
This process requires two main things: recording the Google Click ID (gclid) when the user first lands on the site, and then sending a conversion event to Google Ads later, along with that original gclid, once the offline action (like a booked appointment or a completed service) occurs.
For a small business without a CRM, you can set up the essential tracking infrastructure using server-side tagging.
First, use Google Tag Manager on the client side to capture the gclid from the URL and store it securely in a persistent first-party cookie.
When a lead form is submitted, use GTM to pass the gclid along with the lead data (like the client’s email or phone number) to your backend or to a server-side container hosted on a solution like Stape.
This server container then has two functions: it acts as a reliable capture point for the initial lead data, and more importantly, it holds a complete record of the conversion with the corresponding gclid.
Since you are not working with thousands of conversions per day, you don’t need real-time automation.
Instead, your staff can use the data captured on the server or in a simple spreadsheet to record which leads actually converted offline.
Once a week, you can take that cleaned list of converted leads and use a simple script or the Google Ads API’s upload service to send those conversions, including the original gclid, directly to Google Ads.
This process is far cheaper than paying for a full CRM, provides the high data quality needed for Google’s bidding algorithms, and establishes a foundation for true first-party data collection, giving you an enormous advantage without a large investment.
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