Kelly Alica Liman
- 2 min read

How to Mark Conversions as Primary or Secondary in Google Ads

Q: What Does Primary and Secondary Action Mean in Google Ads?

A primary action is used by Google Ads to optimize the bidding strategies and your campaign. It is reported under the 'Conversion' column. A secondary action is a goal that is only used for observation and will not be used by Google Ads for optimization and bidding purposes. It is reported under the 'All Conversions' column.

Q: How to Mark Conversions as Primary or Secondary in Google Ads (New Interface)?

Step 1️) Navigate to Goals. Step 2️) Navigate to Conversions and click on Summary. Step 3️) Click on the Conversion Action you would like to modify. Step 4️) Click on Edit Settings. Step 5️) Navigate to Goal and action optimization. Step 6) Select Primary or Secondary

Q: How to Mark Conversions as Primary or Secondary in Google Ads (Old Interface)

Step 1️) Navigate to Tools & Settings. Step 2️) Navigate to Conversions and click on Summary. Step 3️) Click on the Conversion Action you would like to modify. Step 4️) Click on Edit Settings. Step 5) Navigate to Goal and action optimization. Step 6) Select Primary or Secondary.

When you're running your Google Ads campaigns, you may have a few different goals in mind. Some goals might be more important, such as hard KPIs that are revenue-related, whilst others may not be as important but would still be meaningful to track. In Google Ads, you can mark these conversions as primary and secondary actions so that the system can optimize towards the most important ones and monitor the rest. In case you're unsure, read along as we will explain further the difference between primary and secondary conversion. This guide will also show you how to mark conversions as primary or secondary in Google Ads on both the new and old Google Ads interfaces. Let's get started!

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Topics Covered:

What Does Primary and Secondary Action Mean in Google Ads?
- Primary Action
- Secondary Action
How to Mark Conversions as Primary or Secondary in Google Ads (New Interface)
How to Mark Conversions as Primary or Secondary in Google Ads (Old Interface)

What Does Primary and Secondary Action Mean in Google Ads?

Primary Action:

Primary action is used by Google Ads to optimize the bidding strategies and your campaign. It is reported under the 'Conversion' column.

Secondary Action:

A secondary action is a goal that is only used for observation and will not be used by Google Ads for optimization and bidding purposes. It is reported under the 'All Conversions' column, instead of 'Conversions'.

You should set your most important goals / Hard KPIs (e.g. sales, leads, purchases, etc) as your Primary Action that you want Google to optimize towards and count as conversions. Whereas you should set your lesser important goals / top-of-the-funnel KPIs (e.g. add to carts, open forms, visit to pages, etc) as Secondary Actions to simply observe but not optimize towards in terms of bidding.