Tracking setup: Pixel, Conversions API and Google tags

Tracking is not glamorous, but it sets the ceiling on everything else. The delivery systems on Meta and Google learn from the conversions you send them. Send incomplete or duplicated data and they learn the wrong lesson.

Meta: two routes for the same event

• The Meta Pixel runs in the visitor's browser and reports what happens on the page.
• The Conversions API sends the same events from your server, or from your platform's server, directly to Meta.

Browser tracking alone misses conversions when a browser, an ad blocker or a privacy setting gets in the way. The server route fills many of those gaps. Running both together is the standard recommendation.

Deduplication: count each conversion once

If the browser and the server both report one purchase, Meta has to recognise them as the same event. It does that by matching two values:

• The event name must be the same on both, for example Purchase and Purchase.
• The event ID must be the same on both. An order number or donation reference works well.

Both copies need to arrive within 48 hours of each other. If the ID is missing on either side, Meta cannot pair them, and your reported conversions can end up counted twice. If your results look too good after a tracking change, check this first.

Event Match Quality: can Meta tell who converted?

Event Match Quality is a score out of 10, shown in Events Manager, for how well the customer details sent with an event let Meta match it to an account. It is separate from deduplication. You raise it by sending more identifiers, such as email and phone number, correctly formatted and hashed, and only where you have the person's consent.

Google: the equivalents

• The Google tag is the browser-side tracking for Google Ads and Analytics.
• Conversion actions are the specific outcomes you count. Mark only the ones that matter as primary, so bidding optimises toward them.
• Enhanced conversions add hashed first-party details, such as an email address from a form, to improve matching.
• Consent mode adjusts how tags behave depending on the visitor's consent choice.

A ten-minute tracking check

1. Complete a real test conversion yourself and watch it arrive in Meta's Test events tool and Google's tag diagnostics.
2. In Events Manager, confirm the event shows as received from both the browser and the server.
3. Confirm both copies carry the same event ID and are being deduplicated.
4. Check the Event Match Quality score for your main conversion event.
5. Compare last week's platform conversion count with your own records. A gap of a few percent is normal. A large gap in either direction needs explaining.
6. Check the value sent with each conversion is the real amount, in the right currency.