How do I know which keywords drive real conversions?

Part 1: Make sure you’re measuring “real conversions” (otherwise keyword data lies)

Start by defining what “real” means in your business

Before you decide which keywords drive real conversions, lock down what you’re willing to pay for. For ecommerce, that’s usually a purchase (and ideally purchase value). For lead gen, it’s rarely the form-fill itself—it’s the qualified lead, booked appointment, or closed-won sale.

If you mix “good-to-have” actions (like page views or add-to-cart) into the same conversion set you use for bidding and reporting, you’ll quickly end up with keywords that look amazing on paper but don’t move revenue.

Understand why the “Conversions” column may not match what you think you’re tracking

In modern setups, what you see in the main “Conversions” (and “Conversion value”) columns depends on two things working together: (1) which conversion actions are set as primary vs secondary, and (2) which conversion goals your campaign is actually using for optimization. Only the primary actions that your campaign is optimizing toward show up in the “Conversions” and “Conversion value” columns. Secondary actions (and any actions not used for optimization) typically show up in “All conv.” and “All conv. value”.

This is the number one reason advertisers mislabel keywords as “high converting”: they’re looking at the wrong conversion column for the question they’re trying to answer.

Set counting, windows, and lag expectations so keywords aren’t judged too early

Keyword conversion performance is heavily affected by settings that are easy to overlook. Your conversion window can typically be set within a range (commonly 1–90 days), and many accounts leave defaults in place even when the buying cycle is longer (B2B) or shorter (impulse ecommerce). If you evaluate keywords too soon—especially on higher-consideration products—you’ll bias your budget toward keywords that close fast, not necessarily those that create the most customers.

Use segmentation like “Days to conversion” to see how long users take to convert after an interaction. If your median lag is 10–20 days and you’re optimizing based on the last 3–7 days, you’re optimizing on incomplete data.

Improve measurement quality so “real conversions” are actually captured

If your conversion tracking undercounts (common with privacy changes, cross-device journeys, and form flows), you’ll wrongly conclude that certain keywords “don’t convert.” Two practical upgrades tend to help most accounts: enabling enhanced conversions (hashed first-party data used to improve matching) and validating implementation via built-in diagnostics after setup. If you’re ecommerce, passing cart or purchase details consistently (value, currency, transaction ID where applicable) is what turns keyword reporting from “counts” into business-grade profitability data.

Part 2: How to identify the keywords that drive conversions you can trust

Use a keyword view that answers a business question (not a platform question)

At keyword level, you’re usually trying to answer one of two questions: “Which keywords produce the most profitable customers?” or “Which keywords produce the lowest-cost customers at my required quality?” That determines the columns you should use.

For ecommerce, I prioritize conversion value-based evaluation. A keyword with a higher cost per conversion can still be a star if it produces higher average order value or better product mix. For lead gen, I treat raw lead volume as a starting point, but I don’t “crown a winner” keyword until quality is confirmed (ideally with offline conversion import or downstream qualification data).

Build the right keyword-level column set (and avoid the most common trap)

The most common trap is making decisions on “All conv.” when you think you’re looking at purchases or qualified leads. If you use “All conv.”, make it a deliberate choice for diagnostic depth (micro-conversions, assisted signals), not your primary KPI for budget allocation.

In most accounts, a strong keyword decision set includes: conversions, conversion value, conversion rate, cost per conversion, value per conversion, and conversion value per cost (your ROAS-style efficiency). This combination quickly shows you whether a keyword is driving volume, driving value, or doing neither.

Segment keyword performance by conversion action to separate “buyers” from “browsers”

If you sell more than one thing—or track more than one meaningful action—always segment keyword performance by conversion action (and sometimes by conversion category/source) before making changes. You’ll often discover that a keyword that looks “average” overall is excellent for your highest-margin conversion action, while a “top converter” keyword is mostly generating low-intent actions you don’t want to pay for aggressively.

This segmentation also helps you identify tracking mistakes. If a keyword is generating a suspicious volume of “conversions” that are actually page views or low-quality events, that’s not optimization—that’s measurement noise.

Use the Search Terms report to find the actual queries that converted

Keywords are targets; search terms are what people actually typed (or closely expressed). Because matching can connect a single keyword to many different queries, the fastest way to identify what truly drives conversions is to review the search terms that triggered ads and produced your primary conversions and conversion value.

When you find a search term that consistently drives real outcomes, promote it into its own keyword (often with tighter match control) and align ad copy and landing pages directly to it. When you find irrelevant or low-intent terms spending money, block them with negative keywords. This is how you turn “some conversions happened” into a predictable, scalable conversion engine.

Choose the right time lens: interaction time vs conversion time

Keyword reporting can be viewed through two valid lenses: performance based on when the ad interaction happened (which is great for understanding what recent traffic is doing) versus when the conversion actually occurred (which is better for trend analysis and revenue reporting). If your team is debating whether “keywords stopped converting,” misaligned time lenses are often the hidden cause of disagreement.

Part 3: Turn keyword conversion data into confident optimization decisions

Use a “real conversions first” hierarchy (especially if you also track micro-conversions)

Micro-conversions like add-to-cart, begin checkout, or engaged views can be useful signals for learning and diagnostics, but they can also inflate success metrics and push spend into the wrong intent tier if you treat them as equal to purchases or qualified leads.

A clean structure is to keep your true business outcomes as primary actions used for optimization, and keep micro-conversions as secondary actions for observation. You still get visibility (via “All conv.”), but you don’t let lighter signals dominate your definition of success.

Validate with efficiency, not just volume

High-converting keywords are not always your best keywords. A keyword can have an impressive conversion rate but still be unprofitable if CPCs are high, conversion value is low, or lead quality is weak. This is why I like to evaluate keywords in “triads”:

Volume (can it scale?), Efficiency (is cost per conversion or value per cost acceptable?), and Quality (are these conversions the outcomes you actually want?). When all three align, you’ve found a keyword worth expanding.

Minimum viable decision rules (so you don’t optimize on noise)

If you act on tiny sample sizes, you’ll constantly “optimize” your way into volatility. Instead, set simple thresholds before making keyword-level decisions. For example: wait for a baseline number of clicks and at least a few primary conversions, or evaluate over a window long enough to cover your typical days-to-conversion lag. Then make changes incrementally and re-check performance after the lag period passes.

Critical diagnostic checklist (use this when the data feels wrong)

• Confirm you’re evaluating the right column: “Conversions”/“Conversion value” for primary goals used for optimization; “All conv.”/“All conv. value” only when you intentionally want everything.
• Segment by conversion action: verify the keyword is driving purchases/qualified leads, not just lighter events.
• Check conversion windows and lag: don’t judge keywords before the typical days-to-conversion has elapsed.
• Use the Search Terms report: identify the actual converting queries; promote winners and negate waste.
• Improve measurement quality: enable enhanced conversions where appropriate, validate with diagnostics, and ensure values (and cart/purchase details for ecommerce) are passed consistently.

If you’re trying to figure out which keywords drive “real” conversions (not just micro-actions), it helps to have a consistent way to separate primary business outcomes from diagnostic signals, then validate performance with the right columns, time windows, and query-level intent. Blobr connects to your Google Ads and continuously reviews these patterns for you, turning best practices into concrete recommendations; for example, its agents can help surface new keyword opportunities while filtering out waste (Keyword Ideas Finder) and tighten the link between high-intent keywords, ad groups, and the most relevant landing pages (Keyword Landing Optimizer), so your reporting and optimizations stay anchored to the conversions that actually matter.