← Back to My Microsoft Clarity Overview
Who this guide is for
Anyone running Google Ads who wants to see what visitors actually do on their site after clicking an ad — not just whether they converted.
Prerequisites
Microsoft Clarity installed and collecting data on your site. An active Google Ads account. If you have not set up Clarity yet, start with Guide 01.
What you will be able to do
See heatmaps and session recordings filtered by Google Ads campaign, read intent signals per campaign, and identify specific landing page problems caused by ad-to-page mismatches.
Time to set up
Under ten minutes to connect the accounts. Meaningful data appears within a few days of connection, depending on your ad traffic volume.
Connect Clarity to your Google Ads account today
Free to set up. Takes under ten minutes. Shows you what your ad spend is actually buying — not just the click, but everything that happens after it.
Disclosure: This is not a paid promotion. I have no affiliate or commercial relationship with Microsoft, Microsoft Clarity, or Google. These are tools I genuinely use across my own businesses. Views are my own.
Why Google Ads data alone is not enough
Google Ads tells you a visitor clicked and whether they converted. Everything that happened in between is invisible without a behavioural tool alongside it.
Google Ads gives you excellent data on what happens before and after the visit: how many people saw the ad, how many clicked, how much it cost, and whether the visit resulted in a tracked conversion. What it cannot show you is what the visitor did between clicking the ad and converting — or, more importantly, what happened when they did not convert.
A campaign with a 2% conversion rate is not obviously a success or a failure until you understand what the other 98% of visitors were doing. Were they leaving immediately because the landing page did not match the ad? Were they reaching the contact form and abandoning it halfway through? Were they spending several minutes reading and then leaving for a competitor? Each of those scenarios points to a different fix, and Google Ads data cannot distinguish between them.
What Google Ads shows you
- Impressions, click-through rate, cost per click
- Whether a tracked conversion happened
- Which keywords triggered the ad
- Which devices and locations converted
- Ad quality score and relevance rating
What Clarity adds
- What visitors did on the landing page after clicking
- How far they scrolled and what they clicked
- Whether they reached the contact form at all
- Where in the journey they stopped and left
- Whether the landing page matched what the ad promised
The Clarity Google Ads integration bridges this gap by connecting campaign-level data to behavioural data. You can filter recordings and heatmaps by specific campaigns, which means you can watch the ten sessions that came from a specific ad and see exactly what those visitors experienced.
How to connect Clarity to your Google Ads account
The connection takes under ten minutes and requires access to both your Clarity project and your Google Ads account.
1
Go to Settings in your Clarity project
Open your Clarity project and navigate to Settings in the left-hand menu. Select “Setup”, then look for the integrations or advertising section. Click “Get Started” under the advertising or Google Ads option.
2
Sign in to your Google account
Clarity will redirect you to Google to authenticate. Sign in with the Google account that has access to the Google Ads account you want to connect. This should be the account with manager or owner access to the relevant Google Ads account — not a view-only account.
3
Select your Google Ads account
After authenticating, Clarity will show a dropdown of the Google Ads accounts accessible via that Google login. Select the correct account and click Link. If you manage multiple clients under a Google Ads manager account (MCC), you may need to select the specific sub-account for the site you are tracking.
4
Confirm the connection
Once linked, Clarity confirms the connection and the advertising dashboard becomes available in your project. You will see a new “Advertising” button on your main Clarity dashboard. Campaign data may take up to 24 hours to populate for the first time.
Important: UTM parameters
Clarity uses the UTM campaign parameter to match sessions to campaigns. Each campaign should have a unique UTM campaign value in its final URL suffix. If multiple campaigns share the same UTM campaign value — or if campaigns are running without UTM tracking — their data will be grouped together in Clarity and you will lose the campaign-level granularity that makes this integration useful. Check your Google Ads URL tracking setup before relying on the data.
What the advertising dashboard shows
The advertising dashboard is a single screen that connects your campaign performance metrics to your visitors’ on-site behaviour — and it changes how you read both sets of data.
Once the integration is active, navigate to your Clarity dashboard and click the “Advertising” button. The dashboard shows a list of your active Google Ads campaigns alongside a set of behavioural metrics for each one. This is where the integration becomes genuinely useful: you can compare campaigns side by side not just on cost and click-through rate, but on what visitors from each campaign actually did after landing.
The metrics Clarity shows for each campaign include the number of sessions driven by that campaign, the average session duration for those visitors, rage click and dead click counts, and the intent level breakdown (more on that in the next section). You can also access direct links to session recordings and heatmaps filtered specifically to that campaign from within the dashboard.
A useful gut check even before digging into recordings
Comparing session duration across campaigns quickly reveals which campaigns are driving genuinely engaged visitors versus which are generating clicks that leave immediately. Two campaigns spending similar budgets with similar click-through rates can look identical in Google Ads — and completely different in Clarity.
Reading intent signals: low, medium, and high intent sessions
Intent signals are Clarity’s way of categorising how engaged a visitor was during their session — and they are one of the most useful things the advertising dashboard adds.
Clarity groups sessions into three intent levels based on the visitor’s on-site behaviour. This is not a measure of whether the visitor converted — it is a measure of how engaged they were with the page during their visit. A high-intent session from a campaign that rarely converts suggests the conversion problem is at the point of enquiry, not at the point of engagement. A low-intent session suggests the visitor was not finding what they expected almost immediately.
Low intent
Minimal engagement
Visitor showed very little interaction — minimal scrolling, few or no clicks, short session. Often indicates an immediate mismatch between the ad’s promise and what the landing page delivered. The visitor decided quickly that this was not what they were looking for.
Medium intent
Moderate engagement
Visitor engaged with the page — scrolled, clicked some elements, spent a reasonable amount of time. They found the page relevant enough to explore but did not reach the conversion point. The friction is likely in the middle or lower sections of the page.
High intent
Strong engagement
Visitor interacted actively with the page — deep scrolling, multiple clicks, significant time on site. If this campaign has high-intent sessions but low conversion, the problem is at the conversion mechanism itself: the form, the CTA, or the ask.
Reading intent levels by campaign tells you where in the funnel each campaign is losing its visitors. A campaign dominated by low-intent sessions needs a landing page fix or a targeting adjustment. A campaign with high-intent sessions but poor conversion needs a conversion mechanism fix. The distinction matters because the remedies are completely different.
Intent levels are a signal, not a verdict
A low-intent session does not automatically mean the campaign is failing. A visitor who found what they needed immediately and left to call you directly may register as low-intent in Clarity. Use intent data as a guide to where to look with recordings — not as a standalone judgment of campaign quality.
Filtering recordings and heatmaps by campaign
Campaign-level recordings are where the integration moves from informative to actionable — because you can watch exactly what the visitors from a specific ad were experiencing.
From the advertising dashboard, each campaign has a direct link to its recordings and heatmaps. Clicking through takes you to Clarity’s standard recordings or heatmaps view, pre-filtered to sessions from that campaign. You are no longer looking at all your site traffic — you are looking specifically at what people who clicked a particular ad did when they arrived.
1
Start with the campaigns showing low intent or high bounce
From the advertising dashboard, identify which campaigns have the highest proportion of low-intent sessions or the shortest average session duration. These are your priority investigations — they are spending money on visitors who are leaving quickly, which usually means a landing page problem rather than a targeting problem.
2
Open the campaign-filtered recordings
Click through to recordings for that campaign. You will see sessions from visitors who came specifically from that campaign’s ads. Watch 8 to 10 sessions with a specific question in mind: where does the visitor’s attention go first, and does it match what the ad promised?
3
Check the heatmap for campaign traffic on the landing page
Open the heatmap for the landing page and filter it to the campaign’s traffic. Compare this with the heatmap for all traffic on the same page. If campaign visitors are scrolling significantly less or clicking different elements than your general traffic, the landing page is not meeting their specific expectations.
4
Also review campaigns with high intent but low conversion
Do not only focus on poor performers. Campaigns with high-intent sessions that are still not converting are a valuable opportunity — the visitors are engaged but something at the conversion point is failing. These recordings will typically show visitors reaching the form or CTA area and then stopping. The fix is different from a low-intent campaign fix: focus on the form, the CTA label, or the final ask rather than the top of the page.
Decision points: what campaign data tells you to fix
The combination of intent levels and session recordings makes it possible to diagnose most landing page problems and point them at the right solution.
Fix the landing page
Campaign has mostly low-intent sessions and visitors leave in under 20 seconds
The landing page is not matching the ad’s promise. The first section of the page needs to reflect the specific service or offer the ad promoted. If the ad mentioned a specific product, pricing, or outcome, that needs to be visible immediately on the page — not buried below general company information.
Fix the conversion mechanism
Campaign has high-intent sessions but poor conversion — visitors reach the page, engage, then leave
Visitors find the content relevant but something at the conversion point is failing. Review recordings focusing on what happens when visitors approach the form or CTA. Common causes: too many form fields, an unclear ask, a button that is hard to find, or a form that does not work on mobile.
Review the targeting
Campaign has low intent across the board despite a relevant-sounding landing page
If the landing page is well-matched to the ad but sessions are still low-intent, the audience targeting may be reaching people who are not genuinely in the market for what you are offering. This is a Google Ads optimisation rather than a landing page fix — review your keywords, audience segments, and match types.
Leave and monitor
Campaign shows medium to high intent and reasonable conversion — but you want to improve
Do not fix what is working adequately. Instead, use the recordings to identify the one specific element that is causing the most friction for the visitors who do not convert, and make one targeted change. Monitor whether intent levels improve or session depth increases before making further changes.
Quick reference: what to change based on what you find
Campaign data to action mapping
High proportion of low-intent sessions and short session duration
Update landing page opening — match the ad message immediately
Visitors scrolling well into the page but not approaching the form
Move CTA higher or make it more prominent mid-page
Rage clicks on the landing page from campaign traffic
Fix the broken or unexpected element before spending more on that campaign
Campaign traffic scrolling much less than organic traffic on same page
The ad is sending traffic to the wrong page — test a more targeted landing page
Form abandonment visible in campaign recordings at a specific field
Remove or rephrase that field — it is creating hesitation
One campaign performs well (high intent, good conversion) and others do not
Study the high-performing campaign’s landing page and apply its approach t
Real example: finding the landing page mismatch that was wasting budget
Here is how the advertising dashboard identified a specific campaign problem that improved once the landing page was updated to match the ad.
Real example from paid search campaigns across the Carden businesses
The campaign with acceptable click-through rate and poor post-click engagement
The situation
A campaign for one of the IT services businesses was running at a reasonable cost per click. Google Ads showed acceptable click-through rate and some conversions. But the conversion rate was lower than other campaigns with similar spend, and the reason was not obvious from the Google Ads data alone.
What Clarity showed
The advertising dashboard showed this campaign had a high proportion of low-intent sessions compared to other campaigns on the same site. Average session duration was significantly shorter than the site average. The intent breakdown showed most sessions were categorised as low, with very few reaching medium or high.
What the recordings revealed
Filtering recordings to this campaign and watching a selection of sessions made the problem clear within the first few recordings. The ad was promoting a specific managed IT support service with a benefit-led headline. The landing page it pointed to was the general IT services homepage — which opened with company history and a broad overview of multiple services. Visitors who had clicked an ad about a specific benefit were landing on a page that did not acknowledge that benefit until the third or fourth scroll.
What changed
The campaign was pointed at a more specific landing page that led with the exact service and benefit the ad had promoted. The opening section of that page matched the language of the ad. The contact form was placed within the first two scrolls on mobile.
What happened next
The advertising dashboard showed an improvement in intent levels for that campaign within two to three weeks. Average session duration from that campaign increased. The recording behaviour changed — visitors were scrolling further and approaching the contact section rather than leaving from the top of the page.
The limit
Clarity confirmed the behavioural change. Whether the change directly caused a measurable improvement in conversion rate required monitoring enquiry data alongside the Clarity data — Clarity does not track form submissions as conversions by default unless custom events are set up.
What to measure to confirm the landing page change worked
Changes to landing pages based on campaign data need to be confirmed in both Clarity and your conversion tracking — they measure different things.
| What you changed | Check in Clarity advertising dashboard | Check in Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Updated landing page opening to match ad message | Intent levels — has the proportion of low-intent sessions reduced? Has average session duration increased? | Bounce rate (if tracked), pages per session, conversion rate over the same period |
| Moved CTA or form higher on the page | Campaign-filtered heatmap — is scroll depth on mobile now reaching the CTA? Are clicks on the CTA increasing? | Conversion rate from the campaign — has it changed over the following 2 to 4 weeks? |
| Changed or simplified the contact form | Campaign recordings — are visitors now approaching the form and completing it rather than abandoning at a specific field? | Number of form submission conversions tracked in Google Ads |
| Created a new, more specific landing page for the campaign | Intent level comparison between old and new landing page for the same campaign | Quality score for ads pointing to the new page — Google’s own relevance rating should improve if the page better matches the ad |
For the full picture of how this integration fits into a wider approach to getting more sales from your websites, see my Microsoft Clarity overview. For the recording review workflow that makes campaign-level investigation practical, see Guide 03.
Google Ads and Clarity review checklist
Setup
- Google Ads account linked to Clarity via Settings → Setup → Advertising
- Confirmed the linked account is the correct Google Ads account for this site
- Verified that active campaigns use unique UTM campaign parameters in their final URLs
- Waited 24 hours for initial campaign data to populate in the advertising dashboard
First review of the advertising dashboard
- Reviewed intent level breakdown for each active campaign
- Compared average session duration across campaigns to identify outliers
- Identified campaigns with a high proportion of low-intent sessions as the priority investigations
- Identified campaigns with high-intent sessions but low conversion as secondary investigations
Recording and heatmap review by campaign
- Opened campaign-filtered recordings for the priority campaign with a specific question in mind
- Watched 8 to 10 sessions looking for where visitor attention goes first versus where the ad directed it
- Checked the campaign-filtered heatmap on the landing page — mobile scroll depth compared to all-traffic view
- Noted any rage clicks, dead clicks, or form abandonment specific to campaign traffic
After making changes
- Allowed two to four weeks of new data to accumulate before comparing
- Checked intent level distribution in the advertising dashboard for improvement
- Reviewed updated heatmap for the landing page filtered to campaign traffic
- Cross-referenced with Google Ads conversion data to confirm business impact
Connect Clarity to your Google Ads account today
Free to set up. Takes under ten minutes. Shows you what your ad spend is actually buying — not just the click, but everything that happens after it.
Disclosure: This is not a paid promotion. I have no affiliate or commercial relationship with Microsoft, Microsoft Clarity, or Google. These are tools I genuinely use across my own businesses. Views are my own.
