Add the Click ID Field

Store the Google click ID (GCLID) on your Salesforce leads so Tapper can match closed deals back to the ad clicks that produced them.

Tapper needs to know which ad click produced each lead. The reliable way to answer that is the Google click ID - the gclid Google adds to your landing page URL when someone clicks an ad.

If your leads already carry a click ID, Tapper finds it automatically and there is nothing to do. If they don't, this page sets it up: a field in Salesforce to hold the value, and a change to your lead form to capture it.

Many organisations already do this - storing the click ID on the Lead is the standard way to import offline conversions into Google Ads. Check with whoever set up your Google Ads tracking before building it again.

Why It Matters

Without a click ID, a closed deal cannot be traced to a specific ad click, so its value never reaches Google and bidding cannot learn from it. The Match rate on Tapper's CRM tab shows what proportion of your outcomes carry one - that number is the ceiling on how much of your revenue can inform bidding.

Step 1 - Create the Field in Salesforce

Open the Lead Object

Go to Setup → Object Manager → Lead → Fields & Relationships, then click New.

Choose Text

Select Text as the data type and click Next.

Name It

Set Field Label to GCLID and Length to 255. The field name fills in as GCLID__c automatically.

Tapper also recognises Google_Click_ID__c and a few common variants, so an existing field under a different name will usually be detected.

Set Field-Level Security

This step is easy to miss and nothing works without it.

Tick Visible for the profile your integration user has - commonly System Administrator. Leave Read-Only unticked so your lead form can write to it.

A field that exists without visibility is invisible to the API: Tapper cannot see it and will report that no click ID field was found.

Add to Page Layouts

Optional, but useful - it lets your sales team see the value on the record.

Repeat for Opportunity

If you want deal-level matching as well as lead-level, create the same field on the Opportunity object.

Visible, not Read-Only. Visible makes the field exist for that profile. Read-Only is an extra restriction on top, and it will block your lead form from writing the value.

Step 2 - Capture the Click ID on Your Form

Google appends ?gclid=... to your landing page URL on every ad click. Your form needs to read it and submit it into the new field.

Add a Hidden Field

Add a hidden input to your lead form that maps to the GCLID Salesforce field. In Web-to-Lead, use the field's generated ID; in a form builder, map it to GCLID__c.

Populate It from the URL

Read gclid from the page URL and write it into the hidden field:

<input type="hidden" id="gclid_field" name="gclid" />
 
<script>
  const gclid = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get('gclid');
  if (gclid) {
    document.getElementById('gclid_field').value = gclid;
    sessionStorage.setItem('gclid', gclid);
  } else {
    const stored = sessionStorage.getItem('gclid');
    if (stored) document.getElementById('gclid_field').value = stored;
  }
</script>

The sessionStorage fallback matters: visitors often land on one page and submit the form on another, and the gclid is only in the URL of the first.

Submit a Test Lead

Visit your landing page with ?gclid=test123 on the end, fill in the form, and confirm the value lands on the new Lead record in Salesforce.

Using a form builder such as HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, Unbounce or Webflow? Most have a built-in way to capture URL parameters into hidden fields - search their docs for "hidden field URL parameter" rather than writing the script above.

Step 3 - Confirm It in Tapper

Reconnect or Wait

Tapper detects the field when a connection is made. If you created the field after connecting, press Reconnect on the CRM tab to pick it up.

Check the Detected Field

The CRM tab shows the detected click ID field name. If it still says none was found, revisit the field-level security step above.

Watch the Match Rate

As new leads come in carrying a click ID, the Match rate climbs. Only leads created after the form change will have one - historical leads cannot be matched retroactively.

Also Worth Knowing

gbraid and wbraid. Google sends these instead of gclid on some iOS traffic. If you want that traffic matched too, capture them into the same field using the same approach.

Click IDs expire. Google matches uploaded conversions only inside your conversion action's click-through window, typically 30 to 90 days. For sales cycles longer than that, Tapper can upload an early value when the lead is created and revise it upward when the deal closes - ask your account manager to set that up.

Nothing is retroactive. Leads that existed before the field did have no click ID and cannot acquire one. Expect the match rate to start low and rise as new leads flow through.