Data analytics

How Google Ads call tracking improves your PPC campaigns?

The ability of any business to allow customers to call them right from their website or through Google ads with just one click is a very powerful marketing campaign that can increase the conversion rate for a business immensely. Read more for more details.

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Gintaras Baltusevičius

Jan 19 2021 6 min read

How Google Ads call tracking improves your PPC campaigns?


Google AdWords call tracking system is a robust tool that allows you to monitor the calls made to the number on your website and the PPC campaigns that caused conversions. For any online business, the ability to monitor the performance of their best performance factors such as call ads with

What is Google Ads Call Tracking

Google ads call tracking is a form of conversion tracking that lets you see how many potential customers called your business through one of your PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns.

Research has shown that up to 43% of all search-connected conversions occur through phone calls. Also, 65% of businesses surveyed consider phone calls to be their most valuable and highest quality source of leads. Considering the importance of phone calls to businesses and their conversion rates, businesses need to track what Google ads lead to the most phone calls from their potential customers. This is done with Google ads call tracking.

Google AdWords call tracking system provides features that allow a business to track the calls received on its website and further analyze details like what platform the calls were made from and how long the calls lasted before they were converted to sales. It is beneficial for a business to understand where its calls are coming from, as it allows them to focus their bid strategies towards the PPC campaigns that generate the most phone calls. Google ads call tracking makes it possible to know which conversions can be considered phone call conversions.

Why is Google Ads Tracking Important?

With Google Ads call tracking solution, your business can easily adopt automated bid strategies that work seamlessly with your ad campaigns and budget. Call tracking gives you a reliable and accurate method of quantifying the effectiveness of your offline Google ads conversions and phone calls. With the Google AdWords call tracking feature, the true value of your investments in PPC campaigns can be quantified.

And, if you want to reach the right customers and grow your business keeping a low cost...

Here are some of the Benefits of Adwords Call tracking:

  • It allows a clear measurement of ROI on paid search

The ROI (Return on Investment) for most businesses is the most important metric monitored for a chosen period or a fiscal year.

While there are several tools to track the ROI of online conversions and calls - Google call tracking now makes it easy to monitor the ROI for offline conversions. Therefore, AdWords call tracking will allow for a complete analysis of the total ROI resulting from your PPC investment.

  • Optimize and manage calls driven by PPC campaigns

Call tracking allows for better call optimization of the phone answering system. It allows you as the business owner to listen to prospective customers for a better understanding of their needs after they click on your ads. As a business owner, this helps you know of the common questions that your customers have and how you can improve the customer experience that you offer through your website and services. Call tracking allows you to optimize your phone answering system for certain questions and needs that your customers may have.

  • Track calls to specific ad campaigns and keywords

Platforms like WordStream allow the user to set the conversion duration to more easily track phone call conversions. For example, if an analysis of your call tracking system shows that your typical conversion duration occurs after 80 seconds, then you can set your conversion duration as 80 seconds. Therefore, any call that lasts for 80 seconds or longer will be tracked by the system.

WordStream call tracking system provides an algorithm that can provide relevant and accurate suggestions for advanced tools like the 20 minute work week.

Also, Google AdWords call tracking allows users to track calls to the specific ad campaigns and keywords that caused the calls in the first place. Business owners can use this feature to track which one of their ads are converting into calls and focus more of their budget in that area. The conversion tracking system offered by platforms like WordStream and Google Ads, used along with other call tracking software like CallRail, allow a more defined control over your ads.

  • Optimize bid strategies to match source PPC campaign:

The bid strategies used by many business owners are, most of the time, reliant on the information received from churn prediction models and customer retention models. However, with call tracking, you can optimize your bid strategies to cater to the ads tailored towards the platforms and ad campaigns that generate the most phone calls.

How Does Google Ads Tracking Work?

Google Ads call tracking system provides the user with two main functions:

  • The ability to track phone calls that are made to a Google forwarding phone number, which is displayed in a call extension ad.
  • The ability to track phone calls made through dynamic number insertion on your business’s website. This is where a unique tracking number is applied for each site visitor.

With Google Ads, users have access to additional features such as a Google forwarding phone number and Click to Call (CTC). The CTC feature of Google Adwords is a mobile-friendly feature that allows a business’s phone number to be dialed once an ad is clicked. The calls to a phone can be easily monitored on any platform with the CTC or Google forwarding number.

To trigger CTC, call extensions can be used through standard search ads or call-only ads. The Google Ads and Analytics interface can be used to track CTC just like any standard PPC campaigns. Therefore, all the ad placements that drive the most phone calls can be monitored in real-time.

While other platforms like WordStream let you set conversion duration for call conversion. Google AdWords call tracking system also lets you measure the conversion according to the length of the phone call that caused it. This adds a new layer of flexibility and precise control to your ad campaign.

How do I track Google ad calls?

To track your Google ad calls, you need to have four main requirements in place:

  • A Google Ads account for your company
  • An active call extension, call-only ad, or location extension with a call option
  • Your account setting needs to have call reporting enabled
  • Your business needs to be in an eligible country.

Check here for the available countries

Follow the instruction on the Google Ads help page for step by step instructions on tracking your Google ad calls.

Driving Phone Calls with Google AdWords

Google Adwords lets you optimize your call ads and call extensions to capitalize on the value of calls, especially if your company gets a higher ROI from calls than from clicks. There are four steps for driving more phone calls with Google AdWords.

Determine if driving calls is better than driving clicks

The first step to driving more phone calls with Google AdWords is determining if the value of calls relative to click is high enough to warrant an increase in call ads.

Set up your call ads for increased success

Once it is established that call ads bring a higher value than click ads, the next thing is to set up your call ads. Here are three easy steps to follow:

  • Write an ad text that establishes the value that your company offers and drives potential customers to call your company.
  • The trick to optimizing your budget is to ensure that your ads are designed to drive calls when you have someone to answer the call.
  • Google AdWords call reporting system can be used to gain more insight into your call ads and optimize your ads and business for call acceptance.

Track and measure your calls

  • Call reporting is a handy tool for tracking calls from your ads as it provides you with details about the calls directed towards your website and allows calls to be tracked as online conversions.
  • Conversion tracking allows you to pinpoint the exact keywords, ad campaigns, and more that drive the most calls.
  • Google AdWords also allows you to track website call conversions as online conversions to ensure that you get data on every call made to your company.

Optimize the performance of your call ads

The call reporting system, combined with other features from Google AdWords, allows you to optimize the performance of your call ads for better bid strategies. The ability to monitor the calls from any phone number directed at your call ads makes Google AdWords call tracking system a powerful phone call conversion tool.

FAQs

What is call reporting in Google AdWords?

Call reporting runs on Google forwarding numbers and lets you measure the performance of your call extensions, location extensions, and call ads. Call reporting lets you track details like call duration, call start and end times, the caller's phone number for any call longer than 15 seconds, and check if they all did connect. Call reporting is a major aspect of call tracking as it presents the user with metrics related to an ad campaign.

It is interesting to know that all aspects of call reporting, such as call extensions, call ads, and geographic location extensions, can be managed at a single account level.

Published on Jan 19 2021

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WRITTEN BY

Gintaras Baltusevičius

Gintaras is an experienced marketing professional who is always eager to explore the most up-to-date issues in data marketing. Having worked as an SEO manager at several companies, he's a valuable addition to the Whatagraph writers' pool.