Has anyone ever used Adwords' Forwarding Numbers as a Call Tracking Service?

[ColeLusby]

Hi,

I was taking over a client's Adwords account from a previous agency. It appears the former agency added the Google Forwarding Number (for call tracking on call extensions) and added it to the client's website.

Therefore, if anyone calls that number from the website, it would register within Adwords (just not as a conversion but as a click under "call extensions")

The problem:

• you can't filter by phone number (the same number calling +1 would indicate spam)
• you can filter by device (so tablet / computer) can be considered spam generally.

Questions:

• Anyone ever used this before? Your thoughts?
• Does anyone know if there is spam coming from mobile devices now-a-days?

Please tell me what I'm missing. Any advice / anyone else seen this / done this?

Thanks Moz Community,

Cole

[MonicaOConnor]

I use this to track phone calls on the keyword level. Each call = a conversion. Not in call extensions however. The call extension conversions are only the numbers that appear on your ads. Calls that don't require a click to get to a number.

This tool is helpful because it can help track offline conversions. I find it useful because there are keywords that don't generate revenue online, but they generate calls. Before I implemented this system I would have gotten rid of all of the key words that weren't performing. The calls are just as valuable as the clicks in my business, so that information is important.

[ColeLusby]

Hi Monica,

I see your point by tacking calls on a keyword level.

But a call = a click correct?

You could set up conversions as well (for call tracking). I'm talking about taking the Google Number they provide you with and adding it to your website (or anywhere for that matter). The calls (or "clicks") would be tracked within call extensions.

I'm curious if anyone has had experience with that.

Thanks,

[MonicaOConnor]

I think you are mixing the two up. Call extensions are different from the call tracking Google does with a dynamic number.

Call extensions are on your ads. They appear in the search results. This are tracked in call extensions.

The google conversion tracking using the dynamically generated numbers on your site are tracked in your AdWords interface. You can see them on the campaign and the key word level.

If you are using dynamically generated numbers for call extensions, which appear on your ads, you will track those in call extensions. You will see phone impressions and phone calls for these in your AdWords interface. - See the example from my AdWords account here. You will see two columns labeled phone impressions and phone calls. That is data from the call extensions on my ads.

The dynamically generated numbers that Google generates on you site will appear as conversions in the AdWords interface. Here is an example of how the data for the call conversions will appear. You will see a column that says "converted clicks". Those are phone calls that came from the dynamically generated number on the site.

The dynamically generated number on your site is set up through conversion tools and is not tracked in call extensions. Those calls can be tracked in your interface or through tools - conversions - and then the conversion tool you set up.

[ColeLusby]

Hey Monica,

I fully understand that.

So let's say I have a Google Forwarding Number (because I'm tracking Call Conversions).

I copy that number and put it on my website (or in a magazine ad). Someone dials that number. It will register as a "click", correct?

At that point, I'm using Adwords as a call tracking service. Please help me with anything I'm missing.

Thanks,

[MonicaOConnor]

No, it will not register as a click. It will register as a conversion. If you aren't seeing that column in your interface, go to customize columns - conversions and add that to your interface.

[JasmineA]

Might be a bit off base with your questions, Cole. Just wanted to make sure you aren't planning on using the GFN (Google Fowarding Number) as an offline means of call attribution. (more info below, but if you aren't then just ignore it )

Each call will be calculated as a conversion after you specify that you want that. In the Tools> Conversions tab, you will need to add a new conversion type and mark calls as a conversion. Here, you can set the call length by seconds to determine when you want to register a call length as a conversion. For instance, I was working with a company that saw conversions happen around 8 minutes on the phone, so we set the time to the equivalent of 8 minutes and filtered for just these conversions within the UI.

Why you shouldn't use Google Fowarding Numbers outside of AdWords
It's a bad idea to use google forwarding numbers because they are only intended for SEM use. If you start plugging them around elsewhere you're not going to have proper conversion attribution to your campaigns. Google has numerous numbers that it's going to use to properly attribute the calls to specific keywords. If you pull a number that actually is associated to a very poor performing keyword (ie, it still doesn't get you calls, you just stole the number and applied it to a mailer) then Google is going to start optimizing for that keyword's conversion performance even though it's actually a bad KW.

Also, there's a science involved to call tracking. I would highly suggest you speak with Call Tracking Metrics, Mongoose Metrics, or If By Phone for the technical understanding of how call tracking works and why you can't just plug numbers around.

[MonicaOConnor]

Cole, just FYI, If by Phone owns Mongoose Metrics now. I used If by Phone for about a year. I get the same data from Google AdWords for free as I did from If By Phone for upwards of 1k a month.

The only program I have come across that actually offers more than AdWords is called Invoca. They actually monitor calls, track offline conversions at the key word level and implement conversion optimizing tools to your AdWords account. I think you are in good hands with Google. I wouldn't start paying for data unless you are ready to move to the next level of call analytics.

[ColeLusby]

Thanks all!