My google partner advisor had told me about it for the summer, we were looking forward to it, 13 months after the USA, Canada has been benefiting since September 15, 2015 from the tracking of phone calls generated by Adwords campaigns.
The call extension , which previously made it possible to display a call forwarding number and measure their number and duration, was very rarely used by Internet users and many campaign managers had their customers subscribe to external services that I have always found expensive and painful to install.
Particularly suitable for companies that base their conversions on the strength of immediate telephone contact, this call tracking feature will allow them to measure the number and duration of calls made from their sites by Internet users who arrived via AdWords clicks.
For Google, it is a way for its customers to count more conversions and to prove, if it were still necessary, the firepower of its “cash cow” advertising tool that makes it a billion-dollar company.
Not too complex to implement, free to use
Campaign managers should therefore set up this new conversion in customer accounts.
Two conditions are required:
- Have conversion tracking set up on the account
- Call extensions are installed and Google’s call forwarding number is already set up for these call extensions.
This makes this tracking a little more complicated to implement than other Adwords conversion codes or tracking codes such as analytics, but it is still simpler to implement than most existing private services.
The last step takes place on the console, you have to choose “Calls to a Google forwarding number on your site” in the platform’s conversion module (tools menu).
Console Adwords
then
I’m not going to have fun recomposing the complete Google installation manual: here it is in French: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2454052?hl=fr
This number will be displayed for several days to Internet users who return to the site. (I don’t know how many days! it’s all new)
After suffering disappointments with 08:00 numbers (in France in particular), Google Adwords phone numbers should have a “regional look”. Indeed, many Internet users who are looking for a local service prefer to call a phone number with a zone prefix that is familiar and identifiable to them.
Accurate call tracking full of resources.
The code allows you to follow the
- specific keyword,
- the announcement,
- the ad group, and
- The campaign that caused the click.
he adds
- the area code (514, 450, 819…) and
- the duration of the call.
You can therefore configure specifically written ad groups to encourage this immediate call response. “Call now -10%”, “discount on call at 438 875 0503 “, etc.
We know that phone calls generate more “customer conversions” than simple requests via contact forms. This specific type of campaign is therefore an opportunity offered to as many people as possible, because the service is completely free.
This is also likely to undermine call tracing services such as https://www.calltrackingmetrics.com/plans which compensated for Google’s shortcoming with monthly subscriptions…
To go further with the tracing tool
You can decide to assign a different phone number to each page and assign a conversion value to calls, based on where they originated or how long they lasted.
With a detailed analysis, we will install an automatic optimization of the bids of the keywords that convert by defining a target ROAS (ROAS = Return on advertising spend).
This flexible bid strategy takes into account many parameters such as
- the type of device,
- the geographical area,
- The optimal time of day to adjust bids (peak peak times)
and many others.
Ever richer reports
Adword is on fire at the end of summer, because we must add to this good news the report editor integrated into Adwords launched at the end of August.
This tool finally goes beyond simple lists of numbers to offer us, by drag and drop, exportable reports with richer graphic possibilities and a more refreshing look, see the article by Mr. Largeron who talks about it very well.
As of June 1, 2016, call extensions will use Google’s forwarding numbers
If your AdWords account contains at least one call extension.
You’ll have access to more detailed call tracking and can measure conversions per call.
This feature change only affects call extensions that use phone numbers in the following countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
It won’t affect call-only campaigns.
Benefits of Google Forwarding Numbers
Google forwarding numbers are compatible with third-party call metering solutions and give you detailed statistics on the performance of your calls, at no extra cost. This allows you to know the duration of each call, the start and end time, and the call area code. You can also find out if the telephone call has been established.
In addition, with Google forwarding numbers, you can track call-based conversions down to the keyword level. For example, if you see that calls that last longer than a minute tend to generate sales, you can count them as conversions and identify the specific parts of your campaigns that are driving the most valuable calls.
Update 10 May 2016
As of June 1, 2016,
Google forwarding numbers will be enabled in call extensions that don’t already use this feature. Whenever possible, Google forwarding numbers in your ads will be the same as your business phone number.
For example, we will use a local number when it is available.
Google will count calls longer than 60 seconds as conversions (the default).
Mobile call conversions from a direct call ad will be included in the “Conversions” column of your reports. If you’re currently using automated bid strategies such as Target CPA, the inclusion of call conversions may impact performance. This is because the system makes adjustments when there is an overall increase in the number of conversions.
Steps
If you don’t want to benefit from the additional performance metrics or call conversion tracking associated with Google forwarding numbers, please complete this form by May 27, 2016.
After June 1, 2016, you’ll be able to turn off Google forwarding numbers directly in AdWords. To do this, select the “My own phone number (don’t use call tracking)” option for “Show my ad on” in the call extension settings. You can also change the duration you want to use to count calls as conversions.
To learn more about this change, visit the Help Center or your account management team. You can also contact Google at any time.
