Setting up Call Tracking in Google Analytics to Convert More Calls

Oleksandr Rohovnin

Copywriter

15 minute read

Despite all the digital bells and whistles, an over-the-phone conversation remains the most effective conversion channel, bearing an unprecedented 50% conversion rate. Over 65% of customers choose calls over other forms of connection, and the lion’s share of them are ready to buy from you as long as you masterfully address their needs and wants.

Call tracking is a surefire way to make callers happy and boost your revenues, which you can do using one of these tools:

• Google phone call conversion tracking
• Google Tag Manager
• Call tracking software integrated with Google Analytics

All three involve Google Analytics – either alone or with your proprietary software – so you will inevitably have to learn it.

With no further ado, let’s explain how to track phone calls with Google Analytics.

Option 1 – Google Phone Call Conversion Tracking

Google’s phone call conversion tracking – a default tool with Google – is arguably the easiest way to track phone calls to improve your marketing across the board. 

• Google’s phone call conversion tracking uses dynamic Google forwarding numbers – instead of static phone numbers – on your website, making every caller a unique data source.

Here’s how to track phone calls using Google’s phone call conversion tracking:

#1 Get call assets and call reporting ready in your Google Ads account.

• Call Assets are required to add phone numbers to your ads so you can track them. To create call assets, sign in to your Google Account, click “Ads & Assets,” select “Call,” select what you want to add the call asset to (Account, Campaign, or Add Group), click “Create New” or “Use Existing,” and add or select your number.
• Call Reporting is required to measure the performance of your call assets: the start and the duration of the call, the caller’s phone number, and whether the caller was connected to a sales rep. To turn on Call Reporting, sign in to your Google Account, click “All Campaigns → Settings→ Account Settings,” and select “On” under “Call Reporting.”

#2 Set up the call conversion metrics: what to consider a conversion, whether to assign value to each call, whether to count every conversion or one conversion per ad click, whether to count short calls as a conversion and for how long to track conversion after the ad click.

#3 Set up your conversion tracking tag to connect conversions, Google Ad campaigns, and Google Analytics phone tracking.

Voila, you can now track phone calls with Google Analytics.

Call tracking in Google Analytics is free but nowhere near as profound as tracking phone numbers with integrated call tracking software. Likewise, you have to pay for clicks on your paid search ads.

Option 2 – Google Tag Manager

With Google Tag Manager (GTM), you can create unique event tags for call tracking, knowing when every call has taken place.

Here’s to track phone calls using Google Tag Manager:

Create a trigger for the “tel” click URLs.

1. Set the following markup: “href=tel:xxx-xxx-xxxx,” where x-s are your company’s number.
2. In the GTM dashboard, click “Variables->Configure” and check all boxes.
3. Click “Triggers->New,” select “Just Links” under “This Trigger Fires On,” choose “Click URL->Contains” and type “tel,” and then give a name to the trigger (for example, “Phone Calls Trigger”).

Assign a tag to the created trigger.

1. In the sidebar menu, click “Tags->New->Tag Configuration->Google Analytics: Universal Analytics.”
2. In “Track Type,” choose “Event.”
3. Name the category (for example, “Calls”).
4. In “Action,” click “+” and select “Click URL.” Select the “Page Path” variable to know what page triggered the call.
5. In the “Non-Interaction Hit” parameter, select “True.”
6. Select your analytics variable in “Google Analytics Settings.”
7. Select the created Click Trigger: in “Triggers,” select “Click Trigger for Calls,” give a name to the tag (for example, “Google Analytics Phone Calls”), and save it.
8. Hit “Submit” to publish the tag. In the version name field, write, for example, “New Tracking,” and click “Publish.”
9. Click the phone number on mobile and go to “Events” in real-time reports in Analytics to check whether you can see what phone number and page triggered the click.

Voila, you can track phone calls using Google Tag Manager.

As helpful as GTM is, it does have disadvantages.

Read on to learn why most marketers prefer integrating proprietary call tracking software to using Google Analytics tracker alone.

Disadvantages of Google Analytics Phone Call Tracking

As insightful as the native Google Analytics trackers are, be it Google Tag Manager or phone call conversion tracking, they are not enough to track phone numbers with the depth and precision required by advanced campaigns.

The three major drawbacks are:

• Google Analytics alone isn’t detailed enough. Google enables tracking phones by number and allows collecting basic call data, but it’s not enough to build a robust marketing campaign. Google Analytics cannot detect whether the caller actually dialed up the phone number or clicked on a phone call link.
• Google only tracks direct conversions. Google Analytics tracks calls from paid search results, which doesn’t account for delayed calls (when a customer calls you later using the information from the ad).
• Google phone number tracking is based on the call duration. Google counts calls as converted if they last longer than a set time – for example, longer than 60 seconds – which significantly disperses the marketing data. For example, calls on hold and calls addressed to your customer service will also be counted as converted.

Google Analytics call tracking is neither deep nor flexible enough to serve the needs of an advanced marketer, calling for the integration of a commercial call tracking solution.

Option 3 –  Commercial Call Tracking Solutions Integrated with Google Analytics

Commercial call tracking solutions are on the next level compared to Google Analytics, allowing you to track the parameters of a particular call and the customer journey, including every interaction and touchpoint.

Setting Up Commercial Phone Tracking Software for Your Website: Step-by-Step Guide

#1: Choose Phone Numbers

Not only should you locate your phone numbers in the most prominent place on your website, but you should pick the right type of numbers in the first place.

Types of trackable phone numbers

You will need dynamic phone numbers to attribute a unique number to each caller. As a result, callers will see different numbers on your website but will be routed to a relevant sales agent.

How many dynamic tracking numbers do you need?

The number of dynamic tracking phone numbers you need should be around 0.33% of the total website visits for the prior three days. For example, 1,000 visits would require 3 or 4 numbers. The absolute minimum threshold is one number per traffic source, which would be just enough to understand what particular traffic source drew the call (in reality, you will surely need more numbers).

#2 Integrate Your Call Tracking Software with Google Analytics

• Place your call tracking script on every page of your website to connect your software to your website and make sure all your staff has access to your call tracking software.
• Link your call tracking software to your Google Analytics and CRM accounts. For details on integrating Phonexa’s call tracking software with Google Analytics, call (800) 472-1596, schedule a free consultation, or contact us at info@phonexa.com.
• Set phone calls as event goals in Google Analytics depending on how your call tracking software structures your phone call data. Once you’ve set it up, you will unlock Google Analytics call tracking reporting for data analysis.

#3 Score Your Phone Calls

Scoring your phone calls will allow you to calculate the performance of your marketing campaigns and sales reps.

• For example, you can score each call from 1 to 5 – during a call or after a call – with “1” being dialing a wrong number and 5 being a conversion, and also classify it (new call, repeated call, etc.).

The end goal is to develop effective call scoring and import it automatically into Google Analytics.

Integrating Phonexa’s Call Tracking Software with Google Analytics

Integrating Phonexa’s call tracking software with Google Analytics will help you to dissect the customer journey from A to Z – much deeper than Google Analytics alone would allow – to elevate your marketing across the board.

Here’s how the integration will work:

• As the prospect lands on your website, the integrated call tracking script records the call traffic source – Google Ads, organic traffic, YouTube, Facebook, TV, etc. – and displays the relevant call number, which is the dynamic number assigned to the traffic source.
• As the caller dials up the number, the call tracking script records details, such as the caller’s phone number, location, duration of the call, etc.
• Upon the end of the call, the call data is automatically sent to Google Analytics account, your CRM, and other integrations if any.

The Benefits of Phonexa’s Call Tracking Software

Integrated into an all-encompassing lead management ecosystem, Phonexa’s call tracking software unlocks unique marketing insights on every caller, making it clear where and how to improve and what a particular improvement will lead to.

Here’s how Phonexa’s call tracking software can grow your business:

• User experience. It’s no secret that happy customers are easier to convert. Over 40% of callers will abandon a call if waiting in a call queue for too long, whereas 59% will choose among the brands tailoring their offers based on past interactions. Phonexa’s call tracking software will collect every bit of call data so you can anatomize the customer journey to draw, convert, and retain more callers.

• Marketing and sales. Calls to businesses from search, social, and paid ad campaigns have more than doubled in the last decade, propelling data-driven marketers to the top. Tracking and analyzing multiple call parameters will eliminate the guesswork, backing your endeavors with data. With caller profile analytics at hand, you will convert more callers.

• Budget allocation. With real-time data insights, you can adjust your campaigns on the fly, doubling down on profitable traffic sources and eliminating campaigns that drag you down. Likewise, the phone call analytics can help you make right strategic decisions.
• SEO. SEO is as important as the customer journey itself. Phonexa’s call tracking software will help you spruce up your content for search engines while keeping it attractive for callers.

Phonexa’s call tracking software – whether within Phonexa’s unified lead management ecosystem, integrated with Google Analytics, or any other combination – will grant you more happy callers and higher ROI.

Schedule a free consultation to learn more about how Phonexa can help you draw and convert more call and web leads.

Frequently Asked Questions