Spotlight on Calls: What Is a Google Call Forwarding Number?

Today, brands can’t help but be swept away in a tidal wave of progress, realizing that technology has streamlined business practices and operations for all. With 6.4 billion people using smartphones, businesses utilize various solutions like cloud phone systems, call tracking, and Google call forwarding to make their operations more data-driven and transparent.

Come to think of it, 80% of people worldwide own smartphones, and anyone can easily access the Internet. Since around 90% of prospects use their mobile phones to connect with brands, the increase in inbound calls was inevitable, and brands started looking for ways to track calls and attribute them to specific marketing efforts.

Source: BankMyCell

If you have always wondered about implementing solutions like a Google call forwarding number and call tracking, how you can set them up, and why they are crucial to business operations, read on to find out more.

What Is a Google Call Forwarding Number?

People scroll through numerous web pages for an average of 144 minutes daily. That is one of the million reasons why increasing your company’s online presence is essential to its success and growth of the brand. 

That is mainly because high-quality leads are the lifeblood of marketing. That is also why brands focus a significant portion of their efforts on driving only the right prospects from millions of active internet users. 

The good thing about using the Internet is that there are so many ways you can advertise to promote your goods and offerings or enable loyal customers to advocate for your brand. But tapping into the power of Google search results and paid ads and looking for the best solution to track call and lead conversions is a slightly different story.

So what is a Google call forwarding number, and how can brands benefit from implementing it? A Google forwarding number is an original phone number brands can use to track all their calls originating from Google Ads campaigns. 

Utilizing a Google forwarding phone number enables businesses to gain specific information on inbound calls. The information typically includes callers’ phone numbers, area codes, duration of calls, etc.

How Google Call Forwarding Works

Google forwarding can offer a helping hand to companies looking to differentiate between calls that originated on their websites, landing pages, and call extensions. In a nutshell, it is one of the ways to simplify the process and improve the probability of consumers connecting directly with your business.

Just imagine being able to get information about all of your potential customers through the calls that originated at a specific page or ad unit. While this feature can’t offer exhaustive details on inbound calls as the call tracking software does, it can be an excellent start for companies looking to capture the primary call data and partly attribute their inbound call traffic.

Let’s examine in more detail how Google call forwarding works. But before we get into it, you must note that Google forwarding phone numbers can be used only after enabling call reporting on your account. 

Google forwarding calls are linked to the company’s phone number. If the phone number is active, you will get reports on all the calls made by your prospective clients. 

The company’s digital assets or ads will display the unique phone number. When users click, call, or message this number from their mobile devices, they see the forwarding number, and then Google routes them to the original business number.

Source: Google Ads

But remember that prospects must at least have checked out your ads or made an inquiry call for you to get a report. In other words, brands should not expect a call report if their ads do not attract their target audience and drive calls.

How To Get a Google Forwarding Number

Getting a Google forwarding phone number is a straightforward process and takes just a few minutes. Here’s what it entails:

• Set up call campaigns
• Create ads in your call campaigns
• Set ads to show when your company can take calls
• Add or create additional assets for specific ads (if needed)
• Click ”All campaigns”, “Settings” and enable call reporting to get a forwarding number

Source: Google Ads

In most cases, Google forwarding numbers will have the same prefix as your company. Google will assign toll-free numbers to your ads if a specific area code or prefix is unavailable.

How To Set up Conversion Tracking for a Google Forwarding Number

Since phone calls remain a promising data source, every company must have the ability to tap into income-boosting insights and spot trends. Setting up a Google forwarding number and conversions tracking can help you distinguish and measure calls that originated from specific ads.

Setting up conversion tracking for inbound calls to forwarding numbers consists of two parts. Here’s a quick look at part one:

1. Create or sign in to your Google Ads account
2. Check if your business is registered in the eligible country
3. Check if you can edit your website
4. Click the tools icon in your account
5. Under “Measurement,” find and click Conversions
6. Click the plus button, Phone calls, and Calls to a phone number on your website
7. Then, create a conversion name and select a description of a specific conversion
8. Set call values (if needed)
9. Choose the minimum call length and choose a click-through conversions window
10. Click Create and continue

The next step is setting up a conversion tracking tag, which includes several stages, like adding a phone snippet and a global site tag. Here’s a detailed guide for setting a tracking tag for the first time.

How To Collect Data Using a Google Forwarding Number With a Call Extension

Companies can collect various data points with the help of Google forwarding. If you have been in business long enough, you must already know how important it is to capture and analyze this information. 

So, let’s take a closer look at what type of data can be collected when using a Google forwarding number with a call extension.

• Caller numbers: One thing you will have at your disposal is caller numbers. Having a caller’s number at your disposal will help you reach out to potential customers on any day you may find the need at ease. The good thing about Google call forwarding numbers is that every prospect that clicks on your ad will see a different forwarding number. This makes tracking a specific ad or keyword that led to a specific call much easier.
• Calls leading to sales: Google forwarding offers the correct data on all the calls that led to sales, offering a simple way to track daily, weekly, or even monthly sales.
• Prefix number or area code: Most businesses want to know where a customer is calling from, especially those looking to extend their local and online presence. Getting a Google forwarding number can help you identify the area code and get detailed information on digital assets that users interacted with recently.
• Individual call reports: Utilizing a Google forwarding number implies getting individual call reports. However, marketers must remember that call assets are available only when ads and campaigns meet specific criteria.

How to Forward My Google Voice Number to the Cell Phone

The idea of unified communication is that you have one number that you can be reached using regardless of whether you are using several devices. When it comes to running a successful business, unified communication is an essential factor. 

Since your prospective clients need to have a single number they can use to reach you, using Google number forwarding might not seem like a good idea. But let’s say your sales rep has a poor internet connection or no signal. How can you ensure that you do not miss calls from your clients? That is when Google Voice calls come into play.

Here is a short guide to making and receiving calls through Google Voice:

1. Create or log in to your Google Voice account.
2. Find and click on Settings. You will access the settings after selecting the cog icon.
3. Then, add your cell phone number.
4. Select Send code.
5. Repeat the code Google provided on the forwarded phone to verify the connection.
6. Make the box next to “Forward calls” is checked.

When the phone number verification is complete, you will be taken back to the settings screen. If you followed all the steps correctly, you should see the number you added and check the box next to it.

Why Use Call Tracking and Distribution Software

There’s no denying that smartphones have revolutionized the average customer purchasing behavior, leading to customers increasingly depending on smartphones to help them make more informed business choices.

According to recent research, 75% of mobile searches and 55% of mobile ads result in phone calls. That’s why enterprises and small businesses need to gain more information on the touchpoints within a single customer shopping session that has led to phone calls.

Brands equipped with the right call tracking software can access critical call data, create customizable call journeys with IVR, use predictive modeling, and as a result, adjust and optimize strategies. 

With call tracking and distribution software, brands get access to call data regardless of its sophistication level. With Phonexa’s Call Logic, businesses of all stripes can leverage a state-of-the-art call intelligence platform that grants access to granular call analytics, data-driven automatic call routing, customizable IVR, and much more.

Here is what Phonexa’s call tracking and distribution software offers to brands:

• Call Tracking: With trackable phone numbers, businesses can route calls and capture crucial data from the actions consumers take on the phone and during the customer journey. Phonexa’s call tracking software enables companies to follow the caller journey every step of the way and keep the data trail from going cold.
• Interactive Voice Response: A guided voice menu helps businesses boost call capacity, capture client information, streamline call routing, and fine-tune their sales funnels. On top of that, IVR enables companies to highlight their brand’s unique voice and make a positive first impression.
• Vanity numbers: It’s no secret that vanity numbers are highly valued by marketers because of their memorability, ability to raise brand awareness, and stand out from the crowd. If your company is running campaigns in different media markets, it’s an excellent way to target local customers and capture critical call data.
• Predictive modeling: As part of Phonexa’s Call Logic, predictive analytics offers marketers insights into their marketing effort, simplifying the process of analyzing probable outcomes and identifying trends.
• Automatic call distribution: Phonexa’s Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) works hand-in-hand with IVR, helping brands elevate customer experience and ensure that clients connect with the best-suited agent to handle their inquiries. It offers excellent data-driven, skill-based call routing, call queuing, a callback feature, and much more.

Wrapping Up

Using a Google forwarding number is a fundamental way to start tracking the inbound calls your Google ad campaigns generate. However, suppose you’re looking for solutions and tools that offer more functionality, features, and comfort, implementing Phonexa’s all-in-one marketing automation solution for calls. In that case, leads, clicks, email, SMS, accounting, and more is an excellent choice.

Learn how Phonexa’s Call Logic can help you streamline the call process and elevate the customer experience by scheduling a consultation with one of our experts.