Google Launches “Website Call Conversions” Tool

Google has launched Website Call Conversions in its latest attempt to prove the value of its AdWords advertising platform, with the new feature being offered in countries where Google forwarding numbers are available. Specifically the service is available in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Australia.

In a blog post, Google explained that an impressive 70% of all mobile searchers have called a business directly from search ads, making it clear that the company’s new conversion tool will prove to be extremely useful for many businesses.

“AdWords click-to-call ads, call metrics, and calls as conversions help you connect with these customers and gain insight about those calls,” Google wrote in its blog post. “However, many customers also call your business after clicking through a Google ad and learning more about the products and services you offer on your website. That’s why today we’re launching Website Call Conversions, a powerful way for you to identify and measure calls from your website that occur after an ad click.”

Simply put, Google’s new conversion type tracks phone calls that are made after a user lands on a website from an AdWords ad. Advertisers are now able to add code to their sites that will track whether phone calls are made by users who click on a phone number or manually dial the number from their phones. When a user arrives at the website after clicking an ad, Google dynamically generates a unique phone number that can display for up to 90 days. The reporting mechanism shows which keyword and ad generated a phone call. Adding additional benefit to the new conversion type, Google provides the ability to assign different values to calls generated from pages on a website that are geared toward different stages in the sales funnel.

Early reports about Google’s website call conversion tool have been very positive. “Prior to website call conversions, we didn’t have the ability to track ROI when prospects clicked through our ads and called our sales center,” said Elan Hasson, digital marketing and information manager of People’s Trust Insurance. “Website call conversions [have] enabled us to better attribute lead and sales activity to the correct AdWords campaign after seeing a 79% increase in the total calls attributed to AdWords.” Additionally, Paige Polatas, B2B marketer with Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, stated that Google’s website call conversions helped to increase the brand’s AdWords call volume by 147%.

Google’s blog post illustrates the company’s confidence in the high value of its new tool. “You can also automatically optimize your keyword bids to drive more calls or more valuable calls by using Target CPA or Target ROAS respectively,” the company wrote. “These flexible bid strategies factor in signals like device, location, and time of day to make auction-time bid adjustments that maximize website call conversions and conversion value respectively, while reaching your business goals.”