undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. Digital Marketing
  3. Conversion Rate Optimization
  4. Has anyone ever used Adwords' Forwarding Numbers as a Call Tracking Service?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

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

Conversion Rate Optimization
3
9
7.1k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • ColeLusby
    ColeLusby last edited by Feb 5, 2015, 12:48 PM

    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

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • ColeLusby
      ColeLusby last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 12:01 PM Feb 6, 2015, 12:01 PM

      Thanks all!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • MonicaOConnor
        MonicaOConnor @JasmineA last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 11:56 AM Feb 6, 2015, 11:56 AM

        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.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • JasmineA
          JasmineA last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 12:05 AM Feb 6, 2015, 12:05 AM

          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 1 Reply Last reply Feb 6, 2015, 11:56 AM Reply Quote 1
          • MonicaOConnor
            MonicaOConnor @ColeLusby last edited by Feb 5, 2015, 6:25 PM Feb 5, 2015, 6:16 PM

            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.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • ColeLusby
              ColeLusby @MonicaOConnor last edited by Feb 5, 2015, 6:12 PM Feb 5, 2015, 6:12 PM

              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 1 Reply Last reply Feb 5, 2015, 6:16 PM Reply Quote 0
              • MonicaOConnor
                MonicaOConnor @ColeLusby last edited by Feb 5, 2015, 3:28 PM Feb 5, 2015, 3:28 PM

                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 1 Reply Last reply Feb 5, 2015, 6:12 PM Reply Quote 1
                • ColeLusby
                  ColeLusby @MonicaOConnor last edited by Feb 5, 2015, 3:12 PM Feb 5, 2015, 3:12 PM

                  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 1 Reply Last reply Feb 5, 2015, 3:28 PM Reply Quote 0
                  • MonicaOConnor
                    MonicaOConnor last edited by Feb 5, 2015, 12:57 PM Feb 5, 2015, 12:57 PM

                    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 1 Reply Last reply Feb 5, 2015, 3:12 PM Reply Quote 0
                    • 1 / 1
                    1 out of 9
                    • First post
                      1/9
                      Last post

                    Got a burning SEO question?

                    Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                    Start my free trial


                    Browse Questions

                    Explore more categories

                    • Moz Tools

                      Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                    • SEO Tactics

                      Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                    • Community

                      Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                    • Digital Marketing

                      Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                    • Research & Trends

                      Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                    • Support

                      Connect on product support and feature requests.

                    • See all categories

                    Related Questions

                    • CommT

                      How would you encourage phone calls rather than email enquiries?

                      Just that really - we're getting on average around 80% online enquiries, and 15% calls. Calls convert better so would prefer calls. What steps would you put in place to increase calls? Ours is a lead generation site - we're a mortgage broker. So far we have a click to call button on the quote page which loads on mobile devices and doesn't display when the call centre is shut. We get traffic from organic and PPC. I'm trying to come up with a bit of a plan to address this. Thanks, Amelia

                      Conversion Rate Optimization | Jun 12, 2015, 6:44 AM | CommT
                      1
                    • YNWA

                      Using my Adwords budget

                      Hi, I have a huge budget for adwords but I only seem to be using about 1/10 of it daily. How to I go about using more budget but also keeping my conversion costs and % around the same? And should each campaign have its own set of unique keywords? Should these keywords never appear in more than 1 campaign? Any tips on maximising budget and increasing conversions would be great. Thanks

                      Conversion Rate Optimization | Nov 7, 2013, 7:14 AM | YNWA
                      1
                    • Ideas-Money-Art

                      Is it possible to set a Goal conversion tracking from a subdomain to a root domain?

                      Hi Mozzers, Here is an issue I am going through: I have a root domain(www.example.com) that is the core website where you are able to schedule a service I have a subdomain (sub.example.om) that is part of content strategy offering free tips and follows a different branding strategy. There are internal links from sub to root domain I have a GA subdomain tracking code installed on every page for both domains I would love to set goal tracking on GA for visitors coming to my subdomain, then going to root domain and then schedule a sevices? Is  this possible? If it is, can someone show me a How To because I tried it anddidn't work? Thanks mozzers!

                      Conversion Rate Optimization | Oct 21, 2013, 5:49 PM | Ideas-Money-Art
                      0
                    • marcandre

                      How to track full path of website visitors until conversion, not just landing page?

                      hi, This is my first question in the forums and I'm looking forward to be part of a great SEO community. I was wondering ow to track full path of website visitors until conversion, not just landing page? I've been using Wordpress jetpack site stats for while, which shows great data like keywords used in google, landing page etc. But I would like to have access to the full path for each separate visitors (including their IP address and country is possible) to improve my website and conversions. Example: step 1: Visitor X types "seo" on Google step 2: visitor lands on my homepage step 3: visitor visits to order page and buys Is there such tool available as a Wordpress plugin? Or do I have to use Google analytics for this? thank you for your help, Marc

                      Conversion Rate Optimization | May 27, 2013, 12:39 AM | marcandre
                      0
                    • dwallner

                      Rich Snippets on service pages and how to aggregate?

                      Question about rich snippets.. I want to showcase reviews of the SERVICE's offered  but I am not sure if I should include them on the service page, a review page or both.  For example, we offer snow plowing and lawn care services and each service has its own page.  I have reviews for both services under the my "testimonials" page.   So, a couple questions. 1 - Should I pace a single review marked up on each service page? 2 - Does the review need to be a google review or can I use reviews from other sites?  If not, do I need to notate that somehow using the schema vocabulary?  Example, I have a 5 star review from thumbtrackDOTcom, is it ok to mark up the review and include a nofollow link? (No follow because thumbtrack is actually a competitor.) 3 - When I looked into creating an aggregate rich snippet I got confused / concerned.  Is it ok to list multiple services as a product?  Example: <div< span="">itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Product"> <span< span="">itemprop="name">Lawn Care and Snow Removal</span<> <div< span="">itemprop="aggregateRating" itemscopeitemtype="http://schema.org/AggregateRating">
                      Rated <span< span=""> itemprop="ratingValue">4.5</span<>/5 
                      based on <span< span=""> itemprop="reviewCount">4</span<> customer reviews</div></div<></div<> 4 - When I tested the code above, no stars showed up in the preview.  Do I need to mark up products as well?  Am I doing it completely wrong 🙂 Thanks for any advice!!

                      Conversion Rate Optimization | Feb 20, 2013, 5:32 AM | dwallner
                      0
                    • Jon-C

                      Call to actions buttons

                      Redoing my site at the moment and placing a few call's to action around it. The calls to action are pretty basic, along the lines of 'click here to get a quote', when you click you get taken to an anchor towards the bottom of the same page that takes you to a contact form. I've based the Calls to action on just a brightly coloured gif image that has text written on to it (not in code but added via photoshop)? This the right way to go, or should I be putting the text actually on my page and using a background coloured element to do it? The same image is used across several pages (got a couple of these images which I use across the site) and thinking it's easier to do it this way rather than code? Adding alt text to images 'Click here to get quote on X' (X being product) and also using img title tag for when mouse i hovering over - Click here to get a quote! Don't want to get hit by any dupe content issue for using the same image on multiple pages etc (I could always no index the folder where the call to action images are stored if this helps?) This sound ok to you pros?

                      Conversion Rate Optimization | Jan 30, 2013, 6:03 PM | Jon-C
                      0
                    • LinkMoser

                      How can I track the traffic source/keyword of form submissions?

                      I'm using Google Analytics on www.nhfinehomes.com and would like to track the source of leads submitted via form submissions. Ideally, I could track if the lead originated from organic search (and what keyword phrase), PPC, referral links, etc. Is this possible with Google Analytics and if so, can anyone point to some documentation on how to do this or better yet someone who can help me set this up? This site is running ASP.NET and uses JQuery so there is not a 'traditional' thank you page that I can reference. I'm not a programmer and do not pretend to be one! Thanks in advance. Link

                      Conversion Rate Optimization | Mar 9, 2016, 2:10 PM | LinkMoser
                      0
                    • robertrRSwalters

                      Can Changing Meta Descriptions Negatively Impact SERP's?

                      I have just had a page start ranking well in key SERP's and I would like to change the meta description and add a price as we are extremely competative in that line. Could changing the meta description now a page is ranking negatively impact the SERP placing? Does anyone have any experience with this?

                      Conversion Rate Optimization | Aug 8, 2013, 5:54 PM | robertrRSwalters
                      0

                    Get started with Moz Pro!

                    Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                    Start my free trial
                    Products
                    • Moz Pro
                    • Moz Local
                    • Moz API
                    • Moz Data
                    • STAT
                    • Product Updates
                    Moz Solutions
                    • SMB Solutions
                    • Agency Solutions
                    • Enterprise Solutions
                    Free SEO Tools
                    • Domain Authority Checker
                    • Link Explorer
                    • Keyword Explorer
                    • Competitive Research
                    • Brand Authority Checker
                    • Local Citation Checker
                    • MozBar Extension
                    • MozCast
                    Resources
                    • Blog
                    • SEO Learning Center
                    • Help Hub
                    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                    • How-to Guides
                    • Moz Academy
                    • API Docs
                    About Moz
                    • About
                    • Team
                    • Careers
                    • Contact
                    Why Moz
                    • Case Studies
                    • Testimonials
                    Get Involved
                    • Become an Affiliate
                    • MozCon
                    • Webinars
                    • Practical Marketer Series
                    • MozPod
                    Connect with us

                    Contact the Help team

                    Join our newsletter
                    Moz logo
                    © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                    • Accessibility
                    • Terms of Use
                    • Privacy

                    Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.