Tracking Calls on Your Website from Your Google Business Profile

When it comes to local SEO tracking, we usually refer to keyword rank tracking. However, the number of leads that came in is one of the key metrics to report on for your local marketing. You will need a sophisticated call tracking setup for this.

Call tracking has come a long way in recent years, and you may not realize that you can do a lot more with tracking on your Google listing than you thought. So, let’s go over how to set up a complete call tracking number for your Google Business Profile — formerly known as Google My Business — so you can accurately track and attribute all of those leads.

Basic Call Tracking Setup

The first thing you need to do is go to the Info tab on your Business Profile dashboard and find the phone number field. Next, make your tracking number your primary phone number and move your original number in the additional phone number field.

What about NAP consistency, though?

Making your original phone number “additional” allows Google to match that number across your website, directories, and citations, even though your Business Profile will display a different number than your primary number.

This is where most people believe they are finished and go on to other tasks to boost their SEO marketing in Long Island. However, there is much more that can be done...

Tracking Onsite Google Profile Phone Calls

Let’s clear up some terminology. An “offsite number” is what we have created above by adding a tracking number to the Business Profile fields. In other words, if someone clicks from the listing to the website, the website still displays the original number everywhere. This means that someone who finds your website using your Business profile and calls you will not be properly tracked.

Instead, you should create an onsite number, which is a number that changes depending on where the visitor came from on your website. If someone visits your website via your Business Profile, the number from the listing will automatically update for that visitor.

The setup for this will vary from one call tracking software to another. Still, the concept is the same: you need to make the website phone numbers swap on an entry from the Business Profile while distinguishing between an entry to your website from search results and an entry from your Business Profile listing.

Adding UTM Tracking Parameters

The first step is to configure your Business Profile’s UTM (short for “Urchin Traffic Monitor”) tracking parameters. You will end up with something like this for a website URL:

https://www.example.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=website

In your Business Profile, do this for both the website and appointment fields.

Setting Up An Onsite Tracking Number

Designate a new tracking number as an onsite number when you buy it. This will require the installation of a tracking code on your website. After that, you will need to change the Conditions section to reflect your new phone number. Enter the UTM code previously entered to the Business Profile website and appointment fields in the landing URL tab.

When someone visits your website via your Business Profile, the phone number on the website will change to match the number you entered in the Business Profile field.

If you have monitoring for both a Google organic number and a Google Business Profile number, you must set the latter’s position lower than the former’s for Call Tracking Metrics. This will differentiate an entry from a Business Profile result and an organic result.

Local SEO services in New York can help you set up your Google Business Profile, design an effective strategy and get you on top of local search results.

SEO Long Island is a division of Cybernet LLC based in Long Beach, Long Island. We recognize the importance of good SEO to local and national businesses.