For businesses that rely on phone calls to drive sales, tracking calls is just as important as tracking form fills or online purchases. If you’re running Google Ads -or any paid campaigns - without call tracking, you’re missing the full picture of what’s working and what’s wasting your budget.
Why Click-to-Call Tracking Falls
I often see Google Ads accounts that only track click-to-call. It’s actually very misleading. Here's why:
- You miss desktop and tablet users. Many people don’t click the number. They grab their phone, dial manually, and you never see that conversion in Ads or analytics. You’re already losing close to 50% of calls. That also means Google incorrectly uses your Cost Per Lead (CPL), which can negatively affect your bidding strategies and campaigns.
- Not every tap turns into a call. People hit tap-to-call, then cancel. Google Ads still counts it as a click, but no call ever happened.
- Not every call is a lead. Some callers just want directions, business hours, or customer service. You don't want those inflating your conversion data in Ads.
What Can You Do with Accurate Call Tracking?
1. Close the Gap Between Online Clicks and Offline Sales
Most businesses generate their highest-value leads over the phone. Yet standard analytics tools only capture online conversions. With call tracking, you tie every phone call back to the keyword, ad, and campaign that drove it. This way, you know which ads bring real customers.
2. Smarter Google Ads Optimization
Without call data, Google Ads optimizes only for form submissions or page visits. That means your automated bidding strategies might prioritize cheaper clicks that never convert. Call tracking sends actual call conversions back into Google Ads, so your campaigns optimize for leads that truly matter.
3. See Which Channels Drive the Best Calls
Not all calls are equal. Call tracking shows whether a lead came from paid search, social ads, organic search, or direct traffic. With campaign- and keyword-level attribution, you can identify which channels bring in high-quality conversations - and shift budget accordingly.
4. Capture More Detailed Insights
Call tracking doesn’t stop at “this ad drove a call.” You also get:
- Caller ID, geography, and call duration
- First-time vs. repeat callers
- Text message and form fill attribution (if enabled)
These details help you qualify leads, set conversion values, and improve cost-per-lead calculations.
5. Boost Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
When you know which campaigns are generating calls - and which ones aren’t - you can cut wasted spend and double down on ads that work. Clients using call tracking often see lower cost-per-lead and higher ROAS because their ad dollars are aligned with real-world outcomes.
How SmartMetrics Helps
At SmartMetrics, we include both call tracking and server-side tracking as part of our services. This ensures you capture every lead, online and offline, while optimizing your campaigns with the most accurate data possible.
