Google Ads website call conversions tool was released in 2014 and became a logical extension of Google corporate analytics package. Ringostat team has decided to determine the pros and cons of Google Call Tracking.
- 1. Google call tracking works only when a call comes from Google Adwords
- 2. The service doesn’t record phone conversations
- 3. You can insert only one number on the page
- 4. Callers’ numbers can’t be saved in a call log
- 5. Google call tracking is available only in 20 countries
- 6. Google call tracking doesn’t keep statistics of missed calls
- 7. Impossible to determine the uniqueness of phone calls
- 8. Impossible to create several types of reports
- 9. Google call tracking doesn’t provide callback widget
- 10. With Google call tracking you can’t insert different number depending on your geolocation
- 11. Google call tracking doesn’t classify calls as targeted and non-targeted
- 12. Impossible to determine your sales department’s busiest hours
- 13. Google call tracking doesn’t integrate with CRM systems
- Conclusions
Why Google call tracking is such an attractive solution?
- It’s free;
- It provides dynamic number insertion;
- It’s integrated with other Google services;
- Customers are loyal to Google brand.
Despite all this, Google call tracking release doesn’t destroy the market of phone analytics services. On the contrary, it becomes more and more popular.
Google call tracking main limitations
1. Google call tracking works only when a call comes from Google Adwords
Google call analytics algorithm identifies calls that came only from Google advertising service. Thus, Google can concentrate on the customers who use only its services. Moreover, the corporation tries to create a full analytics cycle where the client doesn’t need to address to the third party services.
However, you’ll need to address. Google call tracking doesn’t monitor neither referral calls, nor calls from banner advertising. Thus, you can’t receive a full picture of your marketing performance using this tool, though it’s possible to solve small local problems within several advertising campaigns.
2. The service doesn’t record phone conversations
This feature helps the majority of Ringostat clients, and you’ll surely miss it in Google call tracking. Analysis of call records allows to create conversation scripts, identify the needs of users that came from different marketing channels, determine the weak points in your sales reps’ work. You’ll know why some of them succeed while the others show poor results. Based on this data, you can provide particular KPIs for your sales department.
The charts above show how our client could determine the reasons of missed calls.
3. You can insert only one number on the page
With dynamic call tracking each visitor sees a unique phone number. It identifies user’s search query and session. Sometimes it’s better to show the phone number several times. And here is the problem: if you place your number not only on the website header, but also on the footer, Google call tracking will insert only one of them. If a user calls from another number, you won’t determine the source of the call. This will result in unclear statistics. That’s why it’s so important to have all numbers to be dynamically inserted for each user session.
Ringostat doesn’t have any limitations in this regard. You can insert all phone numbers on your landing regardless of their number and location on the page.
4. Callers’ numbers can’t be saved in a call log
One of Google call tracking disadvantages is the inability to keep a full-fledged call log and call the client back. The thing is, this service doesn’t save a caller’s phone number and it makes things more complicated.
At the same time, Ringostat provides a free full-featured cloud-based PBX that includes an easy-to-use call log with call recordings and all information you need, including callers’ phone numbers.
5. Google call tracking is available only in 20 countries
You can use Google software for tracking calls in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA.
The disadvantages of this geographical limitation are obvious. If you want to expand your business and enter the Asian market, for example, you’ll need to implement one more call tracking service. This will result in a lack of complete analytical picture.
In this regard, Ringostat is available in every country where you can rent phone numbers and setup SIP-telephony.
6. Google call tracking doesn’t keep statistics of missed calls
As it was mentioned above, Google call tracking doesn’t have a cloud-based PBX, and this leads to some inconveniences. For example, you can’t keep track of missed calls.
Google product can help you to make paid ads more efficient, but you won’t know the number of missed calls from these ads, so the statistics will be distorted.
7. Impossible to determine the uniqueness of phone calls
If you use Google call tracking, you can’t determine whether you have had the calls from a particular user before. The main goal of this service is to determine the efficiency of different Google Adwords campaigns, but companies who use Ringostat already understand that they also need the metrics of clients’ uniqueness. Ringostat call tracking allows to determine the repeated calls based on informations from cookies.
8. Impossible to create several types of reports
One more serious disadvantage of Google call tracking is the absence of different filters. Why do companies need them? To sort the analytics data for different departments in the company and different levels of management. For example, sales department needs the information about call duration, about missed and repeated calls, etc. Marketing department will appreciate data on call sources, keywords, and so on.
Part of this is due to the fact that Google call tracking was created as a service additional to Google Adwords, while Ringostat was intended for giving a full statistics for different analytics.
9. Google call tracking doesn’t provide callback widget
Our experience tells that callback use increases the number of inbound calls to companies by 30%. The chart below shows the result achieved by one of our clients and proves this argument.
Thus, Google call tracking users have to additionally search for callback widget and set it up in order to receive the information about these calls in general statistics. All Ringostat clients can use our callback widget for free and it doesn’t need any additional settings.
10. With Google call tracking you can’t insert different number depending on your geolocation
With Ringostat call tracking the websites visitors see the numbers with regional codes of their country, state or city. This function isn’t available in Google call tracking, so you’ll have to use universal codes.
If your potential clients don’t pay to much attention to cost of their calls, this disadvantage isn’t so critical. But a lot of clients prefer to choose a number that is credible.
11. Google call tracking doesn’t classify calls as targeted and non-targeted
Ringostat users can attribute all the inbound calls to targeted and untargeted, so it’s easy for them to analyze all the calls by categories. Google call tracking doesn’t provide this function, and this can make the work with data much more complicated.
12. Impossible to determine your sales department’s busiest hours
One of Ringostat reports shows the amount of calls company receives every day and every hour. It allows to optimize the schedule of your sales managers, as well as to identify the important behavioral trends in customers’ activity.
It can also help you to raise the level of employees’ discipline, determine the best lunch hours for your sales team and reduce the number of clients you’ll have to call back. Needless to say, it’s a useful type of report that lacks in Google call tracking.
13. Google call tracking doesn’t integrate with CRM systems
When you can’t transfer data from call tracking service to a CRM system, the statistics you receive in CRM isn’t pure and complete. Using Ringostat, companies can associate phone calls with clients’ profiles in CRMs. This makes your data manipulation more structured and helps to apply a personal approach to each of your clients.
Conclusions
Google call tracking is free and successfully complements Google AdWords – another corporation product. It can’t fully satisfy all users’ demands for call tracking services, but it allows to slightly improve the context ads performance.
Its main disadvantages are limited geographics and impossibility of number insertion according to region. Thus, it can work as a temporary solution for markets the company is planning to enter (if it’s situated in the territory of 20 countries mentioned above).
Also this service can confuse its users with an absence of full-featured call log and impossibility to record missed and targeted calls. These features are important for those who already use commercial call tracking services, as they allow to filter statistics and analyze the most significant phone conversion segments.
