Comments on: Dissecting a Taboo: Phone Numbers in PPC Ads

By: John

John — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:15:43 +0000

@ Paul,

You’re absolutely right. The best policy is “test, test and test again.” Let the data be your guide.

Thanks for commenting!

By: Paul Lee

Paul Lee — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:57:12 +0000

The results you will find will depend on the industry. Also as someone earlier has mentioned it’ll work much better for a local service industry.

Ultimately the answer to all these techniques is that you must test. Instinct only goes so far but solid data will give you true answers. I’ve run into too many instances where two clients that seem similar will find different results. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense, but we (leadqual) let the data do the answering. So if you are not sure test then test again!

By: Czy zamieszczaÄ‡ numer telefonu w reklamach PPC? - SEMGuru.pl - pozycjonowanie i reklama w wyszukiwarkach

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:23:47 +0000

[...] Dla osÃ³b szukajÄ…cych wiÄ™cej informacji na ten temat polecam takÅ¼e artykuÅ‚ zÂ PPC Hero. Autor zamieÅ›ciÅ‚ tam tabelkÄ™ prezentujÄ…cÄ… rezultaty kampaniiÂ – reklama z numerem vs. reklama bez numeru. Jak na niej widaÄ‡, reklama z numerem telefonu miaÅ‚a znacznie wyÅ¼szy CTR i wspÃ³Å‚czynnik konwersji. ProszÄ™ jednak nie oczekiwaÄ‡ podobnych rezultatÃ³w, bo wynik jednego reklamodawcy nie jest zbyt reprezentatywny. [...]

By: John

John — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:07:43 +0000

Hello Jon,

Thanks for stopping by! There are several services available to track phone calls. Callsource.com, estara.com, clickpath.com, etc. These services will give you a custom phone number that you can use in your advertisements (even down to the keyword level!) that will allow you to track where the customer/prospect found your number. This way you can determine if placing a number in your PPC ads actually detracts from your internet marketing and website visibility.

In my experience, placing phone numbers in PPC ads has actually increased CTR, and thus website exposure. And since clients are seeking a growth in business whether it’s from the website or phone, either way its a win-win situation!

By: Jon Clark

Jon Clark — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:28:11 +0000

I am actually testing this as well – the client noted the same thing: “no one will call without viewing my website first, right?” I persuaded him to allow me to run a test but I ran into another issue – how do you track folks calling from the PPC ad vs. viewing the number on the website via an organic search?

Any ideas?

By: John

John — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:13:27 +0000

It seems that the consensus is that you need to judge this practice for your specific efforts/niche. I think Cap’ Click has it right when he says that phone numbers in ads work well for service industries.

As for which search engines allow phone numbers – as far as I know, Google is the only one (at least that I use). YSM, adCenter, Business.com and others that I use all have policies against using phone numbers.

I’ll see what I can do about an editorial matrix! : )

By: Cap' Click

Cap' Click — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 03:01:20 +0000

Agreed. Phone number work well when dealing with services, and when dealing with things in local markets as the area code will further instill confidence in the clicker that “Wow, they are local!”. I have used them in adtext for quite some time and I feel it further legitimizes adtext and gives the user faith that your company is real. Now YSM does not allow it as far I know. Is that still the case? Anyone know? Perhaps a paid search engine editorial matrix is the answer. Anyone know of one?

By: Sherry

Sherry — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:48:26 +0000

This makes perfect sense to me. A phone number always makes me feel better. If I need to talk to a real person, I could and they are making it easy for me to do so. How many sites do you go to and there is no phone number to be found. I always find that suspicious.

By: Monty

Monty — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:00:26 +0000

I too have noticed a benefit to including the phone number in the ad. While I think it varies by niche, we have found that not only do we get better response from including the phone number, but that often times people call the # without ever having even clicked the ad, thus likely saving us some PPC ad spend, as well as bringing in a very motivated potential client to us.

By: SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 19, 2007

SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 19, 2007 — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:36:51 +0000

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