One of the panelists told our audience that using tracking numbers on your website or Google My Business listing adversely impacts SEO and that it is imperative to keep references to your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) consistent across all websites to avoid hurting SEO results.
While this used to be true, it’s outdated information.
Call tracking provides foundational data that is essential to understanding where your leads are coming from and which of your marketing campaigns are working. Yet, otherwise talented marketing consultants continue to spread the myth that call tracking is bad, giving business owners invalid reasons to avoid using call tracking.
This consultant was right is it is still important to have NAP consistency, which means it’s important that your name, address, and phone number is the same across all online directories and websites. This provides a positive signal to Google that your business is legitimate, which helps Local SEO. That said, there are two exceptions where you can safely use call tracking: your Google My Business listing and your website.
However, you need to set them up correctly.
How to Add Call Tracking to GMB
Here are the steps to use a tracking phone number on your Google My Business (GMB) listing:
- In your GMB dashboard, click on the Info tab to edit your contact information
- Enter your tracking number as your primary number, then click Add Phone Number
- Enter your business’s main phone number from your website as the additional phone number
Should you use tracking numbers on other NAP listings? We don’t recommend it. But since optimizing Google My Business listings has become an important lead generating tactic, we do recommend using a call tracking number so you can calculate a return on your investment in GMB listing optimization.
How to Set Up Website Call Tracking
To track calls from your website, use Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI). With Dynamic Number Insertion, your local phone number is in the code of the website. When someone visits your website, they are assigned a different phone number and when they dial this phone number, the call is routed to your local number. DNI vendors do not replace the number when bots from Google and other search engines visit the site, so they will still see your local phone number.
Ready to track phone calls from Google My Business? With Jess phone call tracking software, it’s easy and inexpensive to track calls to your business from GMB. There are no minimums – just pay $2.50 for the phone number and only pay for the minutes used. Sign up and get started today!
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