Pay Per Call

[PortofDreams]

Anyone have insight as to the ups and downs, and success of the following offline conversion tracking mechanisms?

Pay Per Call – When a user performs a search on a search engine, we return a phone number and a call to action, rather then standard copy that entices the user to click. A unique number is provided that the call center can correlate to that particular campaign, and release the results back to the media buyer to be incorporated into the PPC reports.

Website Call Tracking – When a visitor clicks a standard Pay per Click ad and comes into the website, the website records in a cookie the campaign that the user responded to. Any time a phone number is displayed on the web site, this cookie is checked and a unique phone number is provided to the user based on the referring source.

Call Me – Instead of providing phone numbers on the web site, provide input fields so that a user can request to be called by the call center.

[Chris Boggs]

Here are is related session coverage from SES NYC 2006 (http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/003420.html). I have not done any extensive testing yet, but look forward to others relating their experience. Good topic, POD!

[PortofDreams]

Thanks! I was in that session I think, and it was pretty informative. I know each one presents it's own challenges. Pay per call will keep visitors from hitting your site, changing numbers and call me require extensive programming (if it's done in-house). Just trying to build a point of view on it.

[Receptional]

Hi Port of Dreams

The solution we adopt probably won't help totally, since we are in the UK and we are using UK telephone numbers, but maybe the principal is useful to you...

There are two ways in which we track calls. The first is to link calls to affiliate numbers. So - when an affiliate link comes in - we display an entirely different phone number, along with the affiliate ID as the extension. The number displayed is an online switchboard system which can so all sorts of clever things - we use "callagenix" but probably Efax is similar in the states. This is done by combining the affiliate ID number in the URL with a javascript.

So - when a person phones, the call goes initially through to the automatesd switchboard system, which then asks the user to anter the extension (affiliate ID). Then we have options. the first is to send the call through to our own call centre, informing the CALL CENTER which affiliate number the call is related to or (and I think this is neat) we can divert the call directly to the affiliate's cell or office, with the system telling the affiliate that it is an affiliate call from our site.

Either way - the challenge is acheived. We can also record the calls, subject to privacy laws - for later verification and can also set up mailboxes and email call messages in .wav format.

that's the heavy set up way - but frankly for most people - two or three "sources" are enough to track independently. This is less troublesome, as you ignore the affiliate IDs and simply have two or three phone numbers. Then, the website displays : Number A if the visitor is (say) a PPC referrer
Number B if the visitor is not and then save Number C to track "campaigns" which will allow you to chop and change to get a decent "idea" of where your calls are originating, which should more or less map onto your visitor stats.

Only the second system maps nicely onto third party Pay per call systems. In the UK there is only one supplier - Miva - so we are mapping the number Miva gives us onto our own tracking number. The volume is so low at the moment that we have time to record and listen to every call but even without doing that, setting up new numbers is not too difficult, The problam is having more than one number from Miva ads. But I am sure that'll get sorted soon.

Hope this is of some help - or am I off base?