Earlier this month, CallRail and LSA presented a webinar entitled, “Calls, Local SEO & Mobile Search: What You Need to Know in 2016.” It discussed how to successfully implement call tracking while avoiding potential SEO problems. It also shared fascinating data on which media channels are driving the most calls and explored the impact of mobile devices and voice assistants on local search.
The full webinar is embedded immediately below. In addition, CallRail’s Mark Sullivan has summarized his top five recommendations for Local SEO friendly call tracking implementation.
Here are my top five recommendations for using call tracking in local SEO while maintaining name, address and phone number (NAP) consistency:
- Use the same local phone number on directories, citations, and anywhere else on the web that search engines have been known to index. Hard-code this number on your company’s website.
- This can’t be stressed enough. Much of the bad juju out there about call tracking for local SEO revolves around the use of unique phone numbers for each major citation (e.g. one phone number for tracking calls from Yelp, one for Google My Business, and other one for Facebook business page.) Don’t do that.
- Use Dynamic Number Insertion to track all visitors on your website to get the most detailed information about what’s making the phone ring.
- I used to have some reservations with using DNI in local SEO but those days are gone. DNI delivers an unbelievable amount of insightful data, is remarkable safe for NAP consistency, and will give your business an edge up on the competition.
- Use an Organic Tracking Number as the business’s main line to get the most information from calls that do not involve website visits.
- In my research, about half of all calls to local businesses originate without a website visit. If you want to understand how your Local SEO is driving results for your business, tracking calls from everywhere is essential.
- Focus on the metric First Time Callers above all else to measure performance.
- Local SEO campaigns are all about generating new customers for your business. By focusing on First Time Callers, you can eliminate counting the vast majority of existing customers in your metrics.
- Always Be Monitoring. Citations, that is.
- If you’re serious about Local SEO, then you should always be monitoring business directories and local citations for inaccurate data–regardless of whether you’re using call tracking or not. Bad data surfaces all the time from big data providers, Google Maps data refreshes, as well as outdated info. Monitor it so you can fix it before it tanks your business’s visibility.
6 Responses
Great post once again!! please provide some more information about DNI
I can’t speak technically to DNI — dynamic number insertion — but several (if not most) call tracking vendors can do it.
Hi Emilee!
Dynamic Number Insertion lets you serve up a “smart” phone number on a website that will tell you more about a caller/texter. It’s a short snippet of code on a website (usually one line that’s pasted into the HTML) that inserts a unique phone number on the page for a visitor to call. Think of it like a Mailchimp link-tracking URL sent out in emails that tells you who clicked on which link in your email. It’s like that but for a website visitor that picks up the phone to call.
For more info on CallRail’s easy-to-setup DNI: https://www.callrail.com/leads/dynamic-number-insertion/
Really an informative post. I have a question regarding NAP.
Is it OK to have same address with two abbreviations of street, State or Country listed on different listing sites?
like:
XXX st, XXXX West, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
or
XXX st, XXXX Wt, Chennai, TN, USA
although both are same address but still appear differently.
Great article and this seems to be the standard today. However, I found a duplicate Google local listing for my business one day. After some research, Google was able to merge the listings for me so there is only one. However, during the merge process, they had me change the phone numbers on the listings to match the number they were seeing on the website. I explained to them the DNI process, but they would not complete the merge until I changed the phone numbers on the local listings to match the dynamic number showing on my website at that time. I was on my third Google rep and they werent budging. Instead of continue to argue, I made the update and after the merge was complete. Later, I changed the number in the listing back to the static number, but now Im not sure if I should. Any thoughts would be great.
I’m surprised by this. I don’t have any insight into how the change will play out. Mark may be able to comment.