SEO call tracking: which calls came from Google

How long a call has to last to count as a lead depends on the case and on the agreement with the partner or client, so call tracking has no single threshold. Google Ads, for its own reports, counts calls longer than 60 seconds as conversions by default, and Google lets that value be changed at any time based on the business's goals.

No, Google Ads call tracking replaces the number on the website only for visitors who arrived after clicking an ad, so calls from organic search need a separate call-tracking tool. Google uses its own forwarding numbers for this, and they are available only in the countries Google lists, including the United Kingdom.

Yes, a UK business may record calls on its own phone system when it has made all reasonable efforts to tell everyone who may use the system that calls may be intercepted, under The Investigatory Powers (Interception by Businesses etc. for Monitoring and Record-keeping Purposes) Regulations 2018. The same regulations allow recording only to monitor or keep a record of communications relevant to the business's activities.

With call tracking, the Google Business Profile shows the business's own phone number, because Google's guidelines ask for a number that connects to the business location and is under the business's direct control. The same guidelines ban numbers that redirect people to landing pages. Google allows additional phone numbers on the profile, so a second number can be added without replacing the main one.

Yes, call tracking shows which page brought a call, and the keyword is then predicted from that page. One call from SEO is traced in four steps:

• A person searches on Google, lands on a page of the website and taps the fixed call button, which can sit on any page, or goes to the contact page and taps the number there.
• The call-tracking tool records the call with its session: the landing page, the path to the contact page and how long the call lasted.
• GA4 shows the call under organic search.
• Search Console shows which queries bring traffic to that landing page, so the keywords behind the call are predicted from them. ChatGPT prompts are predicted the same way, from the page's Search Console keywords.

The SEO ROI guide explains how those calls turn into cost per enquiry and cost per closed deal.

No, a tap on a phone number is only a click, while a phone call is a conversation that a call-tracking tool records, and the Google Business Profile's call count is taps too. One seopaslaugos.io client's GA4 had three call measures: phone taps, Ringostat calls and Ringostat's unique calls. Adding any two counts some calls twice, so the dashboard shows Ringostat calls alone, which include numbers dialled by hand. Phone taps there fell from about 17 to about 6 a day with no confirmed cause.

Yes, a service business can pay for SEO only on contacts that became jobs in the seopaslaugos.io partnership. seopaslaugos.io builds and ranks websites for the business's keywords at its own cost, routes every call and enquiry to the business, and once a month the two sides review which contacts became jobs. The no-retainer partnership page explains the model.