Critical Failure in Pay Per Click: Improper or No Conversion Tracking
The importance of conversion tracking in preventing critical failure in PPC cannot be overstated.
Recently, a client objected to having a form on their website for customers to type their requests for services. This client thought a direct email link and “text” this number were best. Of course, we explained this would sever the connection between the Google Ads Bidding algorithm and her advertising campaign. See the graphic below.
If you’re using Google Ads pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, it’s essential to have conversion tracking set up. Conversion tracking is the process of tracking the actions users take on your website after clicking on your ad. By installing conversion tracking, you’ll be able to see which ads and keywords are driving the most conversions, and you can optimize your campaigns accordingly. There are many ways to track conversions and inform Google AI (Artificial Intelligence) bid strategy including Google Analytics and directly installing Google conversion tracking event snippet codes on the pages that come up that are important to your business like purchase or request an appointment or quote.
One of the most critical aspects of conversion tracking is being able to track phone calls. For many businesses, phone calls are a valuable form of conversion. When potential customer calls your business, they are often further along in the buying process and are more likely to convert than someone who just fills out a form or downloads a white paper.
By tracking phone calls, you’ll be able to see which ads and keywords are driving phone calls to your business. This information is crucial because it allows you to optimize your campaigns to focus on the keywords and ads that are driving the most phone calls. This means you can bid more aggressively on those keywords and ads, which will increase your chances of getting more phone calls and conversions. For quality and training purposes your business must also record, listen to, and train people answering the phone to close the most sales or acquire the most new customers, clients, and patients.
In addition to tracking phone calls, conversion tracking can also track other valuable actions on your website, such as form submissions, newsletter signups, and e-commerce transactions. By tracking these actions, you can see which ads and keywords are driving the most valuable conversions for your business.
One of the biggest benefits of conversion tracking is that it allows you to use automated bidding strategies. Automated bidding uses machine learning to automatically adjust your bids based on the likelihood of a conversion. With conversion tracking, you can set up automated bidding to focus on the conversion actions that matter most to your business. For example, if phone calls are the most valuable form of conversion for your business, you can set up automated bidding to focus on driving more phone calls.
Automated bidding can save you time and money because it takes the guesswork out of bidding. Instead of manually adjusting your bids based on your intuition, automated bidding uses data and machine learning to make smarter bids that are more likely to drive conversions.
Installing conversion tracking for Google Ads PPC advertising is essential if you want to optimize your campaigns for conversions. By tracking phone calls and other valuable actions on your website, you can see which ads and keywords are driving the most conversions, and you can use that information to optimize your campaigns and bid more aggressively on the keywords and ads that are driving the most conversions. Additionally, by using automated bidding, you can save time and money by letting machine learning make smarter bids that are more likely to drive conversions.
Another important point to consider when setting up conversion tracking for Google Ads PPC advertising is to avoid having a direct email link on your landing page. While it may seem like a convenient way for potential customers to contact you, it can actually hurt your ability to track conversions accurately.
When a potential customer clicks on an email link on your landing page, it opens up their default email program, and there’s no way for Google Ads to track this action as a conversion. This means that you won’t be able to see which ads and keywords are driving the most email inquiries, and your bidding strategy won’t be able to optimize for this action. See the graphic below showing how this severs the link between Google
Instead of using a direct email link, it’s better to use a contact form on your landing page. With a contact form, the user can fill out their information, and the form can be set up to send an email to your business automatically. This way, the user can still contact you, and the conversion can be tracked by Google Ads. Otherwise, the importance of conversion tracking in preventing critical failure in PPC will be forfeited.
Another advantage of using a contact form is that it allows you to collect more information about the user, such as their name, phone number, and the reason for their inquiry. This information can be valuable for your business because it allows you to follow up with the user in a more personalized way.
In addition to using a contact form, you can also set up call tracking for your phone number. Call tracking works by assigning a unique phone number to each ad, and when a potential customer calls that number, it’s tracked as a conversion. This allows you to see which ads and keywords are driving phone calls, and you can optimize your campaigns accordingly.
In conclusion, not having complete conversion tracking or using a direct email link on your landing page can hurt your ability to track conversions accurately, and it’s better to use a contact form instead. By using a contact form and call tracking with recording, you can track all forms of conversion accurately, and your bidding strategy can optimize for the actions that matter most to your business.