If you use Google Ads, you may have some confusion about the many different types of phone call conversion actions. In this article, we’ll clear some of that up!
There are several different types of phone call conversion actions:
- Calls from ads
- Clicks to call
- Phone Call (Google Ads)
- Phone Call (GA4)
- Phone Call (UA)
- Phone Call (call tracking service)
To see which conversion actions you are using, you can go to your Google Ads account and click on Tools and settings > Conversions.
Calls from ads
Calls from ads are calls directly from an ad via a Call Asset (formerly Call Extension). This is shown as your phone number directly under a Search Ad.
These will appear in your Conversions column.
Clicks to call
Tracks only clicks on the “call” button on any Google location based ad or service.
Clicks to call are calls from ads where a Location Asset (formerly Location Extension) were served.
These are a Google Hosted conversion action and will only show under the All Conversions column, not under Conversions. This means that if you are only using the Conversions column for your ad performance reporting, you may not be getting the full picture, since Clicks to call will not show up in this column – but wait, keep reading to learn how to solve this issue!
You can change this number by going to advanced settings in your Google Business Profile Google Business Profile > 3 dots > Business profile settings > Advanced settings > Google Ads phone number.
This tip is especially useful if you are tracking phone call conversions through a call tracking service like CallRail or WhatConverts, as they will report phone call conversion actions independently of any actions taken on ads (such as Clicks to call or Calls from ads). Since Clicks to call is the default conversion action and is only counted in All Conversions, it is recommended that you do change this number in your Google Business Profile to your call tracking service number.
Phone Call (Google Ads)
Some may prefer to set up phone call tracking natively in Google Ads rather than through GA4 (as discussed in the next section).
This will account for phone calls that come from tel links on your website (ex. tel:5551234567).
These will show in your Conversions column.
Phone Call (GA4)
This conversion action will have a different name depending on the naming convention that was used when your GA4 conversion actions were set up. This will often be something like: ga4_event_tel_link_click.
This conversion action is usually set up as a click on any link on your website that contains a tel link (ex. tel:5551234567).
This conversion action is counted in your Conversions column.
Phone Call (Call Tracking Service)
For CallRail, this defaults to “Phone Call.” I’m not sure about WhatConverts.
This conversion action is reported to Google from your call tracking service. These are counted in your Conversions column.
These can only be reported to Google when the service is able to obtain the GCLID of the user.
Attribution can be a bit confusing with these as well: for services using first-click attribution, if a user originally clicks to your website but later makes a phone call via an ad, they may be attributed as an organic call. You should review your call tracking provider’s attribution methods to find out how yours works.
Phone Call (UA)
This conversion action is set up similarly to the GA4 conversion action discussed previously. If you have this conversion action but not the similar GA4 conversion action or one from your call tracking service, you need to take action! Universal Analytics is going away in July, 2024.