Welcome back to another episode of Local Search Tuesdays where I’ll show you how to add a call tracking number to your Google My Business listing.
In the past, using a tracking number in your GMB listing was a bad idea. “NAP consistency” was an important tenet of Local SEO. Basically, you wanted to be sure that the same Name, Address, and Phone number appeared everywhere online for your business. If a different number appeared online, it was a bad signal to Google’s algorithm.
That didn’t really make sense though. In many verticals, businesses track inbound phone calls with tracking numbers. Why wouldn’t you be able to do the same thing with what could potentially be your biggest source of inbound phone calls?
Lucky for all of us, Google updated the algorithm, and now there’s nothing wrong with using a tracking number in your Google My Business listing. In fact, we encourage our clients to track GMB calls. As SEO kicks in and a business shows up more often in local searches, you can see the call volume going up as well.
If you don’t have call tracking set up in your Google My Business listing, here’s how to do it.
Get a tracking number
Sign up with a call tracking provider and get your block of tracking numbers.
Go to the info section of your GMB listing
Log in at https://google.com/business/ and find your location. Click into your dashboard, and then click the “info” link on the left side to see the information for your business.
Add your call tracking number
Click the pencil next to your phone number and enter your tracking number in the field labeled “primary phone”.
Add your actual local phone number
Enter your actual local phone number in the next field labeled “additional phone”. The algorithm will see that this local number matches your other citations and your website, so there won’t be any problems with NAP consistency.
Now, when your listing shows up in brand searches, in the map pack, or on Google Maps, the phone number that’s displayed will be your tracking number.
