How Do I Get More Phone Calls From AdWords?

AdWords is a powerful tool for reaching potential customers right when they’re searching for a product or solution. Therefore, if you’re a service-based business (i.e. plumber, HVAC, pest control, home security, lawyer, dentist, etc.) where the initial contact with a customer will likely be over the phone, this represents a fantastic opportunity.

This opportunity is even more pronounced for search users on mobile devices. For many industries, 2014 was the year when mobile search surpassed desktop search. If your industry hasn’t seen the “mobile moment” yet, then you can count on it happening in 2015.

So how do you get people who are already searching on their phone to push the call button right away and make phone calls from AdWords? Here’s how.

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Getting More Phone Calls From AdWords with Ad Extensions

Smartphones do so many awesome things that we almost forget that they’re still phones. So while someone is doing a search from their smartphone, wouldn’t it be easiest for them to just call you directly when they click on your ad and make phone calls from AdWords? This is entirely possible.

AdWords offers several ad extensions, one of which is called call extensions. This feature allows you to display your phone number as part of your ad. Here is a search I did for a local plumber:

As you can see, there are three advertisers that have their phone numbers included along with their ads. This is great for desktop, but even more powerful on mobile.

Here is the same search, but on my mobile phone:

Now you’ll notice that both advertisers have Call buttons included with their ads. These buttons allow the smartphone user to click the Call button and the number will be pre-populated in the dialer so they are one click away from a phone call.

Here is how that is set up:

Here are what each of these options does:

• Phone number — Put the phone number here that you want calls to go to.
• Show my ad with — If you choose a Google forwarding number (it’s free) then completed calls will report to the AdWords interface so you know which ad generated the click, which keyword, etc.
• Show the following links — If you choose “Just the phone number” it will display the Call button and will only let people click that. They won’t even go to your website (perfect for businesses that don’t have fancy mobile websites.)
• Device preference — You can actually have one extension just for mobile and one for desktop that allows people to click and go to your site (recommended.)
  Scheduling — Set this up and click-to-call is only available during hours when you have someone to answer the phone.

Conclusion

More and more people are searching on their phones and they’re physically and metaphorically close to making a call. As an advertiser, you just have to make it easy for them. By correctly setting up and leveraging call extensions, you can increase the number of phone calls you’re receiving to your business.

Google Adwords Photo via Shutterstock

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