Click-to-call campaigns are everywhere. Your dealership is likely running several now. As such, you’re familiar with Google reports that show your click-to-call rate and cost-per-click. You likely base some of your future ad spend on these metrics. But what if I told you this is flawed data that doesn’t accurately reflect what makes your phones ring?

The fact is, there is a discrepancy between the “clicks” Google reports and actual real-life phone calls. The discrepancy is due to the mechanics of how click-to-call works. When you tap a click-to-call button, you are not instantly making a call. The number will show up on your mobile phone screen, but you have to tap again to connect the call. Between those two steps is where the discrepancy in reporting comes into play. 

Take an example from the online advertising agency StubGroup. Over a three-month period, the agency compared the number of clicks from campaigns for a wide range of client accounts to the number of phone calls Google tracked from each campaign.

It found there were 18% more clicks than calls from click-to-call campaigns. That's a significant discrepancy! Not only does that throw off conversion rates by 18%, but it also means the clients' actual average cost-per-call was 18% higher than Google metrics reported.

It’s also important to note that just because the phone rang, it doesn’t mean it was in response to that advertisement. Ads placed for variable ops still generate as much as 80% call rate for fixed ops. That means if the dealer is using click-to-call in calculating ad ROI, this data becomes unreliable, and each of those calls needs to be listened to in order to see the actual return.  

Of course, I’m not suggesting you abandon click-to-call campaigns. Far from it. What needs to change is how you measure the effectiveness of those campaigns. Instead of focusing on the number of clicks and cost-per-click, the metric that matters are real-live phone calls.

How do you measure this metric? The most effective way is with Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI). A DNI solution assigns every individual accessing your webpage a unique phone number, so you know the exact online path the consumer followed to find you. The best part is that DNI can be funneled through Google Analytics, so it's easy to track and review the results.

DNI reports actual phone calls and where they originated so you know which campaigns are delivering real phone-calls, not just clicks. This information is invaluable when it comes to planning. You can confidently shift ad spend to campaigns that trigger phone calls, and away from those that don’t.

Budget decisions should be made on sound metrics. You should set up tracking numbers and consider implementing a DNI solution so you can attribute every phone call to its original lead source. If you don’t, you may be throwing money away on campaigns that look good in Google Analytics but rarely make your phones ring.

Every dealership wants to increase website traffic, that’s why they spend thousands of dollars per month on advertising agencies to run email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, and social media campaigns. Typically, agencies include search engine optimization in service packages to snag organic search traffic. Yet, organic search often feels like the red-headed stepchild. It doesn’t get the attention it deserves. This is a mistake.

Organic search traffic should and can be the dominating traffic source for your website. This traffic is more relevant, and the leads are high-quality. Think about it: traffic that flows from search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, delivers visitors who are specifically searching for what you offer. They are essentially using these search engines as a phonebook to find your business (whether because of location, vehicles in inventory, service specials, etc.).

In my experience, dealers know SEO is important, but they sometimes forget why or lose sight of its impact. So, they go ahead and earmark marketing funds to optimize their websites. The problem is that too few agencies and dealers effectively monitor and measure what they’re getting for that ad spend. If you can’t measure it, how do you know if it’s working?

Ensure you’re getting the most out of your SEO investment with the following three strategies.

Know What You’re Buying

Consistently hitting the top of search engine results requires a constant stream of fresh content. This can include blog posts, relevant keywords, or changes to existing webpages. Many agencies offer packages to optimize your top five pages, for example. Before you enter into a contract, get a grasp on what kinds of changes the agency will be implementing.

Will it be minor changes to vehicle pages? Adding pages? Posting blog articles? Is the agency staying up to date with search engine best practices? Will they include an expiration so you can see what pages are relevant? You can only hold your agency accountable if you know what you're buying. 

Monitor and Measure Traffic

You need to be able to directly attribute phone calls, appointments, and sales to your SEO spend. These are the metrics that matter. Reporting on cost-per-click, bounce rate, and pages per session don't tell you what actions are actually working to convert customers.

The best way to track performance is to tie Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI) technology into your Google Analytics. DNI assigns every individual consumer accessing your web pages a unique number, so you know precisely the online route they followed to land on your site.

A good SEO strategy should increase your organic traffic and conversions. After all, this traffic is already looking for your dealership in the first place. If DNI analysis reveals that organic behavior is not increasing over time, your money is not being well spent. 

Participate in the Process

You can't put the blame for lackluster organic search results solely on the shoulders of your agency. Too many dealers set-up an SEO strategy and then forget about it. The agency may reach out for help narrowing down keywords or brainstorming relevant and timely blog topics but never get a response. This leads to the agency merely doing the bare minimum to keep campaigns running. To get better results, you need to participate in the process. Remember, organic search delivers your highest-quality, lowest-funnel leads. It pays to put the time in to make sure customers can find you online.

Organic SEO is the clear champion of website traffic because visitors are deliberately looking for your dealership. Don’t make the mistake of setting and forgetting your SEO strategy. Put the processes and tools in place to review your strategy, measure results, and participate in planning to increase your organic web traffic year-over-year.