← The Paid Search Podcast | A Weekly Podcast About Google Ads and Online Marketing
The Paid Search Podcast | A Weekly Podcast About Google Ads and Online Marketing
PPC Basics: How to Get Phone Calls (Episode 485)
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Foreign hello and welcome to the paid search podcast. My name is Chris and today we're going to talk about Google Ads, specifically how you can get phone calls from your Google Ads campaigns. That is today's entirely devoted topic for episode 485. If you'd like to learn about Google Ads, if you're here to learn about Google Ads, if it is part of your lead process that you're doing for your business, if you're learning to do it for other companies, if you're an agency, if you're wanting to get into the industry, this podcast is where you can learn the most about ppc. And it's free. I don't have a Patreon, I don't have anything for you to join and there's a hidden level. There's no paywall here. It's all free. You can get all hundreds and hundreds of hours that I put into this podcast. You can find those on YouTube, you can find it on the main podcast channel. But either way, I appreciate you being here. If you want to subscribe, help me keep this podcast going. I would appreciate it. A big part of what keeps this podcast going is my sponsor, Optio. Optio, for those of you that don't know, is the number one Google Ads management software, in my opinion, ever. It helps you to make click clear decisions about your data in Google Ads. So every single day you have to decide, what am I going to do? Am I going to change something? Am I not going to change something? I'm going to delete something, add something. I mean, it's critically important that you know the right things and do those things and don't do the wrong things. Well, obviously no one knows everything about Google Ads, but it sure helps to have someone looking over your shoulder and giving you suggestions, optimization tips, alerts. That's the kind of details that Optio does. It provides detailed information about bids, keywords, ad copy, landing pages, conversion rates, lack of conversions. These things are critically important to making the right decision. And we're all limited by time, so it helps you do it faster. That's the important part. This tool does everything from reporting to management to budget optimization, bid management. It does all of it and it's totally free for you to try. If you go to optio.com PSP you can try the whole thing for free for 28 days. That is an exclusive offer that you will only hear on this podcast, optio.com PSP for a 28 day free trial. Try it out for free and let's now get to the main topic of the show. I'm putting all of today's episode focused on this one thing because I'm doing a bit of a series here where I'm going through some of the basics, PPC basics about Google Ads. And it's important that some of these things that people take for granted that you understand because there is something critical about understanding what a phone call is, how you can get them, and where you can lose your shirt if you don't do it the right way. Nobody said, hey, Google Ads is easy. I just follow the prompts and make money that doesn't happen. There are potholes everywhere that you can fall into. Hopefully by the end of this 30 minutes here, you will know where those potholes are. And if not, I do offer paid consulting. If you want me to look at your account, want me to dive in, take a look at things, consult with you, train with you, you and your team about Google Ads. You can find more about that@chrishaefer.com I do one hour sessions over Zoom and I offer management. If you say, you know what, Kris, I give up, I give up. I want someone else to manage it that I trust. Well, I'd be happy to take a look and see if you would be a good fit chrishaefer.com for either one of those options. All right? I promise. Now we're gonna start. Okay, so how to get phone calls in Google Ads. So there are three methods to get phone calls and Google Ads. I'm going to go through all three of those. In order to effectively communicate, I must give you four vocabulary words that you have to understand in order to continue. So ground rules is, is this for today's entire discussion, we're only talking about mobile traffic, okay? So mobile traffic in today's time effectively means smartphones, iPhones, Android devices, basically phones. We're not really even talking about tablets. Mobile device phone traffic is all we're discussing here. We're going to leave off any scenarios that would include desktops and laptops and things like that. Okay? So mobile traffic. So speaking of mobile traffic, there are three vocabulary words that we must cover. The first is this vocabulary word number one, website. Click website. Click means they clicked on the headline of the ad. Okay? Then they go to your website. So that is a website click, right? They clicked on the headline of an ad. That's the blue text at the top. That's, you know what most sponsored ads look like? They clicked on that and the ads go to the website. Website click number 2 vocabulary is phone number. Click. Okay? They clicked on a phone number in your ad. Okay. We'll discuss what kind of forms that can take and how that can be different depending on your type of ad that you're running. But leave it as simple as phone number. Click that. Clicking on a phone number. Next, vocab phone call. That is when the phone number is actually dialed. Someone actually dials whether they did it themselves or it's automatically dialed. After clicking a phone number, that means it's actually dialed. The phone rings. There's actually a connection there. You know, they're leaving google.com and now on the phone it's calling, it's ringing that number. And then number four vocabulary term is four phone call conversion. This is when the connected phone call lasts 60 seconds or more. That's the typical time period. That's the default time for most phone call conversions. So we'll just call it that. Phone call conversion is when nobody may ever pick up. Just to be clear, the phone call itself lasted 60 seconds or more. They may still be going through menu prompts. They may never actually talk to a person. That's not 60 seconds from the point that you pick up. That's 60 seconds from the point that they start the phone call. That's a phone call conversion. Okay, website, Click phone number. Click phone call. Phone call conversion. Keep those in mind because they'll be important as we dig through this. So let's go forward with now three methods for you to get phone calls in Google Ads. All of these methods are going to theoretically use the same keywords, same bidding. I am not going into what keywords to choose what bidding strategy you should use. Let's assume all of these methods use the same keywords. Broad phrase, exact, it doesn't matter. Automated bidding, manual bidding, target cpa, maximize conversions. That is irrelevant in this discussion. The result of what is what happens from the click is what's different between these. Okay, so the keywords, the bidding, all that stuff is. It does not matter. The result of what happens from the click is what we're discussing discussing here. So that's the three methods. Method number one, send traffic to your website and then they call the number on the website that is through responsive search ads. So that's method number one. I will go in detail about how to use that and what the good and bad about all of that is. But I want to list all three methods right up front. Send traffic to your website and then they call the number on your website. That is the most traditional, long standing way of getting phone calls on Google Ads. That's been around the longest. Okay, number two, click on a call asset. So someone clicks on a call asset. That is also done through a responsive search ad. That's another way you can get a phone call in Google Ads. So there's a phone number that is shown usually below your headline in a responsive search ad. If they click on that, they can call you. That's method number two, click on a call asset. And then method number three is someone clicks on a call ad. And that's the technical term for it. It used to be called a call only ad. Now it's just called a call ad. I don't like the naming. I think it's, it doesn't really roll off the tongue. It's a little confusing, but it's, it's called a call ad. So a call ad is just a phone number and they click it and they call you. Okay, those are the three methods. It is incredibly important that you understand the distinction between these three and understand that they each provide benefits and drawbacks that you, you have to know about. Otherwise you will, you'll be possibly paying more per click than you want to pay. You'll be getting traffic in other methods that aren't calling you. And you don't know why. I mean, there's a lot of reasons why none of this is, you know, potentially. Well, there's a lot of reasons why only one of these might be your best choice to get phone calls from Google Ads. Not all of these should be used at once. Let's say that they all have distinct advantages and I don't think the best solution is to use all of them. I think that in most cases you use one or two methods, definitely not all three. Okay, so let's go into it. Method number one, send traffic to your website. Advantages and disadvantages. So this is, as I discussed, a responsive search ad. This is when someone clicks on a headline and goes to your website. Okay. It. The biggest advantage is it's the cheapest possible click of the three that you can get. Okay, I say this in these are generalities so that it doesn't mean it's 100% true all the time. It. But most of the time this is true. The reason for this is because a responsive search ad, a text ad, if you want to call it that, used to be the old name for it, a text ad is, has the lowest ad rank threshold requirement. So I'm sorry, I'm a CrossFit guy. So I mean, every day CrossFit's on my mind. I'm thinking about things. So I'm going to use a CrossFit analogy. So warning. Here we go. This. Let's say you're. Let's say you're doing a clean. Doing a specific movement in Google Ads. Let's say a deadlift, something like that. This is the easiest lift in order to achieve success. Like if I load the bar up with 135lbs and then lift it. Easily achievable, right? Took the least amount of effort, has the lowest threshold of effort involved in order to achieve an impression, a click success of some kind. Okay, now something that has a very high ad rank threshold. That's like loading £315 onto the bar and trying to do that same movement. You, you can still do it, but it's going to take a lot more effort. The amount of energy to put into that to accomplish the same move is going to be significantly higher. So in Google Ads, that's referred to as ad rank threshold. The ability to achieve ad rank threshold for these kind of keywords, you know, regardless of what they are, will be different based on whether you're doing a responsive search ad or a call ad. Call ads have the highest ad rank threshold. Responsive search ads have the lowest ad rank threshold. So therefore cheapest clicks you can potentially get are from responsive search ads. Okay, so that's a huge benefit. Another benefit is these people actually went to your website. It's the only method getting a phone call where you know they saw your website. So if you're dealing with an issue with a lot of unqualified phone calls, people are calling you, but they don't even seem to really know what you do. It might be that they're not even going to your website. They're clicking on a phone number in an ad and just calling you. If you get a lot of people that call you and think you're a different business, it could be that they're just clicking on the phone number in the ad. They never actually went to your website. They are the least informed leads that you can get of these three methods because they never even saw who you were. They just, they're still residing on google.com they never actually went to your website with any other method but this method, the responsive search ad method. They go to your website, they see who you are, they see what you're offering, they call you because the phone number's on your website. Right? So logical conclusion. Here is my suggestion is this is the best value per dollar spent in Google Ads. I think the cost per click and the value that you derive from what you're paying on the cost per click. This is probably the best value because all other methods, the other two methods I'm going to discuss result in the highest lost traffic, let's call it that, the highest lost traffic and also the highest ad rank threshold, which is going to increase your cost per click. So I would say this is the best value. Okay, it is. Also, you're also going to struggle with just sometimes getting phone calls because as soon as they click on your website, if your website is not good, your website is confusing the phone number. You know, whatever they see, they may be less motivated to call you because now you're not. They're on, they're not on Google anymore. They're calling somebody and they don't like the picture. They, you didn't say their city name. And they're looking for a local business or you know, what you're advertising isn't really what they're looking for. So they're more educated about what you're offering and they're saying, no, I don't want what you're offering. So they leave. So they're more educated. So there's also a bigger chance that they're never going to call you. So there's a toss up here. I mean, do you want uneducated people calling? You have no idea what you do and you're just going to get them on the phone and then try and sell them, or would you rather have people that know what you do and decide make a, make choice to call you, become a higher qualified lead? Right, There's a balance here. And very last benefit is this. If they go to your website, maybe they fill out a web form instead. Maybe they can't call because they're at work and they need someone you know the next day, but they can't. They need to call right now and they're only going to fill out a web form because they can't take a phone call. Their boss is like two feet from them and they can't do a phone call. So maybe they need to fill out a web form or use the chat box on your website. Maybe a phone call is not possible. So there's other potential conversion actions that they could take that are not available if they just call your phone number. So it's a possibility that it could lead to other conversion actions. So that's it. That is a method where you can get phone calls, the good and bad. Okay, now, now we're going to go into other methods to get phone calls. These next two have absolutely nothing to do with people going to your website. Okay, I want to be clear. The next two that I'm going to talk about, everything happens on google.com, alright? So these phone calls are not seeing your website. So the very first, well, number two method is they click on your call asset. So that is a phone number that you put in Google Ads. You actually create a call asset, a phone number, you put it into your ad as a call asset and they can click on that. Okay, These clicks are a little cheaper than the most expensive ones. They're not the highest effort to achieve rank on. They're kind of a medium effort. So they're cheaper. They're not the cheapest, but they're cheaper. Okay, and number two is you can't ever just have a call asset by itself. A call asset is always attached to a text ad, a responsive search ad. So on screen people would see your ad, you know, we offer dog grooming services. And then right below it would be a phone number they can call. They can either click on dog grooming services near me, they can click on that headline or they can click on the phone number. They choose what they click on. They're always attached. And the truth is the majority of people will probably click on the website, not the phone number. This depends by industry. But most people are going to go to the website because it is going to typically be the higher link in that ad. The phone number is usually below the text ad. Okay, so you're going to end up paying for clicks to your website. And if you have a crappy website, you know, people realize, oh, this isn't what I was looking for, they could leave. So there's a potential for less phone calls. But again, the ones that you do get will be more qualified. They'll know, oh, this is what they do. Okay, yeah, actually I am looking for that. And they're going to call you. Then there will be a percentage probably less than 50% calls, closer to like 30%, they'll actually click on the phone number that call asset number. Now here is where our vocabulary comes in. If you, if you get a click on a call asset, you are getting, you are paying for a phone number. Click. You are not paying for a phone call. Now remember vocabulary, phone number click is when someone clicked on the phone number. A phone call is when the number is actually dialed. This is critical to understand because you could be getting a lot of clicks but zero actual phone calls. Like you could, you could, you could sit in front of your phone all day and it never ring. But you go to Google Ads and you, you see that you got 50 clicks on your, on your ad. It may have all been on a phone number and not a single person may have actually completed the call. Because a phone number click is when they just click on the number. You have to understand how it works on a smart device. When someone clicks on a phone number, a prompt pops up on the phone and says dial this number, confirm yes or no, you paid when they clicked on that number. You don't pay when they complete the phone call and they say yes, you pay when they clicked. So immediately a call asset has the potential to get traffic, you know, clicks. Potentially you're going to spend money, but you may not actually get any phone calls. For example, over a, you know, a week, two weeks, you know, 30 day period, something like that, you might get 150 phone number clicks. You only got 100 actual phone calls where the phone actually rang, it's actually dialed. And then you May only get 50 phone call conversions which is where the phone, the phone call lasts 60 seconds or some X number of minutes that you predetermined. Okay. So there is a potential for a lot of lost value that's happening here. You could get 150 clicks, only 50, 100 dials and then 50 actual phone call conversations conversions that happen. So you paid for 150, you only had conversations with 50 people. And I usually find that about a 30% actual, you know, dial rate or conversation rate is usually what happens for people that click on a phone number. On google.com it is almost, I'm going to say never. It's never the case that every single person that clicks actually dials. Some people hit no deny, they don't let the number be called and then they may spent your have spent your money and walk away. Right? So this is a risk. Very direct way of getting traffic on Google Ads. Let me say that again. Very direct way of getting phone calls on Google Ads. But you have to understand that the person has to allow that phone call to happen. Google charges you when they start the process, but the person has to complete it. So that's really important and that is incredibly important on this Last1. This third method is potentially the most misunderstood. It is the method of using call ads and real quick optio.com PSP to get the free trial that I talked about. You want to learn about how your campaign is actually running? Try them out. It's going to be a game changer. Many, many listeners have tried it and love it and continue to pay for it. They find it an indispensable tool once they realize how it can change the game for them. Optio.com PSP method number three click on a call ad so someone clicks on a call ad. As I've discussed, this is the most expensive method to get traffic to get phone calls on Google. It has the highest ad rank, right? There are multiple plates on the bar here in order to get this up and as a completed rep, you're going to put the most effort in. So in order to show a call ad, the ad rank threshold is the highest. So it might be $40 cost per click for a call ad, but a responsive ad, you know the first method that I talked about, the cheapest, that might only be $7 a click to get some impressions in clicks. Okay? That's how important this is. So immediately it's more expensive. And again, the same thing is true. You pay for a phone number click. So not only are you paying more per click, you're now paying for a phone number click. Not a phone call. You don't pay when the phone is connected. You pay when that number is clicked. And remember, a phone call may never happen. They may click deny. They may click no on their device and never actually call you. You still paid that $20, $30, $40 cost per click. This makes call ads the most direct method of getting people to just call you. Either they call you or they don't. There is no option for them to go to your website here. So call ads is the most direct. Either call me or don't, right? That is the only two options that people have. They can ignore the ad or they can call you. They can't look at your website. There's no link on your to go to your website. Nothing like that. Okay? They can either call you or not. Now if they decide to call you, you pay the money for that click. But the call may never happen, right? You may never get those conversions that you may never actually speak to the person, but you may pay money for the fact that they clicked that number in your ad. So incredibly important to understand the distinction there. And for those of you that stuck around to the very end, there's one very important thing you must know about call ads. And I'm going to tell you real quick before I do. As I said, chrishaefer.com if you'd like personal coaching, I can train teams. I can manage accounts big and small. Don't assume that I only only work with accounts that spend 20 grand you know, a million a year, something like that. I work with small accounts all the time. In fact, I really like small accounts because I find the small businesses to be a bit more practical than some of those really big accounts. So reach out to me, Chris Schaefer.com if you're interested in that. Okay, so you made it to the end. Let me give you the best tip for call ads if you decide. Kris, the best method for me, I think, is call ads. I don't want people to go to my website, I just want them to call me. The best thing you can do is never, never, never put a final URL in your call ads. You have to put a verification URL. You should never put a final URL. If you put a final URL, the person can click on your website and go to your website, say, well, Chris, what's the problem with that? You said that's more informed visitors. Yes, but remember, call ads are the most expensive ad rank threshold that you can run on Google. So now you're paying premium pricing for them to just go to your website. I think that is a massive mistake. It can lead to a lot of clicks and they never even called you. They just went to your website and bounced after that. So don't add final URLs. I see it happen all the time. People are paying, they're getting 100 clicks and only 75 of them actually clicked on the phone number. Another 25% went to the website. It's a crappy website, you know, they don't. They never even realized that people were going to it. They're wasting money, they're burning money. So that is the last tip I'll give you there. So thank you so much for being a part of the show. Please, please subscribe if you're interested in this and otherwise I'll catch you guys next week.