Call Tracking.
Call tracking attributes incoming phone calls to the marketing source they came from, such as a Google ad, organic search or a print advert. This is usually done with a separate phone number per source that forwards to the company's normal number.
Call Tracking — Explained in Detail
Many Swiss SMEs win a large share of their work by phone rather than through a form. For marketing this is a blind spot: a form is easy to measure with conversion tracking, whereas a call simply arrives at the office without anyone knowing whether the caller came via an ad, the website or a recommendation. Call tracking closes this gap by assigning a source to every call.
The most common method is dynamic number insertion. A script on the website recognises where a visitor came from and shows them a specific number from a pool. If they call that number, a provider forwards the call to the company's normal number and records source, time and duration. The simpler, static variant uses one fixed number per channel, for example one for the Google Business Profile and one for print adverts.
The difference between a call click and a call is important. A call click is a tap on a phone link on a smartphone; it can be measured without an extra service but says nothing about whether a conversation took place. Real call tracking records the call itself: whether someone answered and how long the conversation lasted. Reports should never mix the two. In our own reporting, clicks are therefore always labelled 'call clicks'.
Calls that lead to an order can later be reported back to Google Ads through an offline conversion import, so the bidding strategy learns which clicks actually generate revenue. Legally, call tracking is permitted in Switzerland but touches on data protection: callers' phone numbers are personal data under the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, SR 235.1), and recording conversations without consent is a criminal offence under Art. 179bis et seq. of the Swiss Criminal Code (SR 311.0). This is an overview, not legal advice.
What call tracking measures and what it does not
Typical data points are the number dialled (and therefore the source), date and time, duration and whether the call was answered; with dynamic numbers also the landing page and search campaign. What it does not measure is whether the conversation turned into an order. Someone in the business has to record that, in a CRM or a simple list. Only by combining both data sets can you see which channel really brings customers.
There are limits too. Someone who notes the number and calls days later from a landline is often attributed to the wrong source with dynamic numbers. Regular customers call the old number anyway. And a different number on the website must not disrupt local rankings: the main number remains authoritative in the Google Business Profile, see NAP. How we separate calls, forms and WhatsApp cleanly is described on conversion tracking agency Zurich.
Example: a locksmith with ads and a business profile
A constructed example, not a client case: a locksmith in Bern receives almost all jobs by phone, often at night. He runs Google Ads and maintains his business profile. Until now he only counted call clicks on the website and did not know how many turned into conversations. With call tracking, the website shows visitors from ads a dedicated number; the number in the business profile stays unchanged.
After a few weeks he sees the number of answered calls and their duration per source. He marks short calls under one minute as 'no enquiry'. Calls that led to a job are reported back to Google Ads weekly. The campaigns run by a Google Ads agency in Zurich are then optimised for real jobs instead of clicks. Calls are not recorded, and the privacy policy names the service.
Related Page
Conversion TrackingFrequently Asked Questions About Call Tracking
No. A call click only shows that someone tapped the phone link. Whether a conversation took place and how long it lasted is only measured by a call tracking service. Both are useful, but they should be reported separately.
It can if the main number becomes inconsistent across directories and the Google Business Profile. That is why the main number stays there, and tracking numbers only appear on the website or in ads, where a script inserts them.
Recording conversations is only permitted with the consent of the participants; unauthorised recording is an offence under Art. 179bis et seq. of the Swiss Criminal Code (SR 311.0). Call tracking itself does not need recordings: source, time and duration are sufficient. If in doubt, seek legal advice.
Mainly when a large share of jobs comes in by phone and money is being spent on advertising. Businesses that hardly advertise often manage with call clicks and a simple question on the phone: 'How did you hear about us?'
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