Tracking number on Google PPC ads

[joelaqp]

Hello, hopefully this is the right place to ask this question. Sorry if it has already been asked but my search result were not what I was looking for. We just started using a marketing agency for our plumbing business. We currently use Service titan as our software to book calls, invoice etc. When a call comes in the system is setup to know where the call is coming from by using a tracking number For each platform (Yelp, coupons, Facebook ad, door hanger etc) We wanted to start running google PPC ads but this new company is telling us we should not use a tracking number as that will mess up our search ranking (or something like that). Is this true? I though tracking numbers were the industry standard. Thanks!

 

[JeffClevelandTN]

Hello, hopefully this is the right place to ask this question. Sorry if it has already been asked but my search result were not what I was looking for. We just started using a marketing agency for our plumbing business. We currently use Service titan as our software to book calls, invoice etc. When a call comes in the system is setup to know where the call is coming from by using a tracking number For each platform (Yelp, coupons, Facebook ad, door hanger etc) We wanted to start running google PPC ads but this new company is telling us we should not use a tracking number as that will mess up our search ranking (or something like that). Is this true? I though tracking numbers were the industry standard. Thanks!

I think what your agency is referring to is NAP, which stands for Name Address Phone number. In the past it was more important for all online occurences of your business NAP to be the same. In other words any "citations" should consistently show the exact information or there was the potential that Google (or other search engines) would not correctly associate a citation with differing information as belonging to your company.

You still want to make a good effort to keep your NAP consistent, but Google is not going to get confused if you have slightly different information showing up occasionally.

In regards to using a separate tracking number, Google lets you have up to three different phone numbers on your Google Business Profile (GBP). Simply add the tracking number as a second or third number in your GBP and you'll be fine.

I'd also suggest learning more about Google Ads call tracking features to better measure your PPC performance: Track calls from ads - Google Ads Help

Hope this is helpful!