Is Your Website’s Phone Number Correct?
Don’t frustrate your customers and miss out on sales by making this one simple check.
With today’s complex digital marketing ecosystem it’s easy to get caught up in AI, the latest TikTok algorithm, or some other new creative that Insta’s brought out, but are you missing out on the basics and making it hard for your customers to contact and buy from you?
In this article you’ll find out one simple check you can make on your website today which may dramatically improve your sales and customer experience, and it will only take you a few minutes.
In our own “State Of Digital Marketing in 2024” survey of over 528 websites we discovered that over 60% of businesses had issues with the most basic element of their website – a working, clickable phone number. Yes that seems a crazy unbelievable stat, but it’s true, and you’ll be gobsmacked when you see it.
The Silent Barrier to Customer Contact
In the video below, you’ll see real life examples, where three successful businesses had incorrect phone numbers on their website, meaning we couldn’t contact them easily… and they don’t realise it.
Through clear examples in the video, you’ll see examples of :
- A local venue’s confusing contact details
- A flight booking site’s formatting faux pas
- A boutique accommodation’s unresponsive number.
All these examples show myself as a customer failing to be able to contact them easily, and they were not picked for this reason…they were genuine examples of businesses we tried to contact when we had family visiting out home town of Queenstown in New Zealand.
When customers failed to contact you easily they may just head on to the next business – your competitor.
If you’re lucky they may reformat the phone number on their phone, but if you live in an international destination like ours, you have people from all over the world, so if they are not savvy, they may not know how to change the number to make it correct.
After all – if this scenario happens in your business, if your website developer or creative, or team member can’t figure it out, do you really think your customer will?
Many customers wouldn’t take the time to let you know about an issue like this, otherwise they wouldn’t be present for months on end.
Click to watch the video below :
The Triple Threat: Accurate, Clickable & Trackable Phone Numbers
To truly harness the power of your website’s contact information, it’s essential to address three key aspects: accuracy, clickability, and trackability. Let’s delve deeper into why each of these elements is crucial for your business’s online success.
Ensuring Accuracy and Accessibility
Verifying that your phone numbers are correct and functional is the first step.
The main issue we often see here is incorrect number formatting.
A number may look ok on the website, but the clickable number is not.
E.g. a lot of people will realise that +64 (0)123 456 789 means you need to remove the leading zero if calling locally (but some may not). A common issue here is the clickable phone number is incorrect and looks like 64123 456 789.
Mobile phone numbers do not understand country codes without a plus sign. In this case it should have a plus in the front, or use 0064.
Another issue we see is the leading zero still on the clickable number.
All of these lead to numbers that are not contactable, and your future customer may just assume your business is not functioning or even closed if the number doesn’t “work” (when it’s just not in the right format on your website)
However, to elevate the user experience and encourage immediate action, these numbers must also be clickable.
Clickable Phone Numbers
A clickable phone number isn’t just a convenience; it’s a direct line to your business, enabling customers to contact you with ease if they are browsing on a mobile device, or a desktop connecting to a calling number.
Without a clickable phone number you’re forcing your customers to manually type in your number which is frustrating, or hope that their mobile device can interpret your non hyperlinked phone number.
Some phones will be able to interpret a phone number on a website and will allow you to click on it without it being an actual hyperlink on the website. Whilst this is great for the end user it does mean you won’t be able to track it as a conversion in your analytics platforms.
The Importance of Conversion Tracking
Integrating conversion tracking into your contact numbers transforms them from mere information into valuable analytics tools. Conversion tracking means you track a phone number click as a valuable ‘goal’ within analytics platforms.
By using hyperlinks for your phone numbers and incorporating tracking mechanisms, you can monitor how many visitors engage with your contact options. This data is crucial for understanding customer behavior and optimizing your communication strategies.
Are you under or over reporting success?
If your numbers are incorrect or non-functional, any attempts to track calls as leads can result in misleading data, suggesting interactions that never occurred. Conversely, if your numbers aren’t set up for tracking, you’ll miss out on capturing valuable engagement metrics.
When people click on your phone number on your site you really should be sending those clicks as conversions within Google Analytics, Facebook and Google Ads as leads so you can report the success of your organic and paid marketing efforts.
Without tracking numbers you are underreporting the success of your campaigns (like the luxury resort we used to work with who did not used to track revenue from their calls – 50% of which lead to bookings with an average order value of $1100 – how much were they underreporting!).
Equally, on the opposite side of this, if you are tracking conversions from phone call clicks, but your number is incorrect, you’ll be overreporting leads!
Note : there are even better ways of tracking calls using 3rd party phone numbers and systems, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.
Making the Connection: How to Get It Right
The great news is it’s pretty simple to ensure your numbers are correct. Just browse your website like a real user, on a mobile device, visit every page your number is on and click it to see what happens. Then check if you can track that click on your analytics through the platforms you use.
Here’s the summary of actions you can take :
- Review Regularly: Periodically check your website’s contact details for accuracy.
- Enhance Engagement: Make every phone number clickable to facilitate immediate action.
- Track and Analyze: Utilize conversion tracking and accurate goals for your phone numbers to gather data on customer interactions.
The Bottom Line: Keep the Lines Open and Monitored
The key takeaway from the video is clear: your website’s phone number should not only connect your customers to you but also serve as a tool to monitor engagement, lead generation, and increase sales!
By ensuring your contact information is accurate, clickable, and trackable, you’ll not only enhance the customer experience but also gain valuable insights into your audience’s behavior. This strategic approach to your website’s contact details can significantly impact your business’s growth and customer satisfaction.
Don’t let a simple oversight be the reason you miss important sales calls.
Also – don’t assume this really simple example doesn’t apply to your business website – take a few minutes to check it out today.
If you’d like us to help do a health check on your digital presence to pick up on simple fixes like that, and find far more detailed areas of improvement, book a call today so we can find out more about each other today.
