Google AdWords Call Tracking Reporting: The Call Details Report in the Dimensions Tab

This is the last post in a series on Google AdWords reporting from the dimensions tab. In previous posts we’ve covered:

• Google AdWords Dayparting – The AdWords Dimensions Time Tab Report
• Google AdWords Conversion Reporting via the Dimensions Tab
• Google AdWords Destination URL Report
• Google AdWords Demographic Reporting
• Google AdWords Geographic Report
• Google AdWords Search Term Report
• Google AdWords Free Clicks Report

In this post, we’ll be walking through the call details report in the AdWords dimensions tab.

What Is the AdWords Call Detail Report?

The Google AdWords call detail report offers data around AdWords-enabled call tracking via call metrics or AdWords call extensions.

In general call extensions from AdWords leverage Google Voice to allow you to track not just activity on your site (via form completions and shopping cart sales) but also inbound phone calls that result from AdWords ads. To be able to track the calls back to AdWords ads, Google creates a unique phone number for your campaign to show in your ads. When a searcher calls this number their call is forwarded to your actual business phone, but by using the Google Voice number the call is recorded and attributed to the appropriate campaign, ad group, and keyword. For most calls a $1 fee is charged for this service, so if your target CPA/margins are low that might be an important factor in whether you leverage the feature.

As with most of the reports in the dimensions tab, you can also get data about call metrics from within the campaign tab by customizing your columns, but also similar to most of the reports in the dimensions tab, the data available in the call details report is more robust and easier to export and manipulate in Excel.

From the dimensions report you can view the data at the campaign and ad group level, and can analyze:

• Call start time
• Call end time
• Call status (missed or received)
• Caller area code
• Call type

What Can I Do with the Additional Data in the Call Details Report?

Obviously being able to report on call-in data in general can help you better understand the performance of your PPC campaigns individually, and can help you better report on the value of PPC as a channel. The unique thing about the call details data is that it can help you better understand the quality of leads different campaigns and ad groups are driving.

Additional metrics such as call duration and call type can give you greater insight into the types of calls that are effective and those that aren’t, and data such as whether a call is missed or received and the area code can tell you if you should be tuning down PPC campaigns at certain times of day (maybe you can’t handle the call volume), while things like caller area code may indicate that you’re getting calls from area codes you can’t service.

Who Should Use the Call Details Report?

The call details report offers additional, very granular data for advertisers. If inbound phone calls are a small part of your business, and if tracking the effectiveness of both the call leads and the people servicing those leads isn’t a core competency then the basic campaign-level reporting is probably sufficient. However if you generate a large number of inbound calls and have an extensive telesales presence this reporting feature can offer some added insight into the effectiveness of different campaigns and ad groups, as well as your ability to service different types of leads.