This week we’ve written several articles about call tracking and SEO. We’ve written these articles in response to a couple of articles that bashed call tracking. These articles have produced a fair bit of social media traffic and renewed interest in call tracking.
The article that bashed call tracking is titled A Guide to Call Tracking and Local Search.
And let me first say that the author is a true expert and is a nice guy. We just disagreed with his approach on this article.
The article spends 80%-90% of time bashing call tracking, but then at the end blatantly admits that call tracking is useful and safe. It clearly says that call tracking dynamic number insertion is a ‘SAFE’ way to use call tracking.
This article, however, only mentions DNI call tracking as an afterthought.
Here’s the problem with that: DNI CALL TRACKING IS THE MAIN WAY COMPANIES USE CALL TRACKING.
At the outset, we should point out that we’ve penned a specific rebuttal to this article previously called A BETTER Guide to Call Tracking and Local Search. Read it.
A Point-by-Point Discussion
The article: After ripping on call tracking for about a mile, the author finally admits that using call tracking on your website is an environment ”…where you have more control and might see some interesting value to using call tracking numbers.“
Our response: Well…this is awkward…that’s where 95% of marketers use call tracking numbers. They use them on their website. So…the entire rant in the first 15 paragraphs of this article was devoted to the edge-case call tracking user that tries to change up his Google+ number? Really? Writing to an extreme edge-case (and unnecessarily freaking everyone out about call tracking) seems like an “interesting” way to write an article.
The article: “Another technique would be to use a Javascript to display a tracking number to the user but that guarantees that the Google bot and search from Google always see your local number.”
The author later includes a link to a high-powered SEO discussion “…confirming that this is acceptable.”
Our response: I was stunned when I read this admission. Why? Because this is how 90% of companies use call tracking!!!! They use a snippet of Javascrip to display a phone number on their site. This is called DNI call tracking. So, for the author to spend an entire article ripping on call tracking and then to just mention DNI call tracking in as an afterthought that is PERFECTLY safe seems a bit silly doesn’t it?
That’s like ripping on the safety of automobiles for an entire article–how they’ll kill you, paralyze you, hurt you, anger you,decapitate you, kill your children and your mother–and then at the end of the article simply including one sentence about how if you drive carefully cars are very useful.
What?!?
That doesn’t make any sense.
And lest the author betray any confusion about what he meant, we emailed him, to share our concerns. After a bit of back and forth, he said:
“My conclusion appears to be the same as yours. Use [call tracking] where appropriate.”
So here is our crystal clear message to all the critics of call tracking: STOP RIPPING IT! Your assertions either betray your inability to answer a nuanced question effectively; or, they betray your lack of knowledge about the subject matter. Don’t spend an entire article ripping on call tracking, only to admit, at the end, that call tracking works in the predominant and primary way that EVERYONE uses it.
Here are a few additional articles about call tracking and local search. We consider this matter closed.
