Count enquiries by device first, calls from phones and forms from computers. Then raise or lower phone bids to match what each device costs per enquiry, and show your number only when someone answers.

Two kinds of searcher

Someone searching on a phone is often standing next to the problem. They want a number, and many will tap it the moment they see one.

Someone searching at a desk is more often comparing. They open three sites in tabs, read, and fill in a form when they are ready.

AdWords shows your ads to both and, unless told otherwise, bids the same for each.

For a business whose work arrives by phone, that is a decision worth making on purpose rather than by default.

What the device setting does

Each campaign has a device setting where bids for computers, tablets and mobile phones can be raised or lowered by a percentage.

Raising phone bids makes your ads more likely to show on phones, and higher on the page, at a higher price per click.

Lowering them does the opposite. Lower them all the way and the ads stop showing on phones altogether.

The adjustment sits on top of your normal keyword bids. It does not move money between devices or change the daily budget.

It is a blunt tool, and a useful one, provided the numbers behind it are right.

What to know before changing it

The fourth is the figure the adjustment should follow. Phone clicks may cost more or less than computer clicks, and neither matters until you know which device produces an enquiry for less.

Counting the calls

Many small accounts track one thing: the thank-you page after the contact form. On that measure phone traffic looks poor, because people on phones rarely fill in forms.

Call extensions add your phone number to the ads, as a button people can tap on a phone.

With call reporting switched on, AdWords can count those calls as conversions, with a minimum call length that screens out wrong numbers and hang-ups.

Calls made by tapping the number on your website after an ad click can often be counted as well, with a small addition to the site's code.

Until calls are counted, the device report compares phones on the one thing phones do least.

Reading the device report

In the campaign, split the results by device and look at three months, not one week. Small accounts produce small numbers, and a week of them proves very little.

Put calls and form enquiries side by side for each device, then divide the cost by the enquiries. That figure, not the click count, decides the adjustment.

If phones bring enquiries for less, raise phone bids a little. If they cost far more per enquiry, lower them a little. Change in small steps and give each step a month.

Tablet numbers are usually too small to judge on their own. Leave them near the computer setting until they are not.

A worked example

A welding shop with two mobile rigs did two kinds of work: repairs on site, such as broken trailer hitches, cracked excavator buckets and farm gates, and custom fabrication from drawings in the shop.

One AdWords campaign covered both. It bid the same on every device and tracked only the quote form.

The report showed phones with plenty of clicks and almost no conversions, and the owner was about to cut them. Yet repair work arrived by phone, from people beside broken equipment, and none of those calls was counted.

The account became two campaigns. Repairs got call extensions with call reporting, a raised phone bid, and the number scheduled to the hours a rig could be sent out.

Fabrication kept the quote form, leaned towards computers, and lowered its phone bids. Each campaign now had one job, and the device setting finally matched it.

Show the number only when someone answers

A call extension can have its own schedule, separate from the ads. Set it to the hours someone picks up the phone.

Outside those hours the ads can keep running with the website link, so an evening searcher sends a form rather than reaching voicemail.

You can also lower phone bids in the evenings with an ad schedule adjustment. AdWords multiplies device and schedule adjustments together, so a raise for phones and a cut for evenings partly cancel each other out.

Either way, a paid click that rings an empty office buys nothing.

The page a phone click lands on

A higher phone bid pays off only if the page works on a phone. The number should sit at the top, ready to tap, and the page should load quickly on mobile data.

Check it on your own phone, away from the office Wi-Fi, and count the seconds before you could call.

A page built for desk visitors, with the number buried in the footer, turns an expensive phone click into a visitor who gives up and tries the next ad.

The counter-case

Some businesses get little from phones. A firm whose work starts with drawings, documents or a long specification may find phone clicks are mostly people checking an address, and lower phone bids save money there.

Some customers also find you on a phone and send the form later from a computer, which the last click hides. Cut phones cautiously, never to nothing on a hunch.

And an account with a handful of enquiries a month may not have enough numbers to judge devices at all. Leave the setting alone and keep counting.

For a business that takes calls: count the calls, compare cost per enquiry by device, and adjust in small steps.

The order to do it in

  1. Add call extensions with call reporting on.
  2. Track form enquiries on the thank-you page.
  3. Collect three months of results by device.
  4. Compare cost per enquiry on each device.
  5. Adjust phone bids in small steps.
  6. Schedule your number to staffed hours only.
  7. Split campaigns when two services behave differently.

Step one is the foundation for the rest. A device report without calls in it will always advise a phone business to stop advertising on phones.

Advertising beyond the search results is covered in YouTube ads for a local business.

Frequently asked questions

What does a mobile bid adjustment do?

It raises or lowers your bids for searches on phones, on top of the keyword bids. Lowering phone bids all the way stops the ads showing on phones.

Why do phones look worthless in my report?

Usually because only the contact form is tracked. People on phones call rather than fill in forms, so without call reporting their enquiries never appear.

Which figure should decide the adjustment?

Cost per enquiry on each device, with calls and forms counted together. Click prices and click counts on their own say little about what each device brings.

How large should each change be?

Small. Move phone bids a little, wait about a month, and look again. Small accounts produce small numbers, and big swings make the results impossible to read.

Should call details show outside business hours?

No. Schedule the call extension for staffed hours only, and keep the ads running with the website link at other times.

When does lowering phone bids make sense?

When your work starts with drawings, documents or long specifications, and phone clicks mostly come from people checking an address. Cut cautiously, since some phone searchers enquire later.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Phone clicks with no conversions?

Check whether calls are counted at all. We can set up call reporting and read the device figures with you.

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