How to Track Phone Calls From Your Website
See which calls your website really brings in: the free ways in Google Analytics and Google Ads, what CallRail costs, and what to do with the numbers.
The short answer
Use a call tracking tool like CallRail (from $50 a month). It puts a tracking number on your website and logs every call: when it came in, how long it lasted and where the caller found you. For free, count call-button taps in Google Analytics, and turn on call reporting if you run Google Ads.
The rest of this guide shows you how.
On this page
How many phone calls did your website bring in last month?
The phone rings, you answer it, you do the job, and you never find out whether that call came from your website, your Google listing, a yard sign or a neighbor. Without that number, you can't tell whether what you spend on your website or your ads is working.
Why "How did you hear about us?" doesn't work
You've probably tried asking. The customer says "Google."
But "Google" can mean five different things. They searched "plumber near me" and clicked your website. They found your Google listing and called from it. They clicked one of your ads. They searched your business name because a neighbor mentioned you. Or they don't really remember, and "Google" was the easiest answer.
Plenty of customers can't remember exactly where they found you, so a lot of what they tell you is a guess. If you think your calls come from ads when they really come from people who found you on Google without one, you'll keep paying for ads and neglect what's working.
Call tracking, explained simply
A call tracking service gives you a tracking number that forwards to your real business line. When someone dials it, your phone rings exactly like a normal call. The caller has no idea anything is different.
The difference is the record. The service logs when the call came in, how long it lasted and, most importantly, where the caller found the number.
Dynamic number insertion
The version that shows you the source is called dynamic number insertion. A small piece of code on your website shows a tracking number to each visitor, based on where they came from. CallRail describes it as automatically assigning "tracking numbers to your online sources, from your website to your listings and ads."
Your real number stays your real number everywhere else: your trucks, your cards, your Google listing. But a call from the number on your website is now a call you know came from your website.
Tracking numbers can use your local area code, so the number on your website still looks local to your customers.
The tools, and what they cost
Prices below are from each company's own pricing page, checked on 23 and 25 September 2026.
| Tool | Price | What it tracks |
|---|---|---|
| CallRail | $50 to $195 a month, plus usage | Calls, with recording and routing |
| WhatConverts | $30 to $160 a month | Calls and texts; forms and chat from $60 |
| Google Ads call reporting | Free | Calls from your Google Ads only |
| Google Analytics | Free | Taps on your website's phone link |
CallRail: $50 to $195 a month
CallRail's entry plan, Lead Tracking, is $50 a month plus usage, and includes 5 numbers and 250 minutes, with call recording and routing. The higher plans are $95, $150 and $195 a month, plus usage; check their pricing page for what each adds. Every account starts with a 14-day free trial, with no credit card needed.
WhatConverts: $30 to $160 a month
WhatConverts does the same core job. Its $30 a month plan tracks calls and texts. The $60 Plus plan and up also track forms and chat, which is handy if your website has a chat box. It also has a 14-day free trial.
Google Ads call reporting: free, if you run Google Ads
If you already run Google Ads, turn on call reporting. Google puts a forwarding number on your ad and tracks details like how long each call lasted, when it started and whether it connected.
The catch: it only sees calls from your ads. Calls from people who found you without an ad, on your website, your Google listing or anywhere else, are invisible to it. Good as a second source, not enough on its own.
Google Analytics call-button taps: free
Google Analytics can count every tap on the phone number link on your website. It's free and it's a good start.
A tap is not a call, though. On our own website we count every tap on the call button, and we still don't call a tap a call, because someone can tap, see the number and hang up before it rings. Taps also miss anyone who reads your number on a laptop and dials it on their phone. Treat taps as a sign of interest, not a count of calls.
Set it up in about an hour
- Sign up for a tool. CallRail's Lead Tracking plan is enough to start.
- Get a tracking number with your area code, forwarding to your real line. Call it from your cell to make sure your business phone rings.
- Add the tracking code to your website. The tool gives you a short snippet. Once it's in, your website shows the tracking number to visitors.
- Turn on call recording, with the recording message if your state requires it.
- Connect it to Google Analytics, so calls show up next to the rest of your website's numbers.
- Set up a monthly email report, so the numbers come to you.
- Wait 30 days, then look. That first month is your starting point.
What the numbers tell you
Which pages bring calls
Call tracking shows the last page someone was on before they called. The homepage usually gets the most visitors, so it often brings the most calls. The pages to watch are the ones with steady visitors and no calls: a service page that 50 people a month read and nobody calls from needs a clearer headline, a bigger call button or a review near the top.
Which sources send callers
Not every visitor calls. Tied to your analytics, call tracking shows which sources send callers, and which only send visitors. For example, you might find that people from Google search call far more often than people from Facebook. That tells you where your next dollar should go.
Or you might find your Google Ads get plenty of clicks and almost no calls. Then the ads probably aren't the problem. The page they land on is.
When calls come in
Every call is logged with the day and time. After a few months you'll see the pattern. If most calls come in Monday morning and nobody answers because the crew is already out, you're losing work you already paid to get. Someone who needs a plumber today often calls the next name instead of leaving a voicemail.
How long calls last
A 7-second call is probably a misdial. A 3-minute call is a real conversation about a real job. Set a minimum length, 30 seconds is a good start, and count only the calls above it. That's your number of real calls.
New callers versus repeat callers
New callers are new business. Repeat callers are existing customers calling back. They matter, but they don't tell you whether your website is finding new people. If most of your website calls are repeat callers, your website is working as a phone book, not a way to get found.
Which searches led to calls
Paired with your Google Ads data, call tracking can show which searches turn into calls, and which only bring clicks. If "emergency AC repair" brings far more callers per click than "HVAC service", you know which one to put more into, in your ads and on your website.
How to use the numbers
Fix the pages that don't bring calls
If your homepage brings most of your calls and your service pages bring almost none, start there. Put a call button near the top, add a short review from a customer who booked that service, and say plainly what you do and where.
Put more into what works
If search brings most of your calls, invest in getting found for more searches. If ads bring most of them, improve the pages your ads send people to, and raise the budget on the ads that bring calls.
Answer the phone when it rings most
If calls spike on Monday mornings, make sure someone answers then. Track how many calls go to voicemail alongside how many come in. There's no point bringing in more calls if nobody picks up.
Compare what each channel costs per call
Once you know where calls come from, divide what you spend on each source by the calls it brings. Made-up numbers, to show the math: $600 a month on ads that bring 6 calls is $100 a call. $400 a month on getting found on Google without ads, bringing 18 calls, is about $22 a call.
The math, in one example
Another made-up example: say tracking costs you about $100 a month, and it shows that your water heater repair page gets 80 visitors a month and no calls. The page has no call button near the top and no reviews. You add both, and now about 4 in 100 visitors call. That's roughly 3 more calls a month from one page.
If your average water heater job is $350 and you book 2 of those 3, that's about $700 a month in new work from a $100 tool and an afternoon of fixes. Your numbers will be different. The point is that the tracking tells you which fix to make.
Mistakes that wreck the numbers
Counting spam and robocalls
If every ring counts as a real call, your numbers are inflated. Robocalls, wrong numbers and five-second hang-ups aren't customers. Set a minimum call length and filter spam before you draw any conclusions.
Counting every call as a booked job
Not every call becomes a job. Some are price shopping, some are outside your area, some want a service you don't offer. Track how many calls you book separately. If you get 20 real calls and book 12, that's 60%. That tells you whether the problem is getting calls or turning them into jobs.
Not recording calls
Recordings show you what customers ask, what makes them hesitate and how your team answers. If someone's leaving callers on hold for three minutes, you'd never know without them.
Some states, including California and Florida, require everyone on the call to agree to a recording. If you record, turn on a short "this call may be recorded" message, and check the rules for your state.
Judging after one month
Calls move with the season, the weather and the day of the week. Give it at least three months before you make big changes, so you're comparing against a real starting point.
Setting it up and never looking
The easiest mistake to make is paying for tracking and never opening it. Put 15 minutes on your calendar once a month: total calls, top pages, top sources and how many went to voicemail. That's it.
What good tracking looks like after 90 days
After three months, you should be able to answer these without guessing:
- How many calls a month does your website bring in?
- How many of those are new customers?
- Which three pages bring the most calls?
- Which source sends the most callers: Google search, ads, your Google listing or somewhere else?
- How long does a real call usually last?
- What day and time do most calls come in?
- How many calls go to voicemail?
Try it with your numbers
What missed calls cost youDrag to your own numbers
- Missed calls a month
- 13
- Jobs those calls would have booked
- 5
- Work you lose in a month
- $4,157
Your numbers, your arithmetic: calls a week, times 4.33 weeks, times how many would have booked, times your average job. Revenue, before your own costs.
People also ask
How does call tracking work?
Each place people find you, like your website, your listings or your ads, gets its own tracking number. That number forwards to your real line, so the caller hears a normal ring and you answer it like any other call. On your website, a tool like CallRail does this with dynamic number insertion. When the phone rings, the number they dialed tells you where they found you.
How much does call tracking cost?
CallRail is $50 to $195 a month across four plans, each plus usage, so the bill goes up if you use more than the plan includes. Every plan comes with 5 tracking numbers, 250 minutes, call recording and call routing. WhatConverts is $30 a month for calls and texts only, or $60 to $160 a month if you also want forms and chat tracked. Both have a 14-day free trial.
Can I track calls without call tracking software?
Partly. Google Analytics can count taps on the phone number on your website, but it misses people who read the number and dial it by hand. If you run Google Ads, call reporting tracks calls from your ads, including how long each call lasted and whether it connected. Each one sees part of the picture.
Can I listen to the phone calls?
Yes. Call recording is included on every CallRail plan, so you can play back what the customer asked for and how the call was handled. Some states, including California and Florida, require everyone on the call to agree to a recording, so check your state's rule before you turn it on.
Sources
- CallRail pricing, read 25 September 2026.
- CallRail, dynamic number insertion, read 23 September 2026.
- WhatConverts pricing, read 23 September 2026.
- Google Ads Help, About call reporting, read 23 September 2026.
- Digital Media Law Project, Recording phone calls and conversations, read 23 September 2026.
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