Call Tracking Setup for Plumbing PPC: The Complete Guide

Here's a question most plumbers can't answer: which Google Ads keywords generated last month's phone calls? Not clicks — actual calls from homeowners with clogged drains, broken water heaters, and leaking pipes who became paying customers.

If you're running PPC for plumbers without call tracking, you're spending money blind. You see clicks and impressions in your Google Ads dashboard, but you have no idea which of those clicks picked up the phone, which ones booked a job, and which keywords drove your most profitable service calls.

Call tracking connects every phone call back to the specific keyword, ad, and campaign that generated it. It's the single most important piece of infrastructure for plumbing PPC — and most plumbers either skip it or set it up wrong.

Why Call Tracking Matters More for Plumbers Than Almost Any Other Industry

Plumbing is a phone-first industry. When someone's toilet is overflowing or their water heater just died, they're not filling out a contact form and waiting for an email response. They're calling.

The plumbing lead breakdown:

If you're only tracking form submissions in Google Ads, you're measuring 10–20% of your actual conversions. Your data shows that campaigns are underperforming, so you cut budget on what are actually your best keywords. Meanwhile, you keep spending on keywords that generate clicks but no calls — because you can't tell the difference.

Call tracking fixes this entirely.

How Call Tracking Works

The concept is straightforward:

1. You get tracking phone numbers from a call tracking provider (CallRail, CallTrackingMetrics, WhatConverts)
2. These numbers forward to your real business number — the customer never knows the difference
3. When someone calls the tracking number, the system records which source, campaign, keyword, and ad drove that call
4. This data feeds into Google Ads as conversions, so you can optimize based on actual phone calls — not just clicks

Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI)

This is the critical feature that makes keyword-level tracking possible. Here's how it works:

• A small JavaScript snippet goes on your website/landing page
• When someone visits from Google Ads, the snippet swaps your regular phone number with a unique tracking number
• That tracking number is tied to the visitor's session — their keyword, campaign, ad, and landing page
• When they call that number, the system matches the call to the exact search that brought them to your site
• The call forwards to your real number instantly — no delay, no voicemail, no disruption

From your team's perspective, nothing changes. The phone rings, they answer it, and they book the job. But behind the scenes, you now know exactly which $15 click turned into a $500 service call.

Want to know exactly which keywords drive your plumbing calls? We set up full call tracking as part of every PPC for plumbers campaign we manage. Get a free strategy session →

Choosing a Call Tracking Platform

Three platforms dominate the plumbing PPC space. Here's how they compare:

CallRail

Best for: Most plumbing companies. Strong balance of features and usability.

• Dynamic number insertion included
• Call recording with AI-powered transcription
• Google Ads integration (native)
• Form tracking included
• Starts at ~$50/month for 5 tracking numbers and 250 minutes
• Keyword-level attribution built in

CallTrackingMetrics

Best for: Multi-location plumbing companies or shops running complex campaigns.

• Advanced routing (ring groups, IVR, geographic routing)
• Call scoring and tagging
• Google Ads, Facebook, and Bing integration
• Starts at ~$65/month
• More features but steeper learning curve

WhatConverts

Best for: Plumbers who want lead tracking beyond just calls (forms, chats, and calls in one dashboard).

• Unified lead tracking (calls + forms + chat)
• Lead qualification and value assignment
• Google Ads integration
• Starts at ~$30/month (basic plan)
• Simpler interface, fewer advanced call features

Our recommendation for most plumbing companies: CallRail. It's the most widely used in the trades, has excellent Google Ads integration, and the setup is straightforward enough that you or your PPC manager can have it running in an afternoon.

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Step 1: Create Your Call Tracking Account

Sign up with your chosen provider. You'll need:

• Business name and address
• Your real business phone number (the one calls will forward to)
• A credit card for the monthly subscription
• Access to your website (to add the tracking script)

Step 2: Get Your Tracking Numbers

You need two types of tracking numbers:

Campaign-level numbers (for ads): These are static numbers you place directly in your Google Ads call extensions and call-only ads. Each campaign gets its own number:

Website pool numbers (for DNI): These are dynamic numbers that swap on your landing pages. You need a pool of numbers — typically 4–8 for most plumbing companies. The pool size depends on your traffic volume. More concurrent visitors = more numbers needed to maintain unique tracking.

Step 3: Install the Tracking Script

Add the JavaScript snippet to your landing pages. Most call tracking platforms provide a single line of code that goes before the closing </head> tag. If you're using a landing page builder, there's usually a dedicated field for tracking scripts.

The script does two things:

• Detects when a visitor came from Google Ads
• Swaps your displayed phone number with a tracking number from the pool

Step 4: Connect to Google Ads

This is where the magic happens. Link your call tracking platform to your Google Ads account:

1. In your call tracking platform, navigate to integrations → Google Ads
2. Authorize the connection with your Google Ads account
3. Configure which calls count as conversions (minimum call duration — typically 60 seconds for plumbing)
4. The platform will automatically send call conversions to Google Ads

Once connected, calls appear as conversions in your Google Ads dashboard alongside form submissions. Now your campaign data includes every lead, not just the 20% who filled out a form.

Step 5: Set Up Call Recording

Enable call recording for every tracking number. This is essential for:

• Lead quality assessment: Listen to calls to determine if they're real leads or junk (wrong numbers, solicitors, existing customers calling for billing)
• Dispatcher training: Identify how your team handles calls and where they lose potential customers
• Dispute resolution: If a customer claims they were told a different price, you have the recording
• Conversion verification: Confirm that "conversions" in Google Ads are actually booked jobs, not hangups

Important: Check your state's call recording consent laws. Some states require one-party consent (you or your dispatcher know it's recorded), others require two-party consent (the caller must be informed). Most call tracking platforms offer an automatic recording disclosure prompt.

Step 6: Configure Call Scoring

Not every phone call is a quality lead. Set up call scoring to separate real leads from noise:

Score as a lead (count as conversion):

• Call duration > 60 seconds
• Caller is a homeowner (not a vendor, solicitor, or existing customer)
• Caller asks about a service you offer
• Caller is in your service area

Score as non-lead (exclude from conversion data):

• Call duration < 30 seconds (likely wrong number or hangup)
• Solicitation or sales calls
• Existing customer calling about a current job
• Out-of-service-area caller

You can do this manually by listening to calls, or use AI-powered call scoring (available in CallRail and CallTrackingMetrics) to automate the process.

What to Track: The Metrics That Matter

With call tracking in place, focus on these metrics:

Campaign-Level Metrics

Keyword-Level Metrics

This is where call tracking delivers the most value. You can now see:

• Which keywords generate calls (not just clicks)
• Which keywords generate the longest calls (higher engagement = better lead)
• Which keywords generate booked jobs
• Your actual cost per booked job by keyword

Common findings when plumbers first enable call tracking:

• "Emergency plumber" keywords generate 3x more calls than "plumbing services" keywords — despite similar click volume
• "Water heater replacement" calls average 4+ minutes and book at 55% — making them your most valuable keyword category
• "Plumber near me" generates high volume but 30% of calls are price shoppers who don't book
• Brand terms (your company name) generate calls at 1/10th the cost of non-brand terms

This data lets you move budget from underperforming keywords to the ones that actually generate revenue.

Common Call Tracking Mistakes

Setting Conversion Duration Too Short

If you count every call over 10 seconds as a conversion, your data will be full of wrong numbers, hangups, and "do you have an appointment tomorrow?" calls from existing customers. Set the minimum at 60 seconds for plumbing — real leads almost always exceed this threshold.

Not Using Dynamic Number Insertion

Static tracking numbers on your website tell you the source (Google Ads vs. organic vs. direct) but not the keyword. DNI gives you keyword-level attribution, which is where the real optimization value lives.

Ignoring Call Recordings

The data dashboard tells you a call lasted 3 minutes. The recording tells you the caller needed a water heater replaced, your dispatcher quoted $1,800, and the caller said they'd think about it. That qualitative information is more valuable than any metric.

Not Syncing with Google Ads

If call data lives only in your call tracking platform and never reaches Google Ads, Google's bidding algorithms can't optimize for calls. The integration takes 10 minutes to set up and immediately improves campaign performance.

Using Your Real Number in Ads

If you use your real business number in Google Ads call extensions, those calls are invisible to your tracking system. Always use tracking numbers in ad extensions, call-only ads, and on landing pages.

The ROI of Call Tracking

Call tracking costs $50–$150/month for most plumbing companies. Here's what it returns:

Without call tracking:

• You see 200 clicks/month and 15 form conversions
• Your reported cost per lead is $200
• You think your campaigns are marginally profitable
• You can't identify which keywords to scale and which to cut

With call tracking:

• You see 200 clicks/month, 15 form conversions, and 45 phone call conversions
• Your actual cost per lead is $50
• You identify 3 keywords driving 60% of your booked jobs
• You shift budget to those keywords and double your job bookings

The $50–$150/month investment typically saves plumbing companies $500–$2,000/month in wasted ad spend by showing them exactly where to put their budget.

Quick-Start Checklist

Here's the minimum setup to get call tracking running for your plumbing PPC:

• Sign up for CallRail (or your preferred platform)
• Purchase campaign-level tracking numbers for each Google Ads campaign
• Purchase a DNI number pool (4–8 numbers for most plumbers)
• Install the DNI JavaScript snippet on all landing pages
• Set up call forwarding to your real business number
• Connect the platform to your Google Ads account
• Set conversion duration to 60 seconds minimum
• Enable call recording (check state consent laws)
• Replace your real number in Google Ads call extensions with tracking numbers
• Test the setup: search your ad, call the tracking number, verify it appears in the dashboard

Total setup time: 2–3 hours. Time to first actionable data: 1–2 weeks.

Don't want to set this up yourself? We handle complete call tracking setup and integration as part of every PPC for plumbers campaign we manage — so you know exactly which keywords drive your most profitable service calls. Schedule your free strategy call →