How to track customers without hurting your Local Listings in Google

• I 've heard that using multiple phone numbers to track ad campaigns can be damaging to my Local Business listing in Google. If this is true, then how else is a local business supposed to track where their customers are coming from?

Answer: As this month's feature article on Call Tracking points out, this is indeed true. And, it's unfortunate that Google's requirement that businesses be associated with only one phone number precludes using multiple phone numbers to track various ad campaigns. In essence, Google has removed one of the best ad tracking tools from the business owner's toolbox.

Of course, without some sort of tracking in place, both businesses and marketers are flying blind, and frankly that is unacceptable. Savvy business owners and professional marketers alike will tell you that tracking is not optional. Here's why.

• You cannot always rely on third party sources for your tracking and expect to get accurate non-self-serving numbers/stats. This is especially true if someone has a vested interest in plumping up your numbers.
• Marketers must track to see if their efforts are actually working for their clients. Very often they aren't and when such is the case, tracking tells them they need to take a different direction for that client. Another reason is that clients are often, uh, difficult. Sometimes they harass the marketer when if fact he or she is actually doing them good. There must be something tangible to show the client that a strategy is working (or not). To the professional marketer, this isn't negotiable.
• Businesses must track for multiple reasons. They need to know the results-hierarchy of their efforts. That is the only way they can prioritize their marketing efforts, especially on a limited budget. ...