How To Track Success with SEO and Google Business Profile
When you invest in SEO and Google Business Profile optimization, you want to know if it's actually bringing more jobs to your business. Here's how we measure success and what you should be looking for.
What We're Tracking For You
Our goal is simple: track the customers who find you on Google, contact your business, and turn into paying jobs.
We focus on three things that directly impact your bottom line:
Phone calls from your Google Business Profile - When someone finds you on Google Maps or search and taps to call
Phone calls from your website - When someone visits your site and clicks your phone number
Contact forms from your website - When someone fills out a form to request service
These three metrics show up in your Digital Shift dashboard - they represent real customers taking action, and we connect them to the actual revenue they bring in.
The Three Ways Customers Find and Contact You
1. Calls from Your Google Business Profile
When someone searches for a plumber, AC repair, or electrician in your area and finds your business on Google Maps or in search results, they can tap your phone number to call you directly. These are some of your most valuable leads because the customer is ready to take action right now.
How we track these calls:
Think of your Google Business Profile like a storefront - when someone walks through that door (calls your number), Google tells us about it. We can see how many people called, and then we work with your business system to see which calls turned into booked jobs and how much revenue they generated.
You have two options for the phone number on your Google profile:
Use your regular business number (what most businesses do)
Use a special tracking number
Important note: Your Google profile needs one consistent phone number - it can't change like website tracking numbers can. Most businesses use their main number, and we track the calls through Google's data combined with your business management software.
If you use software like ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro, or FieldEdge, these calls usually show up as "Website/SEO" or "Organic" leads. Every system is set up a little differently - if you're not sure how yours works, just ask us and we'll walk you through it.
2. Calls from Your Website
When someone finds your website through a Google search (not an ad) and clicks to call you, we track that too.
How this works:
We install tracking code on your website that acts like a counter - every time someone clicks your phone number, we know about it. We can even use special phone numbers that help us know exactly where each caller came from.
In your business management software, these calls typically show up the same way as Google Profile calls - under "Website/SEO" or "Organic" sources. The system automatically tags them based on which number was called, though your team can change these tags if needed.
Different business management systems work differently - if you need help understanding how calls are tracked in your specific software, reach out and we'll help you review your setup.
3. Contact Forms from Your Website
When someone visits your website and fills out a contact form or requests an estimate, we track those submissions too.
How this works:
Similar to phone tracking, we have code on your website that tells us when someone submits a form. Then we work with your business management system to see when those form submissions turn into scheduled jobs and completed work.
These form leads flow into your system just like phone calls - usually tagged as "Website/SEO" or "Organic" leads. Your business management software handles this automatically, though again, team members can manually change the tags if needed.
If you're using ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro, FieldEdge, or another platform and want to make sure everything is set up correctly, just let us know and we can review it together.
Other Important Things We Track
Beyond calls and forms, your Google Business Profile gives us a lot of valuable information about how customers are finding and interacting with your business:
Customer Actions:
How many people are calling you from Google
How many people are clicking through to visit your website from your Google profile
How People Find You:
Searches for your business name directly (people who already know you)
Searches for services you offer (new potential customers discovering you)
Profile Performance:
How many people are seeing your profile when they search
How many people are viewing your full profile page
Reviews and Reputation:
We also track your reviews and ratings in your dashboard. These are crucial because they affect both how high you rank and whether people choose to call you.
How You Compare:
We monitor how your Google profile performs compared to other similar businesses in your area, so we can spot opportunities to improve.
The good news: All this Google Business Profile data comes straight from Google and is very accurate and reliable.
Connecting Calls and Forms to Actual Revenue
You might wonder: "How do you know if a call or form actually made me money?"
Here's how it works:
When someone calls or fills out a form, your business management software creates a new lead and labels it with where it came from (like "Website/SEO" or "Organic"). When your team books that job and completes the work, the revenue from that job stays connected to that original label.
That's how we can show you: "Last month, your organic Google traffic generated X calls and X forms, which turned into $X in revenue."
A few things to know:
Your software usually labels these leads automatically based on which phone number was called or which form was filled out
Sometimes your team members might manually change these labels in the system, which can affect the tracking
We help make sure everything is set up correctly and that your team knows how the system works
Important: If you're part of a franchise or larger brand, your organic leads might share phone numbers with other marketing sources. These are often corporate-level settings we can't change, but we work with your existing setup to give you the most accurate tracking possible.
Why the Numbers Aren't Perfect (And Why That's Okay)
Here's something important to understand: tracking organic Google traffic is different than tracking paid ads.
With paid ads (like Google Ads), tracking is straightforward - someone clicks your ad, we know exactly where they came from.
With organic traffic (regular Google search results), it's more complicated because of privacy laws and settings.
What Affects Our Tracking
Privacy Settings:
Modern web browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox) and privacy laws limit what we can track. Some people have settings that block tracking entirely. This is normal and affects every business - not just yours.
Real-World Customer Behavior:
A customer might look at your website on their phone during lunch, then call you from their office phone later. We can't connect those dots.
Someone might visit your site, write down your number, and call you the next day. That call won't show up as coming from your website.
If your team manually changes lead sources in your system, it affects what we can track.
The Bottom Line
The numbers we show you are conservative - your actual results are likely better. Research shows that tracking systems like ours capture about 60-80% of actual organic traffic because of privacy restrictions.
When we report that you got 50 calls from organic search, the real number might be 60 or 70 - we just can't track all of them because of privacy settings.
What you CAN rely on:
Google Business Profile data (comes straight from Google, very accurate)
Your ranking positions (we can see exactly where you rank)
Overall trends (even if exact numbers aren't perfect, growth trends are clear)
Form submissions (tracked accurately when someone hits "submit")
Why This Matters
Don't get hung up on exact numbers or small differences between reports. Instead, focus on:
Are calls and forms trending up month over month?
Is revenue from organic sources growing?
Are rankings improving for important searches?
Those trends tell the real story of your SEO success.
Understanding Your Return on Investment
Here's how to see if your SEO investment is paying off:
Check Your Lead Source Reports:
Log into your business management software and look for leads labeled "Website/SEO," "Organic," or similar. These are the customers who found you through Google (not ads).
Look at the Revenue:
Your software should show you how much revenue came from those organic leads. Compare this to what you're investing in SEO each month.
Watch the Trends:
Don't just look at one month - compare this month to last month, and this year to last year. SEO builds momentum over time.
Think Long-Term:
Unlike paid ads that stop working the moment you stop paying, your organic rankings and Google profile keep bringing in customers month after month, year after year. The customers you acquire through organic search often become long-term, loyal customers too.
Common Questions
"Why don't the numbers in my Google reports match my business software exactly?"
Google Analytics tracks everyone who visits your website and what they do there. Your business software only tracks people who actually become leads in your system. Some visitors don't call or fill out forms. Some calls might be spam or wrong numbers. Some might be existing customers. Small differences are normal - focus on trends, not exact matches.
"Can you tell me which exact search terms brought in each customer?"
Google stopped sharing specific search terms years ago for privacy reasons. But we can see which pages people visited before calling (like your "emergency plumbing" page), which tells us what they were looking for. We also track where you rank for important searches in your area.
"How do I know if someone found me on Google Maps or regular Google search?"
When someone takes action directly from your Google Business Profile (like tapping "Call" on Google Maps), that shows up in your Google Business Profile data. If they click through to your website first and then call, that usually counts as website traffic. Both are valuable - they're just tracked slightly differently.
Need Help?
Questions about your tracking setup or reports? Just reach out to the Digital Shift client success team.
We know this stuff can be confusing - that's why we handle all the technical setup and send you clear monthly reports. Your job is to run your business and answer the phone when it rings. Our job is to make sure you get the most optimal position to show up when your prospective customers are searching.