When tracking phone calls any data that can be traced from that real-world action back to your digital marketing efforts is golden.  Creating custom web links or "URLs" that lead from your ads to your client's phone number allows you to include trackable data. This article provides instructions on how to create custom Google and Bing Ads as well as manual creation methods.

Section Links

How to turn on auto-tagging in Google Ads

How to turn on auto-tagging in Bing Ads

How to manually add tags in your ads for NinjaTrack

How to Create UTM Parameters for your URLs

How to turn on auto-tagging in Google Ads

1. Log in to your Google Ads account at ads.google.com.

2.  In the bottom-left quadrant click on the settings option from the white navigation menu

3. Under the settings menu that you just clicked on, select the Account settings option

4. Click on the auto-tagging option in the top-right corner. Ensure that the checkbox is selected, then save your changes:

How to turn on auto-tagging in Bing Ads

1. In the top-right quadrant, click the gear icon from the top-right corner and select Accounts and Billing

2. Select the account you wish to change from the drop-down menu in the top-left quadrant

3. In the top-left quadrant, click on the small pencil icon next to the Account heading

4. In the bottom-left quadrant, ensure that the option "Add UTM tags to my destination URLs" is selected. 

5. Save your changes

How to manually add tags in your ads for NinjaTrack

NinjaTrack reads the following UTM parameters from a website link. Users can construct the links back to their websites from their ads by including as many of the following tags:

• Campaign Source (utm_source or source) –Use utm_source (or source) to identify your source. They are not case-sensitive.  
• Source Mappings:
• Google = Google - Paid
• Bing = Bing - Paid
• Yahoo = Yahoo - Paid
• Facebook = Facebook
• YouTube = YouTube
• Campaign Medium (utm_medium or medium) – Parameter to identify the medium the link was used upon such as email, CPC, or another method of sharing.  If the medium is CPC or ppc then we will assume Paid if the referrer is Google, Bing, or Yahoo.  
• Campaign Term (utm_term or utm_keyword or keyword) – Optional parameter suggested for paid search to identify keywords for your ad.  This is used for keyword tracking and will appear on your reporting as the associate keywords.  This works for any URL that contains this parameter, regardless of source.
• Campaign Name (utm_campaign) – Required parameter to identify a specific product promotion or a strategic campaign such as a spring sale or other promotion.  If the campaign is CPC or ppc then we will assume Paid if the referrer is Google, Bing, or Yahoo.  

How to Create UTM Parameters for Your URLs

The simplest way to create UTM parameters for your links is to use ValueTrack (https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6305348#urlinsertion) or by using the Google Analytics URL Builder.  Here’s an example using of the URL Builder to generate a website link:

This would provide a URL that looks like the following:

http://www.ninjacat.io/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=agency%20reporting&utm_campaign=ninjacat