Call tracking is all about helping your business get accurate data for how new leads find you before they pick up the phone to call. Customers rarely answer the classic "How did you hear about us?" survey accurately, or they'll often provide unhelpful answers like, "I found you on Google." Without some form of call tracking, it's hard for businesses to prove which marketing campaigns - online, offline, or both - are providing the best ROI.

While call tracking can seem complex at first, the premise is simple: There's a number the customer dials (the tracking number), along with a number to which their call is forwarded (the destination number, usually your primary business number). By analyzing which of your tracking numbers your customers call, you can know with certainty how they're finding you.

CallRail offers two kinds of call tracking, each of which provide slightly different sets of data. Source-level tracking comes standard with every CallRail account, and is part of our baseline technology. Visitor tracking is the second type, and is an optional addition that's best for companies that want user-specific data and more insight on how their search term bids and website pages are performing.

In short, source tracking is a way to test your overall campaign effectiveness, while visitor tracking helps better illuminate the > individual paths-to-purchase taken by customers.