Getting someone to tap your number is the part most businesses have worked on. What happens in the following ninety seconds decides whether it becomes work: whether it dials correctly, whether anyone answers, and what happens when nobody does. A tapped number that rings out is a conversion you already paid for and then discarded.
The tap itself
Three things go wrong before the phone even rings, and all three are silent.
- The number is not a link. Displayed as text or inside an image, so tapping does nothing. The visitor has to memorise it, leave the site, and type it in. Many do not, and this remains one of the more common faults on small business sites, as covered in where the phone number should sit.
- It dials the wrong number. The link was written once and the displayed number was updated later, so the page shows the current number and the tap dials an old one. Nobody notices because the page looks right.
- It dials a tracking number that is no longer working. A campaign ended, the number was released, and the site still points at it. Worth checking annually, alongside the considerations in call tracking without wrecking local SEO.
The check takes thirty seconds. Tap your own number from your own site on a phone and confirm what appears on the dialler.
The answer rate problem
This is where most of the loss happens, and almost nobody measures it.
A small business owner is on a roof, under a sink, driving, or with a customer. The phone rings and goes unanswered. That is not negligence, it is the job. The question is not whether calls get missed, because they will, it is what happens to them afterwards.
In most businesses the answer is nothing. The call appears in a list on a device that is in a pocket, and by the time anyone looks, several hours have passed and the person has already spoken to somebody else.
Speed, and why it decides so much
Someone searching for a service and tapping a number is usually working down a list. They are not waiting for you specifically; they are calling until somebody picks up.
That makes the call an auction with one criterion. The first business to answer, or to call back quickly enough to still be relevant, generally wins the work regardless of who is better. This is unglamorous and it is how most urgent service work is actually allocated.
The practical implication is that a returned call within a few minutes behaves almost like an answered one. A returned call the next day is a different conversation entirely, usually beginning with the person explaining that they have sorted it out.
The recovery nobody has
A missed call system does not need to be sophisticated. It needs to exist.
- An automatic text on a missed call. "Sorry we missed you, we are on a job and will call back within the hour." This single measure recovers more work than most website changes, because it holds the person's attention while they would otherwise be dialling the next company.
- A named person responsible for returning calls, rather than whoever notices. Shared responsibility here means nobody's responsibility.
- A daily check of the missed call list, at a fixed time, treated as a task rather than something done when convenient.
- A defined after-hours route, whether that is an answering service, a diverted number, or a clear message. Anything is better than an unexplained ring-out.
Voicemail, honestly
Most people under a certain age will not leave one, and many will not listen to the outgoing message before hanging up. Treating voicemail as your safety net means treating a message that a large share of callers never engage with as your safety net.
Where it exists it should be short, state a realistic callback window, and offer an alternative such as texting the same number or the web address. What it should not do is run for forty seconds before the tone, because the caller has gone by then.
Measuring the gap
Two numbers, and the distance between them is the opportunity.
The first is taps on your number, which your analytics can record as a conversion in the way described in tracking that measures something. The second is calls actually answered, which comes from your phone system or provider.
Businesses running this comparison for the first time are commonly surprised. A meaningful share of taps never become connected calls, and the reasons split between technical faults, calls that rang out, and calls abandoned before anyone picked up. Each has a different fix, and none of them can be worked on until the gap is visible.
It is worth doing before spending anything on more traffic. Sending more people to a number that goes unanswered a third of the time raises the cost of every enquiry you do capture, and the fix costs considerably less than the advertising.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my phone number not clickable on mobile?
It has been placed as plain text or inside an image rather than as a telephone link. Tapping then does nothing, and the visitor has to memorise the number and leave the site to dial it.
How quickly should a missed call be returned?
Within minutes where possible. People tapping a number are usually working down a list, so a callback within a few minutes behaves almost like an answered call while one the next day usually arrives after the job has been given to someone else.
Is an automatic text on a missed call worth setting up?
It is one of the highest-return changes available to a service business. It holds the caller's attention during the window when they would otherwise be dialling the next company.
Should I rely on voicemail?
Not as the safety net. Many callers will not leave a message and some hang up before the outgoing message finishes. Where it exists, keep it short, state a realistic callback window, and offer an alternative such as text.
How do I know how many calls I am missing?
Compare taps on your number, which analytics can record, against calls actually answered, which your phone provider reports. The gap between the two is usually larger than expected.
Should I fix this before spending more on advertising?
Yes. Sending more people to a number that goes unanswered a third of the time raises the cost of every enquiry you do capture, and closing the gap costs far less than the additional traffic.
West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.
Do you know how many taps never become calls?
We measure taps against answered calls, find where they are being lost, and fix the technical faults before you spend anything on more traffic.
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