How to track where your enquiries come from

Why the source of each enquiry matters

Most service businesses spend money in several places at once: a website, Google search, Meta ads, a Google Business Profile, directories and word of mouth. When the phone rings or a form arrives, the useful question isn't just "is it a good job?" It's "which of those things produced it?"

Without that answer, budget decisions get made on gut feel or on whatever each platform reports about itself. Every platform tends to take credit for results it had some part in, and none of them can see what happened after the enquiry reached you. Recording the source against each enquiry, in your own system, is how you compare them on the same terms.

You don't need expensive software to start. You need four habits: tag the links you control, let ad platforms tag their own clicks, save the source with the enquiry itself, and ask people how they found you. Then review the results against enquiries that actually suited your business.

Tag the links you control

When you share a link to your website in an email newsletter, a social post, a directory listing or a QR code, you can add short labels to the end of it called UTM parameters. Google Analytics explains that "By adding utm campaign parameters to the destination URLs you use in referral links and ad campaigns, you can view which campaigns refer traffic." A tagged link looks like this: yoursite.com.au/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring-offer.

Google's guidance is to always include the core three: "When you add parameters to a URL, you should always use utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign." Source is where the click came from, medium is the type of channel, and campaign is the particular promotion. Google also provides a free Campaign URL Builder, so nobody has to type these by hand.

Consistency matters more than cleverness. Google warns that "Parameter values are case sensitive, e.g. utm_source=google is different from utm_source=Google," and recommends lowercase as standard. Keep a short shared list of the names you use, so "facebook", "Facebook" and "fb" don't end up as three separate rows in your reports.

Never put personal details in a tracking link. Google's analytics policy says "Be sure not to include PII in custom campaign parameters utm_source, utm_medium, utm_term, utm_campaign, and utm_content." That means no customer names, email addresses or phone numbers in a URL you send out, even in a one-to-one email.

Let the ad platforms tag their own clicks

Google Ads has its own method called auto-tagging. After someone clicks your ad, Google adds a parameter called GCLID, short for Google Click Identifier, to the address they land on. Google says auto-tagging is "now on by default for new accounts," and that in Google Analytics 4 it's "prioritized over manual tagging." In practice, if your Google Ads and Analytics accounts are linked, you rarely need to add UTM tags to Google ads yourself. Just check with your developer that your site doesn't break or strip extra parameters from the address.

Meta works differently. You add URL parameters in the Tracking section when you create an ad in Ads Manager, and Meta can fill in values automatically using dynamic parameters. Meta also notes that since 1 January 2024 it may automatically add a campaign source of Facebook or Instagram and a campaign medium of "paid", along with ad, ad set and campaign IDs. Two cautions from Meta's own guidance are worth knowing: "you'll need to use a website analytics tool to track the results," and if someone leaves and later comes back to your page organically, the URL parameter is lost.

That second point is the real limit of all link tagging. It records the click that brought someone to your site this time, not everything that influenced them. A person might see your ad on Monday, then search your business name on Thursday and call. That's why the next two habits matter.

Keep readingSend enquiry events to Meta without double counting

Save the source with the enquiry itself

Analytics tools report visits and events in aggregate. They won't tell you that a particular enquiry came from your spring Meta campaign and later became a booked job. For that, the source needs to travel with the enquiry into your inbox or CRM.

Ask your web developer to add hidden fields to your enquiry form that capture the page the person first landed on and any campaign values in its address, such as the UTM source, medium and campaign. When the form is submitted, those values arrive with the person's details. Record the first source and keep it. If later updates overwrite how an enquiry originally arrived, you lose the most useful part of the record.

Then add one simple visible question: "How did you hear about us?" Offer a short list of choices, such as Google search, Google Maps, Facebook or Instagram, a friend or past customer, and other. People's memories aren't perfect, so keep this answer in its own field rather than mixing it with the tracked data. The two together tell a fuller story than either alone.

Keep readingCollect enquiry details the right way

Don't lose phone calls and referrals

Phone enquiries are where tracking most often falls apart. A tap on a click-to-call button shows someone intended to call, not that a call connected or that the person was a suitable customer. Whoever answers the phone should ask how the caller found you, and log the answer in the same place as form enquiries, using the same list of choices.

Word of mouth usually hides inside your website data. Google Analytics defines Direct as arriving "via a saved link or by entering your URL," and "Unassigned is the value Analytics uses when there are no other channel rules that match the event data." A friend's recommendation, a van signwritten with your web address or an untagged link will often land in those buckets. A large Direct figure isn't a problem to fix. It's a reminder to ask.

Compare sources by suitable enquiries, not clicks

Once sources are recorded, review them monthly or quarterly against outcomes, not traffic. As a hypothetical example, an electrician logs 40 enquiries in a quarter: 18 from Meta ads, 12 from Google search and 10 from referrals. Only 5 of the Meta enquiries suited the business, compared with 8 from search and 7 from referrals. Meta produced the most enquiries but the fewest suitable ones, which is a prompt to review the ad's offer and targeting before adding budget. It isn't proof on its own that the channel doesn't work.

Keep the review short and repeatable:

• Count enquiries by first recorded source, and separately by the "How did you hear about us?" answer.
• Mark which enquiries suited your service, area and budget, using one agreed definition.
• Note which sources turned into quoted or won work, and roughly what that work was worth.
• Check for gaps: enquiries with no source recorded, untagged links still in use, and calls nobody logged.
• Choose one change for the next period, such as fixing a tag, adjusting a campaign or asking every caller.

Keep readingDefine what a suitable enquiry means for you