This increase in mobile search has creating a need for website to be tailored for mobile users and to incorporate the nuances of how mobile search is a bit different than searching online with a desktop. The immediate difference that comes to mind is the use of a mouse for desktops versus “tapping” on a mobile device.
Mobile phones don’t have a mouse to use for clicking on links (newsflash!) – so links and other actions need to be triggered with a simple tap on the mobile screen.
Enter the click to call website button. For anyone who is familiar with searching online using a mobile phone, this isn’t necessarily new. AdWords has incorporated a click to call feature on mobile ads. Many sites that display a phone number make it easy for you to tap on the number in order to trigger a phone call – no need to actually type the phone number into your mobile device.
However, sometimes hunting down the phone number on a website is annoying. And, sometimes a local business wants to make it as easy as humanly possible for people to call them or locate their business, no matter where on the site they are.
Do you want phone calls generated from your WordPress-powered website?
Well, you have a couple of options in the form of plugins and they are both free. I recently came across a new plugin for WordPress that I just tested. It is simple, easy to use and displays both a call button and a location button at the bottom of your website for mobile devices only. The idea is to make it quite clear how a website visitor can call you or locate your business. It’s called the mobile call now and map buttons plugin.
Mobile Call Now and Map Buttons
Below is the simple user interface you have to fill out in order to generate the two buttons. It gives you color options for the buttons so you can match them to your website’s color theme. There is also an option to control in pixels, the minimum width needed to trigger the buttons.
Once you fill out the fields and save it, your buttons will appear at the bottom of your site on mobile devices.
That’s it. This plugin is in its relative infancy and, like many new plugins, it may need to have some bugs worked out. I did not have a problem with it, however.
[cs_section style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px; “][cs_section style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px; “][cs_row class=”center-text ” style=”margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; ” inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”true”][cs_column style=”padding: 0px; ” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″][x_button size=”large” block=”false” circle=”false” icon_only=”false” href=”https://wordpress.org/plugins/mobile-call-now-map-buttons/” title=”” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][x_icon type=”arrow-circle-right”]Go To Plugin[/x_button][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section]
Call Now Buttons Plugin
This is another plugin in this space that has been around for a while. It gives you a couple of different look for the call button – see phone icons below.
With this plugin, you have the option to choose your colors and whether to display the click to call button on the left, right or along the bottom. This plugin is purely for phone calls so it does not have a location option.
It does have a very cool feature that will allow you to actually track the phone call clicks in Google Analytics.
You will need to have event tracking setup in your Google Analytics account in order to use this feature. This type of tracking is important for local businesses who want to see exactly how their website visitors are interacting with this call option. When I tested this plugin, I found it very easy to setup and I did not have any problems (note: I did not setup event tracking for Google Analytics).
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Both of these options make it very easy for your website visitors to call you. Whether you run a local restaurant, law firm or an online site where you want people to call you, I think you can benefit from having a mobile-friendly site that makes it very easy for people to call you, no matter what page of your site they are on. A simple solution to make this happen, might just be one of these plugins.
