Is your phone number tap to call? Why it matters and how to check in two minutes
Picture a homeowner with water coming through the ceiling. They search on their phone, find your website, and see your number at the top of the page. They tap it. Nothing happens.
Now they have to hold the number in their head or copy it, open the phone app, and type or paste it in. Some people will do that. Some will hit the back button and call the next company on the list. You never hear about the ones who left, so the problem stays hidden.
What makes a number tappable
A phone number on a website is just text unless it is set up as a link. A tap to call link points to a "tel:" address instead of a web page, for example tel:+16124597499 behind the words (612) 459-7499, the Pastel Brands number.
MDN, the web documentation run by Mozilla, explains what happens when someone uses one of these links: on a phone, the link dials the number, and on a computer it can open a calling app such as FaceTime or Skype.
Why "it works on my iPhone" can fool you
Apple's documentation for Safari on iOS says that by default, Safari "detects any string formatted like a phone number and makes it a link that calls the number." That is helpful, but it means your number might look tappable on your own iPhone even though your website never set it up as a link.
Apple also documents a setting that turns this detection off for a page. Other browsers may not detect numbers this way at all. So the safest setup is a real tel: link on every phone number, rather than counting on any one phone to guess.
The two minute check
You need your phone and, if you can, a second phone or a computer.
On an iPhone
- Open your website in Safari.
- Find your phone number in the header, the footer, and on your contact page.
- Tap each one. If your phone offers to call the number, that spot is tappable. If nothing happens, it is not.
On an Android phone
- Open your website in Chrome or your usual browser.
- Find the same phone numbers.
- Tap each one. If your phone opens a call prompt or the phone app with your number filled in, it works. If nothing happens or the text just gets selected, it is not a link.
On a computer, to confirm it is a real link
- Open your website in a desktop browser.
- Hover your mouse over the phone number.
- In most browsers, a real link turns the pointer into a hand and shows the link address, starting with "tel:", at the bottom corner of the window. If neither happens, the number is plain text, even if your iPhone made it tappable.
Check every place your number appears, including any big "Call now" buttons. A button that looks like a button is not always a link.
How to fix it
If you edit your own site, most site builders let you add a link to text. Highlight the phone number, add a link, and type tel: followed by your full number with the country code and no spaces, such as tel:+1 and then your area code and number.
If someone else manages your site, send them this one line: "Please make every phone number on the site a tel: link." It is a small job.
While they are in there, two more things are worth asking for:
- Big enough to hit. MDN recommends that tappable elements be at least 44 by 44 CSS pixels so people can tap them easily on a touchscreen. A tiny number squeezed into the footer is easy to miss.
- The same number everywhere. Make sure the number on your site matches the one on your Google listing and your other listings.
Want every contact point checked at once?
A tap to call link is one way a customer reaches you. Your quote form and booking links are others. Pastel Brands' Lead Leak Test checks your tap to call links, your quote or contact form, the phone numbers on your site, and your booking links from the outside, the same way a customer's phone loads your pages. It never submits your forms or calls your number, and your results arrive by email right after checkout.