How to display telephone numbers

The format of your company’s telephone number is more important than you may think. This blog looks at how making sure that your phone numbers are displayed in a format that is easy for consumers to read and understand. Ultimately, helping ensure your prospect pick up the phone and call your business.

Why is the phone number format important?

Tracking numbers are either geographic (they start with the code 01 or 02) or non-geographic (starting with the code 03 or 08). Geographic numbers relate to particular areas or towns, and people learn these codes from an early age. Both number types have different roles to play within a marketing strategy depending on how a company wants to present itself to its customer base.

Regardless of the strategy, how the different number types are displayed has an effect on how consumers view, remember and respond to the numbers.

All telephone numbers need to have spaces between the digits for ease of reading. Since the introduction of different number codes by the telecoms regulator (currently OFCOM) there has been a standard way to display numbers.

However, it’s surprising how many companies ignore the standard formats and show numbers on a website and in advertising that customers struggle to read because it goes against the familiar display code.

Telephone number formatting guide

Examples of how misplaced digits can make numbers look odd can be seen by looking at examples for the London code and the Sevenoaks code:

London code:

• 02072458791 – no spaces
• 02072 458971 – space after 5 digits
• 020 7245 8971 – space between 3 and 7 digits (OFCOM recommended)
• 0207 2458 971 – space between 4 and 7 digits

Sevenoaks code:

• 01732823270 – no spaces
• 01732 823270 – space after 5 digits (OFCOM recommended)
• 017 328 3270 – space between 3 and 7 digits

Looking at these two examples, the OFCOM recommended format is the easiest to read and remember. This is how we have all been trained to look at numbers, therefore to go against the perceived formats just makes it more difficult for customers.

To make sure that you don’t make the mistake of displaying your numbers incorrectly in your advertising and on your website, here’s a useful guide:

Find out more about Mediahawk and how our call tracking software helps marketers increase enquiries, improve campaign performance, and optimise their budgets.