Tracking URL: What It Is and How It Works - Cyberclick

A tracking URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a standard link that has had parameters attached to it for the purpose of tracking and analytics. These parameters ... DataScience TrackingURL:WhatItIsandHowItWorks Home Blog ByHéctorBorrás,on12October2021 URLtrackingistheprocessofaddinguniqueidentifierstoyourURLs.AURLTrackercanhelpyoumeasuretheimpactofyour digital marketing campaignsonleads,sales,andoverallbusinessgrowth.Youcanusegatheredanalyticstoestablishwhichcampaignsworkwell,thecontenttypesthatpeoplerespondtothemost,andwhetheryouaregettingaROIfromyoursocialcontent.Thiscanbeanincrediblyusefultoolformarketersinbothbigandsmallbusinesses. Here,wewilldiscusswhatatrackingURLisandhowitworks.Wewillalsoshareastep-by-stepguidetohelpyoucreateyourowntrackingURLsandgathervaluableanalyticstohelpboosttheperformanceofyourcampaigns.  WhatIsaTrackingURL?AtrackingURL(UniformResourceLocator)isastandardlinkthathashadparametersattachedtoitforthepurposeoftrackingandanalytics.TheseparametersenableURLtraffictobeproperlyanalyzedsothatcontentcanbeadjustedinorderto encourageengagement andincreasevisitsandconversions.Essentially,aURLtrackerisamarketingtoolthatcanhelpyoumonitortheimpactofyourcampaignsbyanalyzinghowcertainlinksareperforming.ByaddingauniqueidentifiertoawebsiteorlandingpageURL,youcanmeasurevaluabledatathroughplatformslike GoogleAnalytics.Thiscanincludepageviewspervisit,impressions,averagetimeonsite,conversions,clicks, click-throughrates,%newvisitors,andbouncerate.Thesestatscanhelpyouunderstandhowyourcontentisbeingreceivedbyyouraudiencesothatyoucanoptimizeitaccordingly. HowDoesaTrackingURLWork?AtrackingURLiscreatedbyaddingcertainuniqueparametersandattachingadigitaltrackingcodetoadestinationURLthattracksuseractivity. Activitythatcanbetrackedincludes:ClicksPageviewsImpressionsAveragetimeonsiteConversionsClicksClick-throughratesNewvisitorsBounceratesWhenyoutrackaURL,beforeasitevisitorreachesthedestinationpagetheywishtoaccess,theyaretemporarilyredirectedsothatdatalikewhichsitetheuseriscomingfrom,orwheretheyarelocated,canbecollected.Thisenablesdatatobegatheredandanalyzed.AURLtrackercanbesharedthroughanyonlineplatform,includingads,socialmediaposts, emailmarketingcampaigns,blogpostsandnewsletters.  TypesofURLTrackingLet’stakealookatafewofthemostcommontypesofURLtrackers,whichcanhelpyoutracktheperformanceofyourwebsiteorlandingpagelinks. Auto-TaggingIfyouusedGoogleAnalyticsforyourURLtracking,thentheeasiestwaytomanagethisistoenable auto-tagging.Auto-taggingattachesa'GoogleClickIdentifier'(GCLID)parametertoyourURLsothatyoucanidentifywhichadwasclickedforeachvisittoyoursite.ThisbasicallymeansthatallyourGoogleAdcampaignsareautomaticallytracked,soyoudon’tneedtoconfigureeachURLmanually.However,you’llstillneedtotagyournon-GoogleAdspaidadlinks.Theotherdownsideisthatauto-taggingisnotcompatiblewithallURLsandcertainparameterscannotbeconfigured.Nevertheless,it’sagreatplacetostartifyouarenewtotrackingURLtools.ManualTaggingforGoogleAnalyticsThenextstepupintheworldofURLtrackertoolsismanualtaggingforGoogleAnalytics,whichoverridestheauto-taggingfeaturewejustdiscussed. Thisiswhenyouusethe GoogleAnalyticsURLBuilder togeneratetagsforyourlinks.ThetoolallowsyoutoeasilyaddcampaignparameterstoURLssoyoucanmeasurecampaignsinGoogleAnalytics. Manualtaggingcanprovidedataforthefollowingdimensions:CampaignSource,Medium,Content,Keyword.CampaignSourceistypicallygoingtobethesearchengine(Google,Bing,etc),andCampaignMediumdefinesthetypeofadvertising(PPC,email,etc).Additionalparameterscanbeusedtofurtheridentifyyourads.ManualTaggingforBackendSystemsThethirdcommonlyusedtypeofURLtrackingtoolismanualtaggingforbackendsystems.ThistypeofURLtrackingrelieson ValueTrackparameters torecordcertaindetailsaboutaURLbyreplacingdynamicparameterswithavaluethatisbasedonthedetailsoftheadwhenitwasclicked.Forexample,theparameter{matchtype}indicatesthematchtypeofthekeywordthattriggeredyourad.Whenyouviewyourdata,insteadofseeing{matchtype},ValueTrackrecordsthevalue"b"forbroadmatch,"p"forphrasematch,or"e"forexactmatch.YoucanthenviewdatathroughGoogleAnalyticsoranyothersite-analyticssoftware. HowtoCreateTrackingURLsTheeasiestwaytocreateaURLtrackerisbyusingaURLgenerator.GoogleAnalyticsCampaignURLBuilder canbeusedtogeneratewebsiteURLs(third-partysoftwarelikeClickMagickorBitlycanalsobeused)GooglePlayURLBuilder isforgeneratingURLstoappsontheGooglePlayStoreiOSCampaignTrackingURLBuilder isforgeneratingURLstoappsontheAppleAppStoreNowlet'slookathowtheGoogleAnalyticsCampaignURLBuildercanbeusedtogenerateatrackingURL.AccessURLBuilderStep1:SelecttheURLyouwanttotrack.Thismightbealinktoawebsite,adorlandingpage. Step2:AccessthesiteforyourURLbuilderofchoice(inthiscase,theGoogleAnalyticsCampaignURLBuilder).ThewebsitewillaskyoutocompleteaseriesoffieldstoconfigureyourCampaignParameters.Step3:InsertyourchosenURLtrackerintothespacefor‘WebsiteURL’.Step4:Completefieldsforotherparameters,including‘ContentSource’,‘ContentMedium’,and‘ContentName’. Step5:Onceyouconfirmalltheseparameters,theGoogleURLBuilderwillgenerateaCampaignURLatthebottomofthepage.Copythistrackingaddressandpasteitintheareaassignedtocodeswithinyouremailnewsletter,blogposts,or socialmediacampaigns.Thensitbackandwaitforyourresultstostartcomingin!AnalyzeResultsinGoogleAnalyticsOnceyourtrackingURLhasbeenpubliclyavailableforadayorso,youcanstartmonitoringyourcampaigndatathroughGoogleAnalytics.LogintoyourGoogleAnalyticsaccountandclickon‘Acquisition’. Select‘Campaigns’fromthedropdownmenu. Select‘AllCampaignswithinGoogleAnalytics’. Youwillnowhaveaccesstoalltrackedanalytics.Thisdatacanthenbeusedtomakeadjustmentstoyourcontentsothatyoucanincreaseyoursitetrafficandconversions.  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