How to Track Your Campaign Links in Google Analytics - UTM.io

UTMs help you send information to Google Analytics about where your traffic is coming from and how that traffic got to your site. So if you're ... Skiptocontent Support Pricing Features FacebookUTMBuilder:BoostCampaignsw/FacebookAdTrackingUTMs UTMCampaignTracking UTMTemplates UTMChromeExtension UTMConventionsBuilder Blog Login SignUpwithGoogle Recent Areyourcampaignsreallydeliveringthekindofresultsthatyouexpected?Whatifyou’respendingallyourtimeandmoneyoncampaignsthatdon’twork? Youwon’tknowunlessyoutrackyourcampaignperformance.Whenyoumeasureyourmarketingimpact,youcaneasilyidentifywhat’sworkingandifit’spayingoff.Thisinformationiscrucialifyouwanttomakeimprovementstoyourmarketingstrategiesandfuelconsistentgrowth. Luckily,GoogleAnalyticssimplifiesthisprocesswithitsbuilt-incampaigntrackingtool.CombinedwithUTMparameters,itcanbeapowerfultooltotrackyourcampaignperformance. Inthispost,wewillprovideyouwithadetailedguidesoyoucanlearnhowtotracklinksinGoogleAnalyticsandseehowyourcampaignsareperforming. WhatCanYouTrackinGoogleAnalytics? Withthepropercampaigntrackingconfigurationsanddefinedgoals,GoogleAnalyticscanbeextremelyusefultotrackdifferentaspectsofyourperformance.OnceyoulearnhowtotracklinksinGoogleAnalytics,you’llbeabletofindout: Howmuchtrafficyoumanagedtodrive Whichcampaigns/posts/advariationscontributedtothetraffic Howmanyconversionsyougained Howmuchrevenueyouearnedfromeachcampaign WhencombinedwithUTMparameters,youcanalsoanalyzethespecificsofyourperformancetoseehowindividualposts,emails,adplacements,etc.areperforming.Thisisextremelyusefulforfine-tuningyourcampaignsasithelpsyouunderstandwhatyouneedtoimprove. HowtoTrackLinksinGoogleAnalytics Nowthatyouknowhaveabetterunderstandingofwhatyoucantrack,let’stakealookathowtotracklinksinGoogleAnalytics: 1:BuildUTMsforYourCampaigns UTMshelpyousendinformationtoGoogleAnalyticsaboutwhereyourtrafficiscomingfromandhowthattrafficgottoyoursite.Soifyou’regoingtotrackyourlinksinGoogleAnalytics,youneedtoassignuniqueUTMstoeachofthelinksinyourcampaign. You’llbeabletoassignsourceandmediumparameterstoseeexactlywhichchannelsyourtrafficiscomingfrom.Ifyou’rerunningmultiplecampaigns,assigningcampaignparametershelpsyouorganizecampaign-specificlinks. Youcanfurtheruseotherparameterslikecampaignterm,whichletsyouidentifythepaidkeywordssendingtraffictoyoursite. ThisiswhereUTM.ioentersthepicture.ThetoolsimplifiestheprocessofbuildingUTM-taggedlinks.YoujustneedtoentertheURLyouwanttotagandfillouttheothermandatoryfieldstodefinecampaignname,source,andmedium.ThetoolwillthenautomaticallycreatealinkwithUTMparametersassigned. Itevenallowsyoutoshortenthelinksothatitdoesn’tlooktoobusyandincomprehensible.Thisalsohelpsyouensurethatyourlinksaren’ttakingupallthecharacterallowanceforsocialmediaposts. 2:FollowProperNamingConventions WhencreatingUTMsforyourcampaigns,it’scrucialthatyoufollowproperUTMnamingconventions.Thiswillhelpyoueasilyunderstandthedatathatyou’resendingtoGoogleAnalytics.YourcampaignnamesandotherUTMparametersshouldbedescriptive.ThiswillmakeiteasytodecipherforeveryteammemberwhoisresponsiblefortrackinglinksinGoogleAnalytics. UTM.iosimplifiesthisprocessagainbyallowingyoutocreateUTMtemplatesthatyoucankeepreusingforyourcampaigns.ThiswillensurethatwhateverUTM-taggedURLsmakesensetoeveryteammember,soyoucaneasilytracklinksinGoogleAnalytics. 3:DefineaTargetforEachCampaign WhenyoutracklinksinGoogleAnalytics,youneedaclearideaofwhattomeasuretheresultsagainst.Otherwise,you’llhaveahardtimefiguringoutwhatlooksgoodandwhatdoesn’t.Thismakesitcrucialtodefineatargetforyourcampaign–whetheryouwanttodriveclicks,conversions,CTRs,orrevenue. Youalsohavetoensurethateachtargetismeasurable.Thismeansyouhavetogetdowntothespecificsofwhatyouwanttoachieve. Forinstance,youmightbeaimingfora5%increaseinconversions,a15%increaseintraffic,etc.Withadefinedandmeasurabletargetinplace,yourmarketingteamwillhaveabetterideaofhowtheyareprogressingwhentheytracklinksinGoogleAnalytics. 4:SetUpConversionGoalsinGoogleAnalytics It’snotenoughtoknowyourtargetunlessGoogleAnalyticsknowsittoo.SoyouneedtouseGoogleAnalyticsconversiontrackingtodefineyourgoalsandmeasurehowyourcampaignsareconverting. Theprocessisprettystraightforwardandinvolvesjustafewsteps: Step1:CreateaNewGoal Thefirststepinvolvescreatinganewgoalforyourcampaign.Gotothe“Admin”tabatthetopofthepageandselect“View.”There,you’llgettheoptiontoselect“Goals.”Clickonthatandselectthered“NewGoal”button. ImageSource:googleanalytics Step2:ChooseYourGoalSetup Next,you’llneedtochooseyourgoalsetup.Youcaneitherchoosefromtheexistinggoaltemplatesorcreateacustomgoal. Forthisexample,let’screateacustomgoaltotracklinksinGoogleAnalytics. Selectthelastoption,whichsays“Custom”andclickon“Continue.” ImageSource:googleanalytics Step3:DescribeYourGoal Inthenextstep,you’llgetaprompttoenterthegoaldescription.Enterthenameofyourgoalandchoosethetype–whetherit’sdestination,duration,event,orpages/screenspersession. Let’ssayyouwanttotracktrafficcomingtoaspecificpageonyoursite,sowechoose“Destination.” ImageSource:googleanalytics Step4:EntertheGoalDetails Next,youwillneedtoentertheURLofthepagewhereyouwantpeopletoland.Thiscouldbeacampaign-specificlandingpageoranyotherpagethat’srelevanttoyourcampaign. Youcanevenassignamonetaryvaluetoeachconversionifnecessary.Thisinvolvesdefininghowmucheachcustomerisworthtoyou.Thisoptioncancomeinhandywhenyou’retrackinglinksinGoogleAnalyticsthatinvolvenoactualsales. ImageSource:googleanalytics Youcanadditionallyturnonthegoalfunnelstoseewhichpathsyourvisitorstakewhentheyconvert.Thisinsightisextremelyusefulformoreeffectivecampaigntargeting. 5:TrackYourPerformance Onceyouhaveyourgoalsetup,youcanviewyourconversiondatabygoingto“Acquisitions”andthen“Overview.”Underthe“Conversion”dropdownmenu,selectthenewgoalthatyouhavesetup. Ifyou’vejuststartedtrackingyourconversions,therewon’tbemuchdatatoseesoyoumighthavetowaitforafewdaysforamorecomprehensivelook. Underyournewgoal,you’llbeabletoseethetopchannelssendingtraffictoyourdestinationpage.Youcanalsoseeagraphofyoursessions,helpingyougetanideaofhowmanytimessomeonehasvisitedyoursite.Next,youcanseeyourconversionrate.Thissectionwillshowyoutheconversionrateofeachacquisitionchannel. ImageSource:googleanalytics Additionally,youcanalsotracklinksinGoogleAnalyticsbasedontheUTMparametersyouhaveassigned.Totracktheperformanceofdifferenttrafficsources,goto“Acquisition”then“AllTraffic.”Select“Source”andyou’llgetanideaofhoweachtrafficsourceiscontributingtoyourwebsitesessions. ImageSource:googleanalytics Similarly,youcanalsoselect“Medium”insteadof“Sources”toseehowdifferentmediumsareperforming. ImageSource:googleanalytics TotrackcampaignlinksinGoogleAnalytics,goto“Acquisition”andthen“Campaign.”Select“AllCampaigns”andyoucanseehowdifferentcampaignsaredrivingtraffictoyoursite. ImageSource:googleanalytics FinalThoughts Whenusedcorrectly,GoogleAnalyticscanbeacomprehensiveperformancetrackingtooltoseehowdifferentcampaignsareperforming.UsethestepsgivenabovetolearnhowtotracklinksinGoogleAnalyticsandgainvaluableperformanceinsights. GotanyusefultipstohelpotherreaderstracklinksinGoogleAnalytics?Letusknowinthecomments. DanMcGaw DanMcGawisanaward-winningentrepreneurandspeaker.HeisthefounderandCEOofEffinAmazing,amarketingtechnologyandanalyticsagency,andthecreatorofUTM.io,acampaignmanagementanddatagovernancetool.Namedoneofthegodfathersofthemarketingtechnologystackandoneoforiginalgrowthhackers,Danhasdecadesofexperienceindigitalmarketing,technology,andanalytics.(Histeamwon’tlethimtakethisouteventhoughhesaysitmakeshimsoundold.) LeaveaReplyCancelreplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked* Comment* Name* Email* Website Δ ThissiteusesAkismettoreducespam.Learnhowyourcommentdataisprocessed.