What Is a Tracking URL?
A tracking URL is a unique link created for the sole purpose of tracking the origin of your visitors. A tracking URL shows key metrics such as the search engine where a customer clicks the site link from searched keywords and other metrics.
How Does Tracking URL Work?
Through URL tracking, campaigns can be created for referral traffic. Tracking links are created by giving a final arrival URL or destination website and defining where this link will be located.
After creating this unique link, they can be distributed anywhere on the net: in forums, announcements, blogs, social media accounts, newsletters, emails. They are then followed to observe the traffic coming from all sources.
When users click on a tracking link, they will be taken to the landing page they chose. In the redirection course, user data is collected, such as the site it came from or where it is located.
As the URL tracking information is based on link redirects, the number of clicks recorded is 100% accurate. So, suppose the intention is to obtain exact measurements for a specific message that was written on Twitter. In that case, URL tracking should be used, as other analytics tools study traffic through JavaScript or cookies on sites or web pages that they can give smaller amounts, because visits are not tracked if a user’s device blocks cookies or does not support JavaScript.
Why Is Tracking URL Important?
URL tracking gives online marketers the ability to manage campaigns more effectively. It allows them to understand which activities give more value, so that time and money can be invested intelligently; this leads to that even the tightest budgets generate a good return on investment.
The advantage that data analysis gives to digital marketing experts is known, and traditional marketing strategies are long gone. Therefore, the analytics used must generate information as accurately as possible.
The greater the number of tools that can be used to gather information, the more value will be achieved from marketing activities. Preferably, it is best to take advantage of both Google Analytics and some other link tracking tool, making side-by-side comparisons between them in a tool such as DashThis, to monitor how visitors arrive at the website, and also study what they do when they get there.
Google Analytics is a good tool to get an overview, and you can also incorporate a link tracking tool when you want to dig into the details.
Recommended Reading; to identify companies visiting your website from paid campaigns
How To Create A Tracking URL?
Tracking URLs can be created via various ways or via various tools like Google Campaign URL Builder, HubSpot Tracking URL Builder, and can also be created by yourself.
There are several essentials about URL tracking to understand, especially the tracking links that can be created through some of the options and applications listed above.
There are two main parts that makeup custom URLs that Google Analytics and HubSpot can read and create.
- The page URL
Is the URL of the landing page or the link used if there is no intention of using a tracking link.
- The UTM parameters
Are the parameters and variables that give the “tracking” character to the “tracking URL.”
Some parameters are more important than others, but the most important are the five that are named below:
- utm_source (campaign source, required) – Used to identify a search engine, newsletter name, or other source.
- utm_medium (campaign medium, required): used to identify a medium such as email or cost per click.
- utm_campaign (campaign name, required): Used to analyze keywords, used to specify a specific product promotion or strategic campaign.
- utm_term (campaign term, not required): Used for paid searches.
- utm_content (campaign content, not required): Used for A / B testing and content-focused ads.
The order in which the parameters are included in the tracking URL does not matter.
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