Using the Google URL Builder
Where is the tool?
You can access the URL Builder here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en
You can shorten your links here: http://goo.gl
What is it?
The Google URL Builder is basically a free tool that Google offers that allows you to take the URL's of your different blog posts, put them in this tool, and append them with different queries so that you can tell where your traffic is coming from. Campaign tracking simply allows you to add special tracking code to your URL, also known as ‘tagging’ URLs, to identify how users are getting to your site.
Take a look at this example:
Instead of using this link in your email marketing campaigns:
http://gsu.edu/13/04/my-post-title
You would use this tracking link:
http://gsu.edu/13/04/my-post-title?utm_source=march7-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ga-lies
Dealing with the big ugly link:
You probably want to shorten this link, especially when you are sending emails. To do this you can visit a range of link shorteners including the Google link shortener found at http://goo.gl. Special Note: Short links are saved in google accounts. We recommend you have a plan to address the account they are saved too.
Were do I find my campaigns in Google Analytics?
If you want to see email deliverability, clicks, and open rates, just log into your email service provider and view the reports. If you want to see who actually converted, log into to your Google Analytics. Here are some examples of conversions you should track:
- contact form submissions
- newsletter subscribers
- event invitations
Traffic Sources > Sources > Campaigns
Here you’re going to see how many visits you received from your campaign, how long they stayed on your website, how many pages on average they visited while they were there, and the bounce rate (the percentage of people that saw just one page and left your site).Keeping thing organized:
It's a good idea to keep a simple spreadsheet to track the campaigns and why you used them. You'll like to have a description and some start/end information about your campaigns especially if you are tracking between years.
It's a good idea to keep a simple spreadsheet to track the campaigns and why you used them. You'll like to have a description and some start/end information about your campaigns especially if you are tracking between years.