Have you ever wondered where your website visitors are coming from? Or how they found you and why they decided to check-out your business? As a small business owner, your time is precious. When you spend time or money on marketing—or hire someone to do it for you—you want to know if those efforts are actually bringing people to your website.
Buckle up! This blog is long and full of a lot of technical details.
I have done my best to keep it simple and easy to follow. You will even find a printable worksheet and a tool to help you implement tracking links yourself. If you ever want help setting up these or other strategies that I share, feel free to reach out.
My small business is all about helping your small business thrive inside the marketing world!
How do you know what’s working and what’s not?
Marketing can sometimes feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. You post content, share links, and do your best to stay consistent – but it’s hard to know which actions are actually bringing people to your website.
That’s where tracking links come in.
Tracking links allow you to see exactly where your website visitors found you. Instead of guessing whether your social media posts, emails, or even paper flyers are helping your business grow, you can actually see the data for yourself.
And the good news? Creating tracking links is so much easier than it sounds. In this blog I’m going to walk you through a simple step-by-step process so you can start tracking your marketing efforts right away.
First: What Is a Tracking Link?
A tracking link is pretty much what it sounds like. It’s a link that takes someone to your website (just like normal) with the added bonus of tracking info. This way you can tell exactly where they clicked that link: whether that’s your Facebook page, your Google business profile, or even if they scanned a QR code on your flyer.
The tracking link tells Google Analytics exactly which link was clicked or scanned. How does it do that? By adding some basic details when you create the link:
- The Source: Where the link is posted (i.e. Facebook)
- The Medium: What type of post it is (i.e. Blog)
- The Campaign: What this “campaign” or specific post is about (i.e. Spring Promo)
Here is an example to show you the difference:
- A normal link may look like this:
- YourWebsite.com/Blog/SpringPromo
- A tracking link may look like this:
- YourWebsite.com/Blog/SpringPromo?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=SpringPromo
Both of these links will take visitors to the exact same place on your website. The only difference: the tracking link shares those extra little details with Google Analytics. And don’t worry! While this may look complicated, you don’t have to create the links manually.
Google has a free tool that can build tracking links for you!
What Information Do You Need For a Tracking Link?
When you open Google’s tracking link builder you’ll see a lot of different fields. Looking at it can feel very overwhelming! To get started you really only need four main things. Each of these are indicated on the form with a * symbol.
1. Website URL
The first thing you need is the URL for the website page that you want people to visit.
Examples:
- Your homepage
- A blog post
- One of your service or product pages
- Your appointment booking page
2. Campaign Source
Next you want to decide where the link is going to be posted. This information tells Google Analytics where your website visitor came from.
Examples:
- Flyer
3. Campaign Medium
The medium can be a bit confusing at first, because it sounds just like the source. But this extra detail is used for the type of link that you are sharing. You don’t have to get too technical here, it just needs to make sense to you and be something that you understand. For example, all of your social media posts may just be “post” or if it’s your weekly Friday cookie special, “cookie special post.” It’s really up to you!
Examples:
- post
- social
- blog
- ad
4. Campaign Name
First let’s talk about what a campaign is. Because, if you aren’t familiar with marketing, it could be confusing. There are two basic ways that I like to break this down: you can either get very specific or go more general. If you want to get very specific, every post can be a different campaign with its own campaign name. If you want to go more general, different types of posts with links can have a campaign name.
Here’s a specific example to help this make sense.
Let’s say that you own a bakery and every Friday you post the next week’s cookie specials on all your social media sites.
- Here’s an example for getting specific: For the medium you could use “FridaySpecial” and then you can give each week a different name (week1 or week2). You can also choose to do it based on cookie type (chocolate, sprinkles). Doing it this way will make it possible for you to know the exact post that brought visitors to your website.
- Here’s an example for going more general: For the medium you can use a more general term like “post” (to set it apart from emails, blogs, newsletters, flyers, etc). Then you can use the term “FridaySpecial” for the campaign name instead. Doing this will group all of your “Friday Special” posts together in your analytics, making it possible to see how well this type of campaign is doing. However, you will not be able to see which week’s specific post brought them to your website.
How to Create a Tracking Link (Step-by-Step)
Google provides a free tool called the Campaign URL Builder that can create these tracking links for you. I have created a printable cheat sheet with all the steps to use it!
- Search for Google Campaign URL Builder or go here (you can copy/paste the URL if you don’t want to click it): https://ga-dev-tools.google/ga4/campaign-url-builder/
- Download my printable Tracking Link Worksheet:
Why Tracking Links Matter
Without tracking links, most marketing efforts look the same in your analytics. You may be able to see some details; like, when they come from a paid ad, organically from Google (or another search engine), or when they come from your social media. However, you won’t be able to see those extra details: like which specific post or type of post brought them to your site.
With tracking links, you can start answering important questions like:
- Which posts bring us the most visitors?
- Which platforms drive the most traffic to our website?
- Which paid ads actually work?
- Did anyone scan the QR codes on that flyer we sent out?
These details help you focus your time on the strategies that actually grow your business!
Don’t Overthink It
Like many things in marketing, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed before you even start. But remember something important: You don’t have to do everything perfectly right away.
Start small. Create a few tracking links for your Google or social media posts and see what happens. Don’t stress too much over the “right” wording – just make sure you write down what you used. You can use an Excel or Google Sheet to keep track of your links. (This will help you a lot when you review your Google Analytics later.) Over time you’ll start building valuable data that will help guide your future marketing decisions!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need tracking links for every marketing post?
You don’t necessarily need every single link in every post to be trackable. However, using tracking links consistently can give you valuable insight into which marketing efforts are actually driving traffic to your website. Over time, this data helps you focus on the strategies that bring you the most visitors.
Can I use tracking links for social media posts?
Yes! Tracking links work great for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. When someone clicks the link in your post, your website analytics can tell you which platform brought that visitor to your site.
Will tracking links affect my website SEO?
No. Tracking links do not harm your SEO because they simply add information for analytics tools. They help you understand your marketing performance but do not change how search engines rank your website.
Do I need Google Analytics to use tracking links?
Tracking links work best when you have analytics installed on your website. Tools like Google Analytics can read the tracking information and show you where visitors came from, which campaigns worked best, and how people interact with your site.
What We’ll Cover Next Time
Tracking links are only half the story. In a future blog, I’ll show you how to find and understand this data inside Google Analytics. This will help you start using data to make smarter marketing decisions.
Marketing works best when you track everything to see what’s working. Then you know what things need improvement or changes.
If you’d like help setting up your website analytics, Google Business Page, or creating a marketing strategy, I’d love to work with you. Let’s build a system that supports your specific business goals and growth!