Google URL builder is a complementary tool from Google which allows you to add custom tracking parameters to your campaign URL. This makes it easy to track in Google Analytics.
Last month, many marketers including me were in for a surprise to see Google moving the Google URL builder to a new location. This is perhaps, a tool which is used by marketers at least once a day or maybe several times a day/ As marketers, our aim is to drive as much traffic as we can to our website and other channels. The next part of our everyday job is to convert as many of those visitors as possible into long-term customers.
If you don’t use Google URL builder yet, then don’t fret. There are several other tools for marketers to create custom URLs. I would however advise you to check how easily you can use Google URL builder to track your campaigns on Google Analytics.
So, what is Campaign Tracking?
Campaign tracking basically allows you to add a custom code to your URL or URLs so that you can find out for yourself how many users are on your website. Or, in simpler terms how much traffic you are generating, conversions, best performing channels and much more.
So, how do you tell which email marketing campaigns were successful? Easy. Use the Google URL builder to track your campaigns.
Here’s what the difference between URLs look like.
Normal URL: http://www.esanosys.com/services/marketing-automation/ URL with Tagging: http://www.esanosys.com/services/marketing-automation/?utm_source=blog%20The%20revamped%20Google%20URLBuilder&utm_medium=click&utm_content=contentThe extra bits and pieces that you see in the latter example is what makes up the “tagging” part of the URL builder. These tags help you to track your traffic.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to use this tool.
Step 1: Go to the Google URL Builder website.
Step 2: The first dialog box is named website URL. Here you can put in the URL you want to track. You can also track referrals to your page from other websites with this tool. This will further help you with your quest of producing top-notch content.
Step 3: The next field that you have to compulsory fill up is campaign source. Do keep in mind that out of the five fields that are available, two are compulsory. Campaign source is one such field. You can add the source name which can be name of your blog article or it could also be a social media post or anything else.
Step 4: Campaign medium is now optional field in the new Google URL builder. You can add anything that you want as medium as long as it is relevant to your post. Commonly used mediums are click, cpc, banner etc.
Step 5: You need a campaign name to track your campaign in Google Analytics. Choose something distinct and simple that will be easily recognizable or simply use the name of your campaign here.
Step 6: Now you will see that an URL has automatically generated below. In the earlier version of this tool, one had to click on generate in order to generate the URL. So, this is a welcome change. If you want you can copy it to your clipboard. You can also shorten the URL if you wish to.
It’s a pretty simple tool with great functionality. It’s a must-have for any marketer at any given moment! So, go ahead and start tracking your campaigns!
