How to retrieve http header info

DavidMeade · 10-01-2009, 04:58 AM

I have a site that gets good traffic from Google and I want to track what keywords are converting from the natural searches.

Can anyone tell me how I can use php to grab the keyword information when someone lands on my page after finding it on a search engine.

I will then attach that keyword to a variabl (I can do this part

)

Cheers,
Dave

holla22 · 10-01-2009, 10:14 AM

Hi you can grab a url string variable sent through google and store it in a msql database.

Look for the this code in the url string. "www.google.co.za/search?q=make+money&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&client=firefox-a&rlz=1R1GGGL_en___ZA347"

where q=make+money is what you want to store

so you will get the variable by doing the following

$keyword = $_GET['q'];

This will store the search term in a variable called "keyword" now you just need to store the variable data in the in the mysql database table.

Hope this is useful?

wayfarer · 10-01-2009, 11:09 AM

That's not really a helpful solution, and is actually incorrect. The $_GET variables are only available if they are present in YOUR website URL.

I believe the only way to do this is with the "referer" (notice the incorrect spelling, it is actually correct). The referer header doesn't always get sent by the browser, but it is usually there.

http://www.electrictoolbox.com/php-h...erer-variable/

You should then dissect the url string to find what keyword is being searched for. The search term in a Google search looks something like this:

Code:

http://www.google.com/search?q=hello+world&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Here, I searched for "hello world". So, the term is in the "q=hello+world" part. You will need the PHP function urldecode to get the literal string. To get that string, you will need to explode the url string, first at the "?" deliminator, then at the "&" delimiter. Then, cycle through the second array, and when you have the string "q=" at the beginning of an item, remove it, and what is left is the search term. This sounds complicated, but it isn't that bad.

Steve Diamond · 10-01-2009, 11:59 AM

Wayfarer is correct. You have to look at the REFERER. I found this code here. It seems to work fine in a quick test.

PHP Code:

  $parsed_url=parse_url($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']);

if(stripos($parsed_url['host'],'google'))

{

parse_str($parsed_url['query'],$parsed_query_string);

$keyword_string=$parsed_query_string['q'];

}

Steve

holla22 · 10-01-2009, 02:39 PM

Oh well that is the way I'm doing it and it works fine for me. Yes you obviously want to see who the referrer is like google, yahoo, bing etc, but that was just a simple quick explanation. I just thought that you already knew the rest

DavidMeade · 10-01-2009, 04:16 PM

hey fellas,

thanks for your help with this, much appreciated.

Dave

10-01-2009, 04:58 AM	#1
DavidMeade Active Warrior Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: , , Ireland. Posts: 92 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	How to retrieve http header info I have a site that gets good traffic from Google and I want to track what keywords are converting from the natural searches. Can anyone tell me how I can use php to grab the keyword information when someone lands on my page after finding it on a search engine. I will then attach that keyword to a variabl (I can do this part ) Cheers, Dave

10-01-2009, 10:14 AM	#2
holla22 Morné Zeelie War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: , , South Africa. Posts: 74 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: How to retrieve http header info Hi you can grab a url string variable sent through google and store it in a msql database. Look for the this code in the url string. "www.google.co.za/search?q=make+money&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&client=firefox-a&rlz=1R1GGGL_en___ZA347" where q=make+money is what you want to store so you will get the variable by doing the following $keyword = $_GET['q']; This will store the search term in a variable called "keyword" now you just need to store the variable data in the in the mysql database table. Hope this is useful?
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10-01-2009, 11:09 AM	#3
wayfarer Web Developer Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Asheville, NC USA Posts: 420 Thanks: 18 Thanked 57 Times in 51 Posts Social Networking	Re: How to retrieve http header info That's not really a helpful solution, and is actually incorrect. The $_GET variables are only available if they are present in YOUR website URL. I believe the only way to do this is with the "referer" (notice the incorrect spelling, it is actually correct). The referer header doesn't always get sent by the browser, but it is usually there. http://www.electrictoolbox.com/php-h...erer-variable/ You should then dissect the url string to find what keyword is being searched for. The search term in a Google search looks something like this: Code: http://www.google.com/search?q=hello+world&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a Here, I searched for "hello world". So, the term is in the "q=hello+world" part. You will need the PHP function urldecode to get the literal string. To get that string, you will need to explode the url string, first at the "?" deliminator, then at the "&" delimiter. Then, cycle through the second array, and when you have the string "q=" at the beginning of an item, remove it, and what is left is the search term. This sounds complicated, but it isn't that bad.
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10-01-2009, 11:59 AM	#4
Steve Diamond Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ, USA. Posts: 1,025 Thanks: 120 Thanked 158 Times in 115 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: How to retrieve http header info Wayfarer is correct. You have to look at the REFERER. I found this code here. It seems to work fine in a quick test. PHP Code: `$parsed_url=parse_url($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']); if(stripos($parsed_url['host'],'google')) { parse_str($parsed_url['query'],$parsed_query_string); $keyword_string=$parsed_query_string['q']; }` Steve
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10-01-2009, 02:39 PM	#5
holla22 Morné Zeelie War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: , , South Africa. Posts: 74 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: How to retrieve http header info Oh well that is the way I'm doing it and it works fine for me. Yes you obviously want to see who the referrer is like google, yahoo, bing etc, but that was just a simple quick explanation. I just thought that you already knew the rest
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10-01-2009, 04:16 PM	#6
DavidMeade Active Warrior Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: , , Ireland. Posts: 92 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How to retrieve http header info hey fellas, thanks for your help with this, much appreciated. Dave