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Best way to track traffic through a forwarding/redirecting domain?

by Marakatapolis
27 replies
How do you use tracking analytics for a forwarded/redirected domain name?

Thank you.


(yes I know I can Google it, and I have, but there is a dozen ways to do it, I am asking what works best for Warriors here!)


EDIT: I should clarify, I do not own the domain people land on, so I can't place anything on it to track, so what should I do to still be able to forward/redirect my domain to the sellers landing page but at the same time, track where/when/how/why the traffic is going there, through my domain?
#domain #forwarding or redirecting #track #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author francoza
    Use statcounter.com
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  • Profile picture of the author frqhuss
    Originally Posted by Marakatapolis View Post

    How do you use tracking analytics for a forwarded/redirected domain name?

    Thank you.


    (yes I know I can Google it, and I have, but there is a dozen ways to do it, I am asking what works best for Warriors here!)


    EDIT: I should clarify, I do not own the domain people land on, so I can't place anything on it to track, so what should I do to still be able to forward/redirect my domain to the sellers landing page but at the same time, track where/when/how/why the traffic is going there, through my domain?

    Well personally i would suggest you for statcounter because it works really fine to track things...
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  • Profile picture of the author arnoldsmithh
    Thanks for the info before reading this i don't know how to track traffic through a redirecting domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marakatapolis
    What in the world? I don't understand some of these replies!

    When you forward a domain, there is no page loaded, so where and how would I place the statcounter code into a page that does not exist? I don't think you gentlemen understand what a forwarded domain is. Or, maybe I am the one who doesn't get it! It's entirely possible.

    Bottom line, I need to track traffic through my top level domain name, which will forward or redirect through my affiliate link to the sellers landing page.

    What is the best way to do this? I assume you can't do it by forwarding the domain? Or can you? Then redirecting from a page that loads in the blink of an eye, how would I do that?

    What is the most effective way to do this? Thank you, I really do appreciate any advice on this.
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    • Profile picture of the author WhamSoft
      I don't think you can track stats if you setup forwarding via your domain host.

      The domain that you want to track should have a least one page called index.html

      The html in the index.html should look like this, that way you can track the domain via Google analytics.

      <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
      <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
      <head>
      <meta HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" content="0; url=http://PutTheUrlYouWanttoDirectToHere.com">
      <title>Name of the Page</title></head>

      <body>
      <script type="text/javascript">
      var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
      document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
      </script>
      <script type="text/javascript">
      try {
      var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("analyticsidhere");
      pageTracker._trackPageview();
      } catch(err) {}</script>

      </body>
      </html>
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      • Profile picture of the author GoingSomewhere
        Originally Posted by WhamSoft View Post

        I don't think you can track stats if you setup forwarding via your domain host.

        The domain that you want to track should have a least one page called index.html

        The html in the index.html should look like this, that way you can track the domain via Google analytics.

        <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
        <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
        <head>
        <meta HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" content="0; url=http://PutTheUrlYouWanttoDirectToHere.com">
        <title>Name of the Page</title></head>

        <body>
        <script type="text/javascript">
        var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
        document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
        </script>
        <script type="text/javascript">
        try {
        var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("analyticsidhere");
        pageTracker._trackPageview();
        } catch(err) {}</script>

        </body>
        </html>
        I am using PHP Redirect. How can this be tracked?
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      • Profile picture of the author Polacoste
        I followed your directions and it worked like a charm......thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Marakatapolis
    I found I had to make the delay 1 second, the delay of 0 seconds was not registering (I was using Chartbeat instead of Google Analytics). Do you think there is any problem with this way?


    I read that not all browsers support Meta Refresh, is there a redirect method that is supported by all browsers?
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  • Profile picture of the author Mrs S
    I was interested to know if there was a way to do this. I read somewhere that you should avoid meta refreshes so I just went for a domain redirect. I've been measuring the number of hits to the page via CB hops - of course that doesn't tell me where the traffic came from!
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  • Profile picture of the author Marakatapolis
    Yes, exactly. I would really like to know from where the traffic is coming so I know whats working (can amp it up) and whats not working (can tweak it and try again).
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Truong
    Paul's on the money.

    It's easier to use your cPanel for tracking a redirected domain. No need for all the technical coding, unless you really want to learn more about the demographics of your visitors
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    • Profile picture of the author Marakatapolis
      What's the best method for forwarding/redirecting a domain so that you can see the stats? I just want to know "how many and from where". I don't know if using my host is a smart decision, they only keep stats for 30 days, and anything over 3 days counts against my total disk space (although that shouldn't matter, I have huge disk space).
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      • Profile picture of the author wahmsuzanne
        Originally Posted by Marakatapolis View Post

        What's the best method for forwarding/redirecting a domain so that you can see the stats? I just want to know "how many and from where". I don't know if using my host is a smart decision, they only keep stats for 30 days, and anything over 3 days counts against my total disk space (although that shouldn't matter, I have huge disk space).
        I have wanted to do the same thing ... did you ever get this working properly? Thanks for any help you can give me. *SmiLes* Suzanne
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        • Profile picture of the author Mavrick
          Hello Fellow Warriors~

          Today I was looking for exactly this type of information to help me track hits originating from my own forwarded domain names when I came upon this post while researching the topic in a search engine.

          So, I'll give you my work-around after explaining about the posts, which will, at times, be written with a literary twist that challenges the mind while also being for mine and maybe your.... amusement at artistically annotated alliterations, amiably articulated and assembled .

          First, my forwarded URL points to a site > [as an affiliate] < where I am unable to alter anything(!); I therefore, can not paste any type of "stat code" from ANY of the wonderful known, Free or Paid services that exist online for these purposes.

          Everyone and anyone's answers are always appreciated!
          And although...all advice and actions above are available...as Appropriate; Apparently, all answers added above are actually available as an actual option only on ones own offers on a website where you are able to insert a piece of code.

          So, I completely identify with what the original poster of this thread was most likely experiencing while seriously seeking some sly scientific suedo-secret swiftly solving this issue. Unfortunately, up until this point I haven't yet identified any special third party solution specifically aimed at resolving this particular situation.


          My thought was to forward the domain to a site like bit.ly , which would then track AND redirect your site to your affiliate link. The issue that may arise is needing meta tags. But I believe you can insert them on your own when forwarding with most domain forwarding services provided through your Domain Name Provider or Host.
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          • Profile picture of the author imjustgtd
            Try and install Prosper 202 (google it) on your host. Then for your redirect domains point it to the URL for a campaign you setup in tracking202. It has a small learning curve, but then you can see all the clicks that are coming through your link, you could even setup a postback pixel/url to have placed on the offer so you can see your conversions vs your clicks in your tracking202 stats. I don't know of any non-host-required options for what you want to do. The only other option I could think of is pointing your redirected url to a page on a domain controlled by you that has google analytics or statcounter on it, which has a delayed meta refresh of 1 second or so.
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  • Profile picture of the author wrongnumber
    well, in my case, i built my own... ... php is simply great!...

    PS: the final version is so awesome, that it can handle industrial level traffics, 10k hits a second or so... )
    Signature
    Buyers Wanted Urgent!...

    ~ Made 4 Sales with this site (~$105)
    ~ No Promotion done at all, just 5 hours of work I did
    ~ No Time To Work On This Anymore
    ~ Giving away for cheap! Need Money!
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    • Profile picture of the author TonyR02
      The easiest and most attractive way that I have found to do this is by using godaddy for the url forwards. They have an option for any of your domains to purchase whats called inside analytics. This service runs right at $3 a month and must be paid annually. However, what I typically do is find 10 different niches I am interested in and sign up for a bulk package. Typically costs around 250 a year for 10 sites. This allows you to have all the tracking for your cheap .info sites and still have the attractive urls that the url shortening services don't provide.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sysbase
    GA will show a redirect as a refferal domain us that simple.
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    Learn How I Make 6x-10x Times More With Prosperent Then Adsense Now!
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  • Profile picture of the author uebomoyi
    If you have a wordpress site, you could download this plugin called a "pretty link." It allows you to track your clicks and it's very effective and simple to use. Also, BudURL may help as well, but I've been sticking with the pretty link for awhile.
    Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author Yann Potiez
    Thanks warriors for this great discution.
    I'm going to use pretty link while figuring out how to set up my first prosper202 campaign.
    I hope all the meta will be kept from the offer URL and this will not affect my rank for an indexed site.
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    • Profile picture of the author 4todayonly
      I use a plugin called affiliate link cloaking which will give you all the stats that you need.

      or

      Call it an SID, CID, MID, TID, ... but no matter what you call sub campaign affiliate link tracking, you sure better be using it.


      Sub campaign tracking is critical in helping you determine which affiliate links on your site are working and which aren't, rather than using a generic link site-wide that only shows you what your website makes as a whole with each program.


      Unfortunately, almost every network calls sub campaign tracking something different, has a different way to implement it, has different ways and options of viewing sub campaign reporting and usually doesn't promote the feature (well anyway) to new affiliates. I often have to dig to find the proper method for each network if it's been a while since the last time I'd used it.
      Below you'll find the method of creating sub campaign ID links for each of the 6 "bigger" as well as how to view those sub campaign reports with each. This is as much an aggregate "reminder note" for me to be able to reference personally as it is a "how to" post for you. ;-)
      Commission Junction - SID Tracking


      calls their sub campaign tracking an "SID" which stands for Site ID. And in my opinion, they definitely make it the easiest of all the networks to figure out how to add it.
      Adding a SID to a CJ Link

      Find the link you want to use and click Get HTML code or Get JavaScript. Choose the website you wish to use the link on from the Web Site dropdown and then in the SID box, put whatever SID code you wish to. (for example, I might use "SIDEBAR" to denote it was a link that would appear in that site's sidebar). Click Update Link Code after you've entered the desired SID in the box and the "wizard" will add your SID to the link for you.
      Now, you don't need to use the wizard to add an SID to your CJ link, but I find for new affiliates, creating new links, you might as well. But let's say you wish to update CJ affiliate links currently on your site that you've already generated.


      Simply take your current CJ affiliate link and add ?sid=YOURSID at the end of it:
      www.kqzyfj.com/click-1111111-11111111?sid=WHATEVERYOUWANT
      Commission Junction will automatically begin tracking that SID once it's been clicked on and start showing it in your reports.
      Viewing your CJ SID stats

      While CJ makes it easy to add an SID, a decent reporting interface showing the stats for them is another issue. The only way I can see to view them is via the "Commission Detail" screen or report. To run a Commission Detail Report you need to go to Run Reports > Transaction Reports > Report Options and run a Commission Detail Report under "Select Report Type" and the when the "Filter Results By" section updates, you can choose to change the "Order By" drop down bar to Order By: SID and click Generate Report.
      If you want grand totals for each SID or other aggregate totals, you'll need to download the report and do it via excel.
      Linkshare - Signature Tracking


      First, I hate the Linkshare backend. It's confusing as hell and a usability nightmare. So, finding anything is a chore. Linkshare first called their sub campaign tracking an SID but later moved to calling it a "Signature" (don't ask me, no idea).
      Adding a Signature to a Linkshare Link

      To have a wizard add the sub campaign tracking (Signature) to a Linkshare link for you, you'll need to go to Links > Deep Linking. Choose the advertiser you want to make the link for from the drop down, check off single link or multiple links, add the URL of the merchant's site you want to turn into an affiliate link, choose the output format and then put your sub campaign tracking into the "U1 Value" box (I don't know why there's yet another name for it).
      I'm not sure why there isn't a wizard to add a Signature to a standard graphical or text link, but to my knowledge, there currently is not. And if the advertiser isn't setup to ALLOW deep linking - or you need a link to their homepage and not a deep page, then you can't use the wizard for them at all. [headdesk]
      So in most cases you'll need to add the signature to your Linkshare link manually by taking your current Linkshare affiliate link and appending &u1=YOURSIGNATURE to the end of it:
      http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/...HATEVERYOUWANT
      Linkshare will automatically begin tracking that Signature ID once it's been clicked on and start showing it in your reports.
      Viewing your Linkshare Signature stats

      To view the reports for your "Signatures" go to Reports > Advanced Reports. Choose the date range you wish to view and then under report type, select Signature Activity or Signature Orders depending on what you want to view, choose the advertiser you want to look at and click View Report. It will show you the total statistics for clicks, sales and commissions of each Signature ID you're using.
      Shareasale - Afftrack Tracking


      ShareASale calls their sub campaign tracking "Afftrack" which is their shorthand for "Affiliate Defined Tracking".
      Adding a Afftrack ID to a ShareASale Link

      If you normally get your links through Links > Get a Link / Banner you won't see the option to add an Afftrack ID to those predefined links via a wizard. To find the wizard to add the Afftrack ID into the link for you, you must go to Links > Create a Custom Link. Pick a merchant from the drop down, add your Afftrack ID where it says "Optional - Additional Tracking for your end (afftrack)", choose the page of the merchant site you wish to create the link for and click Create Custom Link.
      However, as with every other network, you can easily append the Afftrack ID to your ShareASale link yourself by adding &afftrack=YOURAFFTRACKID to the end of the end of it:
      http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?C=11&U=1111&M=11&afftrack=WHATEVERYOUWANT
      IMPORTANT NOTE: Most generic ShareASale links already include the &afftrack= parameter within one, but without YOURAFFTRACKID after the equal sign. If the SAS link you're using ALREADY includes that parameter, then you only need to add in the YOURAFFTRACKID part.
      ShareASale will automatically begin tracking that Afftrack ID once it's been clicked on and start showing it in your reports.
      Viewing your ShareASale Afftrack stats

      Honestly, the ShareASale reporting system is always a little confusing and cluttered to me. If there's a better way to view Afftrack stats then the ways I list, please feel free to share it in the comments below.
      If you go to Reports > Activity Detail you can run an activity detail report that will show you all the sales you've made in the date range you've specified individually and if an Afftrack ID was specified for the sale, it will show you that on the right hand side. To see an aggregate Afftrack stat report go to Reports > Traffic Report. From there, you can choose a Date Range and Specific Merchant. Once you choose a Specific Merchant from the drop down, a "Group Report by" option will appear and you can select Afftrack Value from the drop down and click Refresh Report to see a reporting of your clicks and sales by Afftrack ID.
      Google Affiliate Network - MID Tracking


      I honestly will only use Google Affiliate Network (GAN) when absolutely forced to (meaning I need a merchant and they don't have an additional program anywhere else). If you don't know that they call their sub campaign tracking an MID (which stands for Member ID) then you'd be hard pressed to find any documentation on it or that sub campaign tracking even exists.
      Adding a MID to a Google Affiliate Network Link

      The only way that I have found to add an MID to a GAN link is to do it manually. To do so you'll need to add the MID tracking to the end of your GAN links by adding ?mid=YOURMID at the end of it:
      pubid=00000000000000000&mid=WHATEVERYOUWANT
      GAN will automatically begin tracking that MID once it's been clicked on and start showing it in your reports.
      Viewing your GAN MID stats

      The easiest way that I've found to view MID stats is to click on Reports > Activity Detail. It will show you the MID associated with each sale reported if one exists. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, you can only see SALES generated by an MID and not the number of clicks the MID has received or any other statistics. Additionally, as with CJ, there doesn't appear to be a way to view totals for a specific MID. So if you want to get more detailed numbers, you'll need to export the report and do some additional work in excel.
      Pepperjam Network - SID Tracking


      Pepperjam refers to their sub campaign tracking as an SID, which stands for Site ID.
      Adding a SID to a Pepperjam Link

      Pepperjam definitely has their shit together when it comes to their SID wizards. Pretty much every way you can possibly generate a link through their admin panel allows you to append an SID to the link. I'm going to use the Banners link wizard in this example. Click on Creatives and find the merchant you want to create a link for in your list. Click Banners on the right side and a wizard will appear. Add an SID into the SID box and click Update. The wizard will add the SID you specified to ALL of the links listed in the banners section. Then choose a link as you normally would.
      You can also manually add the SID tracking to your current Pepperjam links by adding ?sid=YOURSID at the end of it:
      http://www.gopjn.com/A/R0BGSkRFQ0BFF...HATEVERYOUWANT
      Pepperjam will automatically begin tracking that SID once it's been clicked on and start showing it in your reports.
      Viewing your Pepperjam SID stats

      In my opinion, they also have hands down the best SID reporting interface and reports. To view your SID stats, go to Reports > Transaction Reports > SID Reports. Pepperjam will show you the clicks, sales and commission associated with each SID you're using. You can also limit the report to only show the stats for a specific SID.
      Clickbank - TID Tracking


      Holy hell was it hard to find out how to add sub campaign tracking to Clickbank links the first time I went to figure it out. Probably because I never thought to look for "TID" (which is what they call their sub campaign tracking) and searching for anything but that brings up little helpful information.
      Adding a TID to a Clickbank Link

      To add a TID to a Clickbank link, you'll need to add it to the link manually by adding ?tid=YOURTID to the end of your current Clickbank link:
      hop.clickbank.net/?tid=WHATEVERYOUWANT
      Clickbank will automatically begin tracking that TID once it's been clicked on and start showing it in your reports.
      Viewing your Clickbank TID stats

      Viewing the stats for your TID reports in Clickbank is almost as easy. Go to Reports > Transactions. Select a Date Range and click Go to see a listing of all sales you've generated in that timeframe. If a TID is associated with the sale, it will show in the TID column of the report. You can also set the report to show you ONLY sales from a specific TID as well.
      However, if would appear you can only see SALES generated by a specific TID. Their basic analytics reporting doesn't show TID in the output.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryan2008
    If you are using wordpress they are plenty of plugins you can use to track affiliate links.
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author latebus
    Originally Posted by Marakatapolis View Post

    How do you use tracking analytics for a forwarded/redirected domain name?

    Thank you.


    (yes I know I can Google it, and I have, but there is a dozen ways to do it, I am asking what works best for Warriors here!)


    EDIT: I should clarify, I do not own the domain people land on, so I can't place anything on it to track, so what should I do to still be able to forward/redirect my domain to the sellers landing page but at the same time, track where/when/how/why the traffic is going there, through my domain?
    I have an easier solution if you would like, I do domain forwarding tracking realtime, let me know if you need help. you can read about it here:

    Domain Forwarding Tracking to Track Online searches from Off line Advertising sources- Track My Ads!

    and see an example of it here:

    Traffic for ohiomusic.com
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  • Profile picture of the author selfdisciplineacademy
    Statcounter is a great option.

    I just use ClickMagick to integrate tracking into my clicks.

    ClickMagick link > MY optin page > MY re-direct page (Conversion code from ClickMagick) > Affiliate Offer

    Hope this helps
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  • Profile picture of the author sroysfsu
    ClickMagick (No affiliate link) works great for this. You can setup the forwarded link in ClickMagick and give you the stats you are looking for.
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