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Tracking Craigslist Views with Google Analytics

by Trivum
11 replies
Does anyone know of an *easy* way to track Craigslist ad views with Google Analytics?

I will have an image in the ad that resides on my server, and so I was thinking that would be the key, but how would Analytics track that?

I know there is a feature called "Event Tracking," and I've started to look into that, but it looks as if it's going to be somewhat complicated. I thought I would ask here before I spent time figuring something out that I might not need.

Thanks.
#analytics #craigslist #google #tracking #views
  • Profile picture of the author adamajet02
    Use Craigslistadtracker.com. Professional and easy to use.
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    MarketersTrack.com - Reliable & Affordable Tracker for Affiliate Marketers. Super Affiliates use this Tracker to Increase their Profits.
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    • Profile picture of the author Trivum
      Originally Posted by adamajet02 View Post

      Use Craigslistadtracker.com. Professional and easy to use.
      Thanks, but any idea how much it costs?

      It says, "Sign up for free," but it doesn't say how much it costs down the road. I never "sign up for free" if they aren't up front with me about the real cost. ... Never a good sign in my book.
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    • Profile picture of the author adamajet02
      A more versatile tracking tool would be MarketersTrack.com.
      Signature
      MarketersTrack.com - Reliable & Affordable Tracker for Affiliate Marketers. Super Affiliates use this Tracker to Increase their Profits.
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  • Profile picture of the author BizBoost
    How to track craigslist ads The Ecommerce Blog

    Make sure to click the "Thanks" button.

    Best wishes,
    Eric
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  • Profile picture of the author thomasr
    its simple....

    in analytics go to traffic -> referring sites -> then sort by craigslist
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  • Profile picture of the author Jack Duncan
    Trivum,
    Just to clarify, I assume you are referring to tracking "impressions" as well as visits to your site...am I correct?

    What BizBoost suggested is one great way to get real time tracking...but if you want to keep all your stats in one dashboard, or you want to use the advanced tracking and segmenting features in Google Analytics, I think this approach should work better.

    Google Analytics used to have this as a standard feature years ago, to be used in Email Open Rate tracking, but they removed it.

    I believe this method still works well though:

    1. Create a 1 x 1 pixel img tag.

    Like this:

    <IMG SRC='' width='1' height='1' border='0'>


    2. Pass in your Google Analytics url with tagging...

    Use this page to tag:
    Tool: URL Builder - Analytics Help

    Like this:
    Code:
    <IMG SRC='http://my-dummy-website.com/?utm_sou..._campaign=Name' width='1' height='1' border='0'>
    3. Paste that in your Craigslist ad HTML...

    Make sure the page that is being requested has your GA tracking code installed on it.

    When the image is requested, it will request the page, and the visitor will be tracked via your GA dashboard.

    Hope this helps,
    Jack Duncan
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    • Profile picture of the author brody1979
      I use MonitHits.com It's the only free site I fond devoted to Craigslist tracking.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan Grossman
      Originally Posted by Jack Duncan View Post

      Like this:
      Code:
      <IMG SRC='http://my-dummy-website.com/?utm_sou..._campaign=Name' width='1' height='1' border='0'>
      3. Paste that in your Craigslist ad HTML...

      Make sure the page that is being requested has your GA tracking code installed on it.
      This wouldn't work. While it would generate a request to that URL, the browser takes the response and attempts to display it as an image, it doesn't run it through the HTML and JavaScript parsers and renderer. The JavaScript at that URL never gets run, which means Google Analytics is not loaded or sent anything, so nothing will ever show up in your analytics.

      What would work is if you used a conversion tracker that provides image pixels for conversion tracking. Then you can embed the pixel in the post the same way you're describing, except it'd actually work since there's no javascript execution involved.
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      Improvely: Built to track, test and optimize your marketing.

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  • Profile picture of the author spi007
    Jack Duncan,

    First, Thank You, second I can't make it work
    So when I try the method you outline I get a 'your posting is being blocked' message! Can you go into more detail maybe I'm doing something wrong here? All I did was insert the img tag with analytics url into my item's 'description field'. Am I missing a step?
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    • Profile picture of the author spi007
      so i got past my first mistake ( i was inserting the url of my edit posting when i needed to submit the url of my actual posting ) next question... how and where do i go to see the analytics? I used the link you supplied to create a google analytics url but i don't see where it ties to my google analytics account???
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