Tracking Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisements
By tracking Pay Per Click advertisements (i.e. sponsored links in search engines), it it is possible to determine which ads have been most successful at drawing visitors to the site. The tracking will also reveal which search words have been effective from the company’s point of view. It is possible to determine which search words brought the most active visitors and/or which words were most successful at bringing paying customers. The most common term used, when referring to the PPT ads is “AdWords”, but this term actually only refers to search engine advertising conducted through Google.
Following-up on PPT advertisement requires two things; A) an identification tag needs to be added to the ad's target URL-address and B) this tag has to be added to the Snoobi’s Ad Tracking settings as well.
A) Snoobi-tracking is largely based on the storing of URL-addresses. For this reason, the target page of the ad needs to be given a unique address, in order to be link visitors to a particular PPC ad.
B) If a Pay Per Click ad has not been included into Snoobi's Ad Tracking settings, then the search terms will appear to be natural in the report, i.e. not from an sponsored advertisement.
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We recommend that the identification tag for the ad is added before publishing it. There are two underlying reasons for this recommendation. • Visitors coming through a PPC ad can be separated from other search engine visitors only after the identification tag is added to the ad. Visitors that have arrived to the site through the ad prior to this cannot be redefined as PPC visitors. • Changes to the advertisement's target URL-address are to be avoided, due to the fact that these changes will erase the CTR (Click Through Rate) history, thus risking a decline in the positioning of the ad. |
Ad tracking is a process of three stages that usually requires input from at least two persons. Below is a step-by-step description of the whole process.
STAGE 1. The Snoobi tag
Make sure that the landing page of the ad has a Snoobi tag installed into its source code.
If it is not possible to add the tag onto the landing page, create a redirect-page through Snoobi's settings and utilize the link it creates as the target address in stages two and three.
STAGE 2. Changes to the PPC management / PPC settings
The second stage of the ad tracking process is usually implemented by a third party / an outside firm, who has produced the PPC campaign. Most likely this firm is an advertising agency or a company specialized in search engine optimization, though it is also possible to make the necessary adjustments by yourself, assuming that you have access to administrator passwords to the PPC management account.
1. Log into the PPC management account where the ad has been configured.
For example; Google AdWords' management settings can be found from http://adwords.google.com
2. Find out where you can make adjustments to the landing page of the ad, i.e. where the ad takes you when you click on it.
AdWords users: Click here if you want see a detailed description on finding the settings for the landing page in your AdWords account.
Selecting and modifying the URL-address of the landing page
3. We recommend using the ad=xxx parameter as the ad’s identification tag, but other identification tags can be used as well, as long as they do not affect the functionality of the landing page.
The landing page can be any page on the site, not just the front page. Let’s say that the landing page is http://www.company.com/manufacturers/
In this case, the ad identification tag is added right after the target address, as follows:
If landing address does not contain a question mark -> ?ad=Google_spring_2008
Example: www.company.com/manufacturers/?ad=Google_spring_2008
If landing address already contains a question mark -> &ad=Google_spring_2008
Example: www.company.com/index.php?lang=1&ad=Google_spring_2008
You may replace the “Google_spring_2008” with an id tag of your choice, though it is clearest when containing the following information.
- In which search engine is the ad located
- Which campaign are we talking about?
- When is the ad being shown?
- For example: “google_campaign_08feb” or "Yandex_product_launch_week5"
It is safest to avoid using Scands (å, ä, ö) and special characters (such as é, ü) as well as replace empty spaces with dashes or underlines.
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Exceptions in selecting the target address
If any of the above holds true, the re-direction can be made through the Snoobi settings. This is an easy fix to ad tracking problems, since the re-direct page can be used as a landing page for the ad. Direct use of the address, in the cases mentioned above, could cause problems, either with the functionality of tracking, or with the look of the site. If the redirection has been done through Snoobi settings, the id tag should not be added to it. The address, as it is, should be inserted into the search engine management. For example: http://redir.snoobi.com/redir.php?account=company_com&id=Google_spring_2008 |
The clearest way to find out is to let the page fully load itself. Once the page has loaded, copy the address from the browser in its entirety and add the identification tag behind it.A slash (/) is usually added before the id tag when the address of the website ends into a folder. For example: www.company.com/folder/?ad=xxx or www.company.com/?ad=xxxA slash (/) is not included before the id tag,when the address of the page ends with a filename. For example: http://www.company.com/folder/file.html?ad=xxx |
Image 1. Modifying the landing address of an ad in Google AdWords
4. Save the ad
5. At this point it is useful to check that the link is still working. This can be done by visiting the target address. Proceed by copying the target address combined with the ad identifier (http://www.company.com/manufacturers/?ad=Google_spring_2008) into the address bar of the browser and then pressing enter.
The identification tag of an ad works if the page loads normally and the id tag remains in sight on the address bar. If the ad tag disappears, then the target address should be created by using the Snoobi redirect tool.
Image 2. An example of an id tag showing on the address bar
6. If you have more than one ad defined into the PPC management, repeat the process with each of these ads by following the guidelines presented in step 2. Whenever possible, give a different id to each of the ad campaigns, so that it is possible to distinguish them from one another.
STAGE 3. Changes into Snoobi's settings
The third stage is usually done by the end user, since it requires a password to the Snoobi account. User privileges have of the higher “Administrator” level in order to proceed with the necessary adjustments. The advertisement agencies responsible for the ad campaigns do not necessarily have the possession of the necessary user privileges to apply the necessary changes.
1. Login to Snoobi settings at http://www.snoobi.com
2. Choose Ad Tracking from the settings
3. Create a new ad tracking
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Ad identifier: %ad=Google_spring_2008%
In other words, the same ad identifier is the same id tag that was used in the Stage 2 (part 3). If you are not in charge of your ad campaign, always remember to confirm changes into the landing address from the producer of the ad campaign!
Percentage signs need to be added before and after the ad identifier in the Snoobi setting. Percentage signs (%) allows the content of the URL-address to be anything at all. Without the percent signs, the ad identification does not work.
We recommend that you choose a different ad identifier for each ad to avoid them lumping together.
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Ad name: Give a self-explanatory, clear name to the ad. The name should ideally contain information about where the ad is located, when it is being shown and what it is all about. The given name will show in the Snoobi report under the Ad –section. The ad name may contain special characters.
For example: Google: Manufacturers (02.2008) or Google Ad Spring 2008
Image 3. Adding ad identification tag into Snoobi's settings
If two different ad ifentifiers tags are given the same ad name, Snoobi will combine them and sum up their visitor account. It is also possible to count together several ad by using the percentage sign (seen in image 4, Iltalehti).
Image 4. Naming ads: distinguishing and separating ads with a percentage sign (%)
4. Save changes by clicking Add.
When the advertisement has been configured, a view such as that in Image 5, will appear soon after the first visitor has clicked the ad.
Image 5. Ad-view in the Snoobi report