Search Engine Marketing: Tracking Pages Without JavaScript by Using Web Beacons

September 17, 2012Beacons: Tracking pages without JavaScript
Ignatius Hsu, Business Analyst – NavigationArts
ihsu@navigationarts.com, @ignatiushsu

Beacons
• What are they
• Scenarios
• Tracking communications channels
• How to use one today in Google
• Classic Async
• Universal Analytics
• Challenges
• http://bitly.com/bundles/ignatiushsu/3
9/17/20132 More Reading: http://bitly.com/bundles/ignatiushsu/3

3 More Reading: http://bitly.com/bundles/ignatiushsu/39/17/2013

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• An image embedded in content such as emails and Web
pages
• Often invisible to the visitor, a 1x1 pixel gif (though
sometimes visible as display ad)
• Image is served from a third party
• Tracks movement on a piece of content or a site
• Also used in sites designed for feature phones
• Sometimes visitors are tracked across sites using third
party cookies
Embedded Beacons
More Reading: http://bitly.com/bundles/ignatiushsu/39/17/2013

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Embedded Beacon - Email

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Embedded Beacon - Email

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• Web analytics packages use JavaScript to capture visit
data, sends to server.
• The transmission of data to the server is known as an
“endpoint”. Many packages use a gif as their endpoint, not
unlike a beacon.
• gif - Google Async, Adobe SiteCatalyst
• URL - Google Universal Analytics
• Tracks movements within a site through first party cookies
(third party cookies are now rare)
JavaScript Beacons

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Beacons & Analytics
Embed Embed Dynamic JS
Channel Emails, Web Pages Web Pages
Beacon Embedded image on page Endpoint is dynamically
rendered on page, captures
visit data
Data storage Third party server captures
and stores referral data
Transmits visit data through
endpoint to a third party
server
Cookies Often uses cookies (3rd
party)
Uses cookies
(1st party)
Use Cases Ad Networks, Email
Marketing, Content on
forums/external sites,
other uses?
Owners of Websites

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Analytics Tracking Methods
Content Presentation Layer + Client Browser
JavaScript No JavaScript
Control over
Code
E.g. my website.
Web Analytics
(Google Analytics, Adobe
Analytics, etc.)
E.g. native iOS app.
Server side scripts, Mobile SDK
Frameworks
(Google Analytics for Mobile
Websites - php…, Flurry
iPhone/Android SDK, etc.)
No Control
over Code
E.g. social media.
Use analytics provided by
service or third party, if any.
(Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite,
Radian6, etc.)
Can I insert an external image?
If yes, consider using a beacon.
E.g. email messages, forums, some
publishing platforms.
Use analytics provided by service
(MailChimp Analytics360)
Can I insert an external image? If
yes, use a beacon.

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Multi-Channel Tracking (e-mail/site)
More Reading: http://bitly.com/bundles/ignatiushsu/3
Current
9/17/2013

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Classic Universal Analytics Measurement Protocol
Multi-Channel Tracking (e-mail/site)

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Classic GA Beacon
Fully Static Beacon (see bit.ly Google Spreadsheet):
<img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?&utmwv=1&utmn={{random-
number}}&utmhn=my.site.com&utmp=/filter-param/content.html&utmac=UA-
XXXXXXX-Y ||&utmr=-&utmcc={{long-cookie-string}}" />
• Pageview model.
• All pageviews tracked are tied to one unique visitor.
• No cookies stored.
Pre-rolled Appspot Beacon (see bit.ly AppSpot for the developer’s post):
<img src="http://nojsstats.appspot.com/UA-XXXXXXX-Y/my.site.com/filter-
param/content.html" />
• Pageview model.
• Each pageview creates a unique visitor.
• 1 pageview / unique session.
• Third party cookie stored.

Classic GA Beacon
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1. Fill in these values (or
copy example values where
applicable). Cookie value is
a bit of a hack.
2. Copy this
Paste it wherever you need it

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GA Universal Beacon
Universal Analytics, Measurement Protocol:
• <img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&tid=UA-XXXXXX-
Y&cid=9988776655&t=event&ec=email&ea=open&el=9988776655&cs=weekly-
promo&cm=email&cn=date-9-15-2013&cm1=1&cd1=9988776655" />
• Channel agnostic, track by event, pageview, app or social.
• Mix and match.
• Flexible.
• Tracks hits to visits.
• No cookie stored.

Universal Analytics Measurement Protocol
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4. Copy this
5. Paste it wherever you
need it
1. For CID, insert
email or CRM
customer ID, if
possible
2. Complete fields for
pageview or event or
campaign.

Universal Analytics Measurement Protocol

Universal Measurement Protocol (optional enhancements)
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• See bit.ly (below) for LunaMetrics resources on enhancements covered in this section
• Custom Metric 1 (cm1) – “Email Opens” –used in custom reports
• Scope: user
• Make active
• Custom Dimension 1 (cd1) – “Visitor ID” – allows stitching of client ID b/w email + site
• Formatting Type: Integer
• Min: 0, Max: 1
• Make active

Universal Measurement Protocol (optional enhancements)
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In your page source, add this code within the GA script, after “ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXX-
Y', „my.site.com');”
ga(function(tracker) {
var hash = location.hash;
var mcId = hash.match('mc_eid=(.*)');
var cid = tracker.get('clientId');
if(mcID){
var vid = mcId[1];
ga('set', 'dimension1', vid);
}
});
Where mc_eid is the link parameter added by your email marketing suite for unique
customer ID. There may be other parametrs your email suite autotags.
Keep email link campaign codes consistent:
?utm_campaign=date-9-15-2013&utm_medium=email&utm_source=weekly-
promo&mc_eid=9988776655

Universal Measurement Protocol Report

Caution on Beacons
Classic
• Both versions have drawbacks (which is why we only use them when other options
aren‟t available).
• If pageviews are not tied to a unique visit, consider creating a new profile to track these
interactions, and filtering these out of your main profile(s) so as to not affect visit
metrics (bounce, pageviews/visit, time on site, etc).
Universal
• Pageviews are tied to visits. Events still count towards visit data, so like Classic, create
a new account and set up filters.
• Track external pages and emails as events. Less messy, at least until User ID arrives
(Universal is still in beta). Where possible, connect a Client ID to a user, and stitch data
between channels (e.g. email and website).
• In Universal Analytics, Client ID <> User ID.
• Client ID is supposed to be an anonymous ID, and is not a unique identifier.
• User ID is a customer ID.
• People speculate that User ID can be defined/switched by us in a future release.

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Speculating on the Future
Some vendors are already stitching cookie data in sophisticated ways. This diagram is a concept of how multi-channel
tacking might be done through cookies and a flexible analytics package. The devil is in the details. What are the privacy
implications, and how would customers opt-out?
Multi-Channel Tracking

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More Resources:
http://bitly.com/bundles/ignatiushsu/3

Search Engine Marketing: Tracking Pages Without JavaScript by Using Web Beacons

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