Tweet your questions: @NateSmoyer or email them NateSmoyer@gmail.com. Unorganized, vague, and wrong data won't increase your sales. Using Google Analytics should help you make better decisions for your business. To help you collect the data you want--meaningful data--start tagging links to dramatically shape the way your data is organized. This will enable you to create valuable reports, so that you can gain a better understanding of what is and what isn’t working from a marketing perspective. From there, you'll be equipped to make better decisions and ultimately increase sales.

1. Create better reports.
Make better decisions.
Increase sales.
Link tagging with Google Analytics
by Nathan Smoyer
NathanSmoyer.com

2. Objectives
• Understand what link tagging is
• Understand how to tag links
• Learn how to use tools to tag links
• Learn basic best practices in tagging links
• Use understanding to create better reports
• Use reports to increase sales

3. What is “link tagging”?
• The process of adding parameters to a URL
for the purpose of tracking custom
campaigns
– Link tagging can be performed manually or
automatically with Google Analytics
*5

4. What is a “tagged link”?
• When a URL has parameters added to the
end of the link, it is considered a tagged link
– There are five parameters that can be used to
tag links when using Google Analytics
*1

5. What is the function of a tagged link?
• Tagged links help you measure custom
campaigns
– Each parameter added to a link is identified and
organized by dimension and metric to form
reports in Google Analytics

6. How are links tagged?
• Link tagging can be performed manually or
automatically with Google Analytics
– It is not recommended to manually tag if you
have auto link tagging turned on for PPC or CPC
– Manual tagging can used for all other forms of
promotion such as: email, social media, and
blogs

7. Why should I tag links?
• To measure the results of your efforts
• To know what forms of marketing is working
• To form reports in order to analyze larger
chunks of data
• To increase sales

8. Terms to learn
• Parameter • Campaign Source
• Dimension • Campaign Medium
• Metric (calculated • Campaign Term
metrics will not be (keyword)
discussed in this • Campaign Content
presentation) • Campaign Name

9. Parameter
• An arbitrary constant whose value
characterizes a member of a system
• Google Analytics recognizes five parameters.
– Parameters include:
• utm_source
• utm_medium
• utm_term
• utm_content
• utm_campaign
*6,3, 10

10. Dimension
• One of a group of properties whose number is
necessary and sufficient to determine
uniquely
– Examples in Google analytics can be:
• Page name
• Page load time
• Source campaign
*7, 9

11. Metric
• A standard of measure
– Examples in Google analytics can be:
• Organic search terms
• Visits
• Bounces
• Time on site
*8, 9

12. Campaign Source
• Source: Every referral to a web site has an
origin, or source
– Example sources:
• “google”
• “facebook.com”
• “specialoffer_email”
• “direct”
*2

13. Campaign Medium
• Medium: Every referral to a website also has
a medium
– Example mediums include:
• “organic”
• “cpc”
• “referral”
• “email”
• “none”
*2

14. Campaign Term (Keyword)
• Term: The keywords that visitors searched
are usually captured in the case of search
engine referrals
– This is true for both organic and paid search
– If the visitor is not signed in to a Google account,
however, keyword will have the value “(not
provided)”
*2

15. Campaign Content
• Content: Identifies a specific link or content
item in a custom campaign
– Example Contents include:
• textlink
• buttonlink
• link1
• link2
*2

16. Campaign name
• Campaign: Is the name of the referring
AdWords campaign or a custom campaign
that you have created
– Example Campaigns include:
• “christmas2012”
• “customerservice”
• “fbspecial”
*2

17. Which parameters should I use?
• Google recommends always using
utm_source, utm_medium, and
utm_campaign when tagging links
– It is possible to use only utm_source and
utm_campaign, however this is not considered
best practice
*4

18. Tools for tagging links
• URL Builder tool
• URL Builder Chrome extension
– Source, Medium, and Campaign are required to be
used when utilizing these tools
– You can create a tagged link without using either
tool using a text document
– Here’s a complete example:
• http://nathansmoyer.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_m
edium=social&utm_campaign=googletools
*1, 10, 11

19. URL Builder tool
*1

20. URL Builder Chrome extension
*10

21. Always . . .
• Be consistent in tagging links
– This applies to all parameters
• Only use underscores if necessary when naming a
parameter
• Always or never use capital letters when naming a
parameter (I recommend not using capital letters at
all)
*2

22. Be sure to . . .
• Measure frequently
– Some A/B tests may require more time than
others

23. Adjust and record
• Adjust as needed to improve how you
collect data
– Be sure to annotate changes in your link tagging
methods in Google Analytics
– Document the methodology you use for tagging
links in order to keep a historical account of how
to create reports

24. Please forward along
Favorite, download, embed, and share.
Send questions to:
@NateSmoyer
Natesmoyer@gmail.com
NathanSmoyer.com

25. Resources
1. URL Builder: http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1033867
2. Definitions:
http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1033173&topic=1631856&c
tx=topic
3. Custom Campaigns:
http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1033863&topic=1032998&
ctx=topic
4. Best
Practices:http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1037445&topic=1
032998&ctx=topic
5. What is linking tagging? (Quora response: http://www.quora.com/Google-Analytics/What-is-
link-tagging
6. Parameter: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parameter
7. Dimension: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dimension
8. Metric: http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/metric
9. Dimensions and Metrics:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/reporting/core/dimsmets
10. URL Builder Chrome Extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-analytics-
url-buil/gaidpiakchgkapdgbnoglpnbccdepnpk