You now have some advertising campaigns circulating on the Internet, and now you have to keep track of their performance.
In this article, we'll explain how to track conversions from your advertising campaigns.
We'll explain what conversions are, how to choose the criteria by which you want to measure them, and the technical method you use to track them.
How to track conversions from your advertising campaigns
One of the best things about search engine marketing is that you can measure the value you get from your advertising campaigns.
To do this, you need to track conversions - the most important things or actions you want your website visitors to take - using tools provided by search engines such as “Google” and “Bing”.
Does it seem complicated? Don't worry, here are the details: Let's start with choosing the conversions to track.
Suppose you are a nature photographer who sells hard copies of his photos on the Internet, what actions might a researcher take that are considered “conversions” on your website?
It is true that requisition is an important action, but what other action do you want users to take? Well, your website should include a contact form so that potential customers can ask you questions, for example:
- What other copies do you have for sale?
- Are you available to photograph special occasions?
When someone sends you an inquiry via this form, that is also a successful referral.
But, what if you don't sell copies online? You might be a wedding photographer, for example, and most of what is on your website is an introduction to your work.
See: Managing numbers with spreadsheets
In this case, you might have a downloadable PDF of references. And when visitors upload it, it's a conversion.
In addition, you can include a link that users can click on to send them your prices via email, which is another way for you to convert leads into actual customers. So you also have to track that as a conversion.
In these two examples, we've mentioned a bunch of different conversions:
- Successful transactions
- Send contact forms
- Downloads
- There are plenty of other options
So, can you now think of the conversions you'd like to track in your business?
How do you actually track these conversions?
Next comes the tracking step. How do you actually track these conversions? Well, you can use tools provided by search engines, which allow you, or the person managing your website, to put code on certain pages on your site.
This might sound complicated, especially if you don't have any technical support, but don't worry, we are here to help.
Let's go back to the nature photography activity, in which you want to track a completed order, which means you need to decide where to put the referral tracking code, but don't put it on your homepage, otherwise the code will count every visit to your site as a referral.
Alternatively, install the referral tracking code on the order confirmation page. It is the page that customers see after they complete the order. This way, you will know that the referral has already been made.
Determine the success of your online advertising campaigns
Then, if you decide to track inquiries online, you'll need, just like the previous example, to install the referral tracking code on a page that visitors see only after submitting the inquiry, such as the page where you thank the customer after they submit the order.
To properly track conversions, you need to attach the code to the page that the person sees only after they take the action you want to track and measure.
Once you install the code, you'll start getting reports that tell you how many conversions you've got. This is valuable information for determining the success of your online advertising campaigns.
Summary
In short: by using online tools provided by search engines like “Bing” or “Google”, you can measure online referrals and start your path to success.