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Why Doesn’t My Google Analytics Link Tracking Work?

27 June, 2008 - Web Design - 2 Comments

When I redesigned this blog earlier this year, I setup Google Analytics link tracking on many of my outbound links. Link tracking with Analytics has many uses, with the main one allowing you to see how many times a link to an outbound site, such as your RSS subscription link, has been clicked.

Unfortunately, the tracking didn’t work.

I never really took the time to figure out what the problem was. I assumed it was a WordPress plugin conflicting with the Google Analytics code. I left it at that, until this week when I redesigned my blog again.

The reason my link tracking wasn’t working, is because my Google Analytics code was at the bottom of the page.

Google state that if you are using the link tracking feature, your Google Analytics code must be above all the links that are being tracked. As soon as I moved the Analytics code to the top of my page body, the tracking began working.

If your tracking isn’t working, move the Google Analytics code to the top of your Web site body.

How Do I Track Outbound Clicks With Google Analytics?

Whether you need to track how many people click your RSS subscription link, find out how many people click your advertiser banners or track how many times a file has been downloaded, Analytics’ ability to track outbound link clicks can help.

<a href="http://www.example.com" onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/linkname');">Link Text</a>

Add the onClick event to any link you wish to track. It’s good practice to use “/outgoing” at the start of the name. By doing so, you can easily track your outbound links.

Once you have added the code to your outbound links, how do you view the stats? Simple.

• Login to Analytics and click the “Content” link in the left sidebar
• Click “Content Drilldown”
• If you have had any outbound clicks, you will see a link called “outgoing/” in the URL column. You may need to use the “Find URL:” search feature at the bottom of the table to find the “outgoing/” link
• Click “outgoing/”. You should now see a break down of each outbound link that has been clicked

Click the photo to the right for screenshots of this process.

You can even track clicks of Flash items, such as Flash banners.

I hope that helps some of you. Have fun with Analytics!

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Posted on 27 June, 2008 by Jamie Harrop
Filed Under Web Design |

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