03 - Adding Source Data to Tracking Links

The main goal when using tracking links is to find out your best and worst traffic sources, so you can allocate your advertising budget where it matters the most.

To gather this information, source data must be appended to your tracking links.

In this tutorial, we will see how ClickerVolt allows you to do this as simply as possible.

When getting a tracking link, you have the option to add source data here:

That select box allows you to select an existing source template, or to create a new one.

To add a new one, select "Custom Entry":

When adding source data to your tracking links, only one field is mandatory: the source name.

The source variables V1 to V10 are all optional.

Entering a source name in this editor, will automatically append it to your tracking URL:

In your tracking URL, the source identification is appended in one of two ways:

1. After a dot (test-link1.Solo-Ads), when you are using the Pretty URL mode.
2. As a URL query parameter (&src=Solo-Ads) if you are using the Fastest Redirect URL mode.

You can create new sources dynamically, without having to save them in ClickerVolt, when you give your tracking links to others.

For example, if I had the following tracking link given to me by ClickerVolt:

https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1

I could track different traffic sources without having to do anything in ClickerVolt, by appending them like this:

• https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1.facebook
• https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1.twitter
• https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1.guest-post
• etc...

This is very convenient and makes it easy to then see in your reports where your traffic is coming from.

We will discuss reporting in another tutorial.

Saving Your Source Templates

If you plan to use a source multiple times, you can save it as a template so you don't have to write it again and again.

After saving it as a template, it becomes available in the source drop down for quick selection:

Note that when a source is saved, the name is replaced by its unique id in your tracking URL.

https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1.Solo-Ads

becomes

https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1.5bfe3de4a085eulq

This is done for two reasons:

1. If you then edit your source name in the editor, your already existing links will still attribute the traffic to the right source since its id will remain the same.
2. To hide the source name from public eyes - which may be a good idea if you do not want spying affiliates to find out where you are getting your traffic from.

Tracking Source Segments

Adding the source name to your tracking links is a good start to know where your traffic comes from.

However, within one single traffic source, you may want to track different segments.

For example, with our Solo-Ads traffic source above, we may also want to know things like:

• Which vendor is selling us the best converting traffic
• Which clicks package the traffic originates from
• At which date the click package was purchased

To be able to record and report this, ClickerVolt needs you to tell it that you want to track this data.

This is where using Source Variables becomes helpful. Let's update our source template above to add this information:

Here, we tell ClickerVolt that:

• the variable v1 will be filled with the vendor name
• that v2 will receive the click package
• and v3 the purchase date.

When using this source template on our tracking URL, it becomes:

https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1.5bfe3de4a085eulq?v1=[VENDOR-NAME-REPLACE-ME]&v2=[CLICK-PACKAGE-REPLACE-ME]&v3=[PURCHASE-DATE-REPLACE-ME]

Three URL query parameters were added to the URL:

• v1=[VENDOR-NAME-REPLACE-ME]
• v2=[CLICK-PACKAGE-REPLACE-ME]
• v3=[PURCHASE-DATE-REPLACE-ME]

You will have to replace these values (the text after the equal "=" character), either directly in the URL ClickerVolt gives you, or by setting the values in the source editor.

Let's do it here. 

Imagine we want to buy a solo ad from John Doe. We will buy 100 clicks the 28th of November 2018. 

To get our tracking link with this information, we enter it in the editor like this:

The tracking link now automatically reflects this information and becomes:

https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1.5bfe3de4a085eulq?v1=John+Doe&v2=100&v3=28-11-2018

I can give this link to John, and all the traffic coming from this solo ad will be properly tracked by ClickerVolt.

Now, if I want to buy a similar package from Jack the 30th of November, I can just enter this information in the editor:

And I can then give the following link to Jack:

https://demo.clickervolt.com/test-link-1.5bfe3de4a085eulq?v1=Jack&v2=100&v3=30-11-2018

ClickerVolt's AIDA reports will then show exactly which vendor is sending me the best traffic so I can buy more from him in the future.