Google Analytics: Campaigns, Custom Links, and More

Understanding campaign variables: The five dimensions of campaign tracking

Google Analytics tracks online campaigns using a combination of the following five marketing dimensions:

Source
Every referral to a web site has an origin, or source. Examples of sources are the Google search engine, the AOL search engine, the name of a newsletter, or the name of a referring website.

Medium
The medium helps to qualify the source; together, the source and medium provide specific information about the origin of a referral. For example, in the case of a Google search engine source, the medium might be "cost-per-click," indicating a sponsored link for which the advertiser paid, or "organic", indicating a link in the unpaid search engine results. In the case of a newsletter source, examples of medium include "e-mail" and "print."

Term
The term or keyword is the word or phrase that a user types into a search engine.

Content
The content dimension describes the version of an advertisement on which a visitor clicked. It is used in content-targeted advertising and Content (A/B) Testing to determine which version of an advertisement is most effective at attracting profitable leads.

Campaign
The campaign dimension differentiates product promotions such as "Spring Ski Sale" or slogan campaigns such as "Get Fit For Summer."

Creating Custom Links

Ever wonder how many of your site's users click on your ads or hyperlinks? Google Analytics can track that, too!

After creating an ad, visit the Google Analytics URL Builder. After adding the end location of your link, edit a few descriptors and Google will create a custom link. Copy this link and use it as your hyperlink URL. Every time your website users click on this link, Google will track their visit information. To access that information, just click Campaigns under Traffic Sources in your website report.

MORE RESOURCES FOR GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Getting Started Guide – Google Analytics
Quick Start Guide for Custom Reporting – Google Analytics
How Do I Tag My Links? – Google Analytics