Target="_blank" and referral acquisition data
-
Hi,
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
I have been reading up on this topic but there is some contradictory articles out there and I was hoping someone could clarify the latest practise for me.
Website A links out to four of its partner websites.
These links are using a target="_blank".When i look at the acquisition data for any of the partner websites there is zero referral data from site A.
I tested this wasn't an analytics bug by using the real time feature while clicking the partner links to see what had happened, and to also find the source, but I found that they are all being returned as a source direct. Ideally id like it to show the referrals once more for reporting purposes.Do I need to add extra google analytics parameters/functions to track the outbound links? or should this referral data be appearing correctly and it is something unrelated to the links themselves? or should I throw in the towel and drop the target blanks?
Thank you in advance for your time.
Best Regards. -
Yes, the best article you can read at internet is:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1136920
It will help you a lot!=)
-
No I'm not saying that I suggest you to best way to track outbound link. If you want to track outbound link for target=_blank Please check Google document below and modify.
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1136920
Thanks
-
Hi Alick,
Thanks for your reply.
So just to clarify you are confirming that target blank links are seen as outbound links and are not tracked in acquisitions under referrals?
Thanks again.
-
Hi Liam,
IMO best way to track outbound link is event tracking.
If you are using tag manager @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABo-Sk1QzrQ
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1136920?hl=en
Thanks
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Thoughts on User Behavior Data as a Ranking Signal
Hi Community! We have been having an ongoing internal discussion on user behavior data as a ranking signal. We found this Moz article discussing the topic and it leaves us asking questions such as: What onsite user behavior metrics are being used (if any)? How exactly is Google collecting this information - Chrome? Google Analytics (which they have already claimed GA is not used for ranking purposes)? With privacy policies in place, how exactly is Google able to utilize this information? The article discusses Google patents for collecting this information (The Monitoring Engine), Chrome's MetricsService which is "a system in charge of the acquisition and transmission of user log data", as well as the Reasonable Surfer model. Some highlights from the article include: "Google has designed and patented a system in charge of collecting and processing of user behaviour data. They call it "the monitoring engine" "Google's client behavior data processor can retrieve client-side behavior data associated with a web page. This client-side behavior data can then be used to help formulate a ranking score for the article." The monitoring engine can: Distinguish whether the user is actually viewing an article, such as a web page, or whether the web page has merely been left active on the client device while the user is away from the client. Monitor a plurality of articles associated with one or more applications and create client-side behavior data associated with each article individually. Determine client-side behavior data for multiple user articles and ensure that the client-side behavior data associated with an article can be identified with that particular article. Transmit the client-side behavior data, together with identifying information that associates the data with a particular article to which it relates, to the data store for storage in a manner that preserves associations between the article and the client behaviors. MetricsService: "Chrome's MetricsService is a system in charge of the acquisition and transmission of user log data. Transmitted histograms contain very detailed records of user activities, including opened/closed tabs, fetched URLs, maximized windows, et cetera." “Reasonable surfer” is the random surfer's successor. The PageRank dampening factor reflects the original assumption that after each followed link, our imaginary surfer is less likely to click on another random link, resulting in an eventual abandonment of the surfing path. Most search engines today work with a more refined model encompassing a wider variety of influencing factors. In addition to perceived importance from on-page signals, a search engine may judge link popularity by observing common user choices. A link on which users click more within a page can carry more weight than the one with less clicks. Google in particular mentions user click behaviour monitoring in the context of balancing out traditional, more manipulative signals (e.g. links). I do not expect a concrete answer here, I know there is a lot of uncertainty on the topic but I am very interested to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
Search Behavior | | Joe_Stoffel2 -
What should go in a "Link Juice" cocktail?
The office just got some of those fancy Google Partner bottles, and I want to fill them up with a tasty cocktail that is link juice themed. Any ideas on how to tie Google and/or SEO into a fancy cocktail?
Search Behavior | | WilliamKammer1 -
Personalised Geo-targeted results - How does Google pass link juice?
Hello, Many websites now serve specific home page offers based on the location of the customer, my question is, how does link juice flow around a site when the links (this case from the homepage) are served up based on a visitors location? Internal links from your homepage are valuable for ranking that product well in the SERPs so how does Google deal with this? So, for example, a car hire website based in the UK. If you arrive on the care hire website sat in Manchester (Northern UK city), on the homepage the website serves offers of car hire deals in Manchester, Leeds, London and international destinations. If you arrived on this website from London (Southern UK City), you would not see the Manchester link at all but London, and other cities in the South. In this case, when Google crawls the car hire website, it will see internal links but a)which version and b) is there any way of sharing this link value around? Basically, we want to understand if Manchester in this case will get the benefit of an internal homepage link from Google even though we only show Manchester to people FROM Manchester, OR, do Google only give juice based on one version of the website, a generic UK version? Or to put it another way, is there any way of cashing in on both geo-targetting the customer based on their location AND getting link juice from those geo-specific home page links? Perhaps there is some code or way of telling Google that people from Manchester (a certain % of our visitors) will see a homepage internal link for Manchester that will pass some small % link value?
Search Behavior | | xoffie0 -
SERP with no "www"
I have noticed that Google SERP without login is showing the domains without " www " - all of them. Have you seen this too? What does it mean for us?
Search Behavior | | Elchanan0 -
GWMT - "Tag Site For Child Directed Treatment" Effect On Search / Rankings?
Hi All, We have a client who has been directed to tag their site for "Child Directed Treatment" in Webmaster tools to comply with AdExchange policies. The site is, generally speaking, directed at those between the ages of 13 and 16 along with their parents, but does NOT collect any data (No sign in, login, signups etc). You can find out more about the specific tag here (unfortunately not much more about it) https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/3221080?hl=en Our concern is that we have never heard of this specific tag, and our client is asking us to let them know if that this will have no effect on search traffic or ranking. I can't find much in the way of anyone who HAS implemented this tag and the effects it has had on their site. They are ad supported, receive millions of unique hits a month, and the majority of their traffic is from branded keywords. Would love to hear from anyone with ANY experience or thoughts on this process and what to be aware of. Your assistance is muchly appreciated.
Search Behavior | | SearchMarketers0 -
Keyword Search Historical data?
Is there a way to track the history of keyword search over time. I.E. the frequency of the Google search of the phrase 'unpasteurized milk' from 2006-2012 to see trending patterns.
Search Behavior | | preventionaid0 -
"If a company has multiple practice areas, are there any advantages to having specialized local listings for each specific practice area?"
Hello Staff of SEOMoz! I just had a question regarding specialized local listings. Are there any advantages to having specialized local listings? (An example would be if we were a medical company, having a listing for family practice, one listing for women's health) If there are advantages, what are those advantages compared to having general medical listings? Thanks!
Search Behavior | | sixspokemedia0 -
UK Requiring "Opt-In" for Cookies. Suggestions on Compliance?
The UK is now requiring that websites, targeting UK visitors and/or hosted in the UK, to provide an "opt-in" option for cookie tracking. While I don't target UK audiences, I do foresee this potentially being an issue for US business. Anyone have any suggestions as to how web publishers, in the UK, will easily implement this change will not impacting their targeted advertising revenue?
Search Behavior | | ChristineCadena0