Campaign Tracking URLs and the Impact on SEO
-
Hi Guys,
I am setting up tracking for a couple of offline campaigns in Analytics and would just like to know if this will cause issues. The situation is below:
Two URLs Ranking Well Organically:
www.domain.co.uk/area-covered/area-a
www.domain.co.uk/area-covered/area-b
URLs Setup for the Purpose of Offline Campaigns
Plan to Track this in Analytics
www.domain.co.uk/campaign1 redirecting to www.domain.co.uk/area-covered/area-a_&utm_medium=qr&utm_source=test1&utm_campaign=test1_
www.domain.co.uk/campaign2 redirecting to www.domain.co.uk/area-covered/area-a&utm_medium=qr&utm_source=test2&utm_campaign=test1__
So the idea is that the user gets a nice simple URL to input from the off-line media (www.domain.co.uk/campaign1). This then redirects to one of the pages thats performing well organically (www.domain.co.uk/area-covered/area-a) but with the relevant tracking (www.domain.co.uk/campaign1 redirecting to www.domain.co.uk/area-covered/area-a&utm_medium=qr&utm_source=test1&utm_campaign=test1). The only way that the tracking URL can be accessed by the user is if the off-line media URL is entered.
My main concern here is how Google will treat this. Obviously I don't want to cause issues with the two URLs that are ranking well organically. Would having a version of exactly the same URL, just with tracking do so?
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
-
No, the tracking links shouldn't affect duplicate content issue. Google understands these variables especially well and won't take them to mean that they are separate pages.
In any case, I recommend adding a canonical tag to the final landing pages (www.domain.co.uk/area-covered/area-a & www.domain.co.uk/area-covered/area-b) so that any variation of the url gets indexed as the final urls.
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
-
SEO & App
Hi MOZ Community, We have a client that is currently ranking well for SEO. We are nearing completion of an app for the client. There is a fair bit of content that is the same across both the app and website. I have three questions; Do we want the app to get indexed? How do we avoid duplicate content on the website & app? Do we need both URL's to be the same or different (for website and app)?
Reporting & Analytics | | RichardNM1 -
Trying to locate the e commerce tracking code on shopify?
Hi everyone, I am doing a google analytics site audit for an e commerce site using shopify. I can see e commerce data on GA but I'd like to make sure that e commerce tracking code is present and correct. I have the shopify thank you page checkout.shopify.com/example1234556 but cannot locate the client's e commerce tracking code http://cl.ly/191F0Z460p1L. I guess this is normal since we are on the shopify domain. Is this normal to not have the client e commerce tracking code present on shopify thank you page? Does shopify have a system in place that integrates and or generate this e commerce tracking code for the client? Finally, how can I verify if the ga e commerce tracking code on shopify is correct and in place? Thanks for letting me know!
Reporting & Analytics | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
Page Name Tracking - Without UTM links
Hello, Our current site is fully html with no cms. We're moving to a newer version today with a typo 3 cms. My one worry is as follows; On some pages an internal link opens a jquery lightbox, inside the lightbox will be a video or download link. I cannot simply add a standard event url like I wanted to (utm_ link) as the pages are linked via the cms pointing to different pages, not the url's. We really need the following appearing in Analytics, whether its an event or landing page; The click of the light-box link The click of the video OR download link inside the lightbox. I would really, really appreciate any help on this as the new website is going live today, regardless whether this has been resolved. Thank you very much in advance of any replies. twY8s8B.jpg
Reporting & Analytics | | Whittie0 -
How many ways to use Event in Google Tag Manager for Event Tracking?
Hello Experts, How many ways to use Event in Google Tag Manager for Event Tracking? As per me there are 5 ways given below are they correct? 2nd thing if yes can you please please tell me procedure of using all or which is the best one to use? HTML 5 Data Attributes Classic Google Analytics Example: _gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/downloads/pdfs/corporateBrief.pdf']);
Reporting & Analytics | | bkmitesh
3) Universal Analytics Example: ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’, ‘page path’); query string? or is it possible without any coding on website we can configure id's in google tag manager? Thanks! BK Mitesh0 -
Shall I 301 a Url that has a discontinued product or shall we remove from Googles index
My web site sells shoes. These items go out of fashion and are replaced. Shall I 301 a Url that has a discontinued product or shall we remove from Googles index using webmaster tools. I seem to have a massive 301 list that carries on growing and Im concerned that to carry on doing 301s is not the right way.
Reporting & Analytics | | weddingshoesandaccessories0 -
E Commerce and cross domain tracking on universal analytics?
Hi Mozzers, I am running into an issue where my client's website ( can refer to domain.com) uses a third party checkout site called rezovation that we can refer to checkout.rezovation.com: I went through this doc here https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cross-domain and https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/ecommerce (for universal analytics) and I still find it confusing so here are my questions: According to my understanding I need a customized GATC to link both domains checkout.rezovation.com and domain.com? If yes(above), do we setup one customized GATC for cross domain tracking on all pages from checkout.rezovation.com and domain.com? if it is the case can someone provide detail steps on how to set it up ( I am not a coder so the easier the guideline, the better) Once cross domain tracking is set up, e commerce tracking code should be only on thank you page should be looking like the image below? Should i add manually all the extra code for the ecommerce tracking code or I can get it done via a third party website? Thank you guys! oPgn8P4.png
Reporting & Analytics | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
Why are there url's in my np Keywords in google analtyics?
I have been scratching my head at this one. On my not provided keywords, there is a url. Keyword is the primary dimension. It doesn't makes sense why there would be url keywords for pages with a different url. For example, the keywords for page www.xyz.com/abc np - /someotherurl.com Thanks for your insights in advance!
Reporting & Analytics | | konverge0 -
SEO implications of moving from https to http
We're considering moving from 100% https to http to improve performance. What, if any, SEO implications are there? Do search engines need redirects when changing from https to http pages?
Reporting & Analytics | | BlueAcorn0