Shortcut Link and Referral domain in Google Analytics
-
Hello,
One of my clients has a Facebook page for his company, and his social media manager posts some promotional and educational posts on daily basis. the social media manager uses affiliate ID's in the destination URL to track traffic and leads that come from the social media and to make it look nicer he uses shortcut links service - bitly.
Now I have a few questions about this:
-
I don't see traffic comes from bit.ly or bitly.com in Google Analytics, my question: is using 301 redirect makes Google Analytics understand that the last website which sent the traffic to my website is not the actual Referral website?
-
Is using shortcut links in the social media damages the links value (even though they are <nofollow>links - but still considered as signals from social media</nofollow>
Thanks.
-
-
You don't see traffic from bit.ly as they actually redirect the user without serving any content, therefore is just a redirection, instead, you should see the actual referrer, facebook, or whatever. However, if you are getting the hit from a facebook page, it is probably an HTTPS page, and therefore, if redirected to a non-SSL page referrer information isn't passed along. However, you could see something like facebook.com/u.php?.... You should use Analytics tracking variables to better understand from which posts are those visitors coming: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en
As for your second question, just like you can interpret the redirection, so can Google or whatever search engine scrapes the page looking for signals. It won't matter if you pass them through bit.ly or services alike, the link ends up in your site (as long as there's a 300 redirection in place, which it is in bit.ly).
Hope that helps!
-
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
-
How do I quickly check which keywords Google index YouTube videos for on first page?
I'd like to create YouTube videos since they can be a good way to rank for certain keywords. So I'd like to find a way to QUICKLY know which of the thousands of keywords I have are most likely to result in a first page result for my video. Is there a tool or technique you can recommend for quickly identifying the keywords I should target?
Social Media | | Interdisplay0 -
Google Play rankings?
Hi everyone, I've spent the last hour or two googling information on Google Play app rankings, and a few websites mention that standard pagerank of the app page is taken into account when calculating rankings. This seems to make sense, though I'd estimate it's probably not a large factor, with daily downloads being a much higher factor IMO. So my question is, how much of a factor does standard link-building for a Google Play app webpage have in the rankings?. We're trying to increase exposure of an app we've built (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.onedirection), and though we seem to have more downloads, reviews and +1's than others, we seem to be ranking beneath them. Thanks, Chris.
Social Media | | PixelKicks1 -
Leveraging Facebook to Increase Domain Authority
We have a significant following on facebook with over 6,000 fans, but very few "likes" or "shares" of our homepage. Do fans in anyway affect our sites domain authority and what is the best way to leverage our fan base to increase our DA?
Social Media | | bloomnation0 -
Setting up Google + Business Pages for Multiple Clients
I am looking at setting up several of my clients with Google Plus pages for their businesses. What's the best practice for doing this? Should I have a separate Google Account for each and set up the Business Page under that account? Are you allowed to have multiple Google Accounts manage a single Business Page - i.e., can I turn it over to the business without having to relinquish my control or give them access to the account I made? Any good tutorials on getting started with this? Thanks! Tom
Social Media | | TomBristol0 -
Request: Feedback on new free tool that provides social analytics for recent blog posts
We have created a tool that provides "at a glance social metrics" for the URLs listed in an RSS feed. Its intended purposes are: Monitor the social success of your recent blog posts Spy on the social success of your competitors' recent blog posts Quickly analyze a blog for social sharing metrics to determine whether it is a good outreach prospect or guest post opportunity Check out the tool at http://www.rypmarketing.com/tools/rss-social-analyzer.php I've attached a report run on the YouMoz RSS feed. Would love to hear some feedback on the tool... Do you think the tool is useful? Nice, but not worthwhile? What could be done to improve it? What ways do you think it will be most useful? Thanks! RSSSocialAnalyzer-YouMoz.png
Social Media | | AdamThompson0 -
Google+ Local and Google Places?
Hey Everyone, I've been out of the game for a few months, and I am amazed at how much I've missed! I'm trying to wrap my head around the difference between Google+, Google+ Local, and Google Places - can anyone help? My client has a Google+ account and manages multiple businesses under Google Places. I can't seem to get google to connect the two though (the account login is the same). I know Google is still working on migrating Google Places to Google+ Local, so here's my question: How do I obtain ownership of my Google Places listings in Google+ Local? I already have ownership of the Google Places listings, but when I log into the Google+ account there is no proof of ownership. I can add the related Google+ Local locations to my "Pages" in Google+, but it lists me as a manager and not an owner. My client has been penalized by Google in the past (not my doing, but unfortunately something I now have to deal with), so I want to tread lightly as I optimize his local listings. Any assistance to help me figure this out is greatly appreciated! Also, if anyone knows of a good book on Google+ Local for business owners I would love the referral! Thanks!
Social Media | | Level2Designs0 -
Google Games
Following a thread here thought I'd login to G+ only to notice the new Google games tab, lol you've gotta give em A+ for trying ...... Think Google should try to be a little more original, wondered what everyone else thought of this new addition? Lee
Social Media | | LeeMiller1 -
Google+ and its effects on SERPs
Hi all, With the recent launch of Google+ I've looked into the possible effects of +1'ing sites and whether or not it has a direct effect on other people with whom I'm connected within Google+. So far I cannot see any direct correlation, however I running a bigger/wider experiement with more people to get a definitive answer. What does scare me as an SEO, is that Google+ users will (most likely) use Google search whilst they are logged in, which, as we know personalises results based on a myriad of suspected metrics such as previous visits, personal +1, etc... How is this going to effect the SEO world if/when a Google+ attracts more users. Experienced this first hand when a client called me to congratulate a jump from position 9 on Google to first position over the weekend, which when I checked, the website hadn't shifted, the client was logged into her Google account due to the fact she had been playing with plus. Thoughts? Cheers Aran
Social Media | | Entrusteddev0