Tracking a Redirect

[DigMS]

Recently a client of mine had a new site developed and had changed their domain, so the old URL is now redirecting to the new URL.

They want to be able to track referral traffic in the analytics so we can decipher how much direct traffic is coming in from people typing in the old URL. Is this possible and if so, can I have a guide in doing so?

Thanks!

[LoganRay]

Hi there,

This is a great question, and one that I addressed almost identically to what Anthony recommended in a Moz post I wrote about a year ago: https://moz.com/blog/heres-how-to-keep-301-redirects-from-ruining-your-seo

However, one of the comments on that post suggested a better solution than UTMs that I've been using ever since, which is basically to just invent your own parameters. Here's what my parameters look like now:

/old-page >>> /new-page?redir=301&src=/old-page

The problem with UTMs is that they override the original source/medium information. The new format allows you to retain that attribution data while still being able to use the parameters for isolating this traffic.

[anthonydnelson]

You won't really be able to see how much of it is direct. If someone clicks an external link pointing at the old site or types the URL in the address bar, they both would go through the same redirect process.

If you wanted to get some general tracking on people hitting old URLs, you could have your redirects go to the new site with utm parameters on the end of the URL.

Something like: old-domain.com -> new-domain.com?utm_source=old-domain&utm_medium=redirect