Website Optimisation Part 2 - Cross Channel Tracking

This is the 2nd instalment of a 7 article series on how to accelerate your online sales using the Marketing Results “hybrid” approach to website optimisation.

Tracking Multiple Traffic Sources With the Google Adwords Cross Channel Tracker

In part 1, we looked at how to use conversion tracking to optimise your paid search results. But how do you track the results of other traffic sources such as banner ads, ezine ads, Yellow Pages Online, TrueLocal ads, text links, directory listings and so on?

There are many tools available that can do this, but one I like because of it’s ease of use and free availability is the Google Adwords cross-channel tracker. According to Google, cross-channel tracking…

…gives you quick and easy access to the performance data for all your online advertising channels - including pay-per-click ads on search, email, banners, and more - all from one convenient location. From your AdWords account interface, you’ll learn which campaigns are producing the highest conversion rates so you can make more informed decisions about where and how to spend your advertising dollars. As an added bonus, this tool is available free of charge.

Reliable third party tool

Many media sources are unable or unwilling to give you reports on how many clickthroughs your ads received.

Others are only too happy to provide you with a summary report of how many clickthroughs you received, but this has two limitations:

1. You know how many clicks you received, but have no idea how many converted.
2. I have found the reliability of reporting from some 3rd party services to be, shall we say, questionable (and it always seems to overestimate click volume).

The cross-channel tracking tool solves this problem. It’s easy to use - just follow the prompts within the Google Adwords interface.

Cross-channel tracker vs Google Analytics

The other day a client asked me about the relative merits of cross-channel tracking and Google Analytics.  My take is this: Cross-channel tracking gives a simple, all-in-one-place overview of important traffic sources.  Google Analytics duplicates (and expands on) much of the functionality of CTC, but is slightly more complicated to use and work with.

Conclusion

While it’s probably not necessary to track the clickthroughs and conversions of every traffic source (if that were possible), cross-channel tracking is a useful tool for understanding the ROI on key expenditures.

If you’re spending money on online traffic and lead generation, then why not keep an eye on how your investment is paying off?

Will Swayne Cross-channel tracker

Related Articles:

• Website Optimisation Part 7: Keyword Conversion Of Natural Search Campaigns
• Website Optimisation Part 6: Visualising Where Visitors Are Clicking
• Website Optimisation Part 5: Boosting Website Conversion