What are Clickthrough Parameters and how do I set them in Webgains?
Clickthrough parameters are values that we will add to the destination URL of every click that we send through to an advertiser’s system. These are typically used by advertisers within their analytics reporting to help identify that the user has been referred by a Webgains affiliate. The parameters added to the program set up entirely depends on what data the advertiser would like to track within their analytics.
How do we set them up?
Located within Program Settings
These should be in pairs, with the ‘name’ of the parameter, followed by the value (data) required. For example: source=webgains&siteid=^^^siteid^^^
Each pair is separated by the & symbol.
For example, if the target (landing page) URL for a program is https://www.mysite.com , and the clickthrough parameter set up is source=webgains, when the user clicks on an affiliate link, they will be redirected via Webgains tracking to https://www.mysite.com?source=webgains
Note: There is no need to add a ? character at the beginning of the clickthrough parameters. The system will add this as necessary. If the ? character is included within the clickthrough parameters this will produce an error and they will not be saved to the platform.
The maximum length for clickthrough parameters is 255 characters, including spaces.
Dynamic Parameters
Dynamic parameters just means that they are not static (fixed), so essentially they will dynamically populate with the required data. For example, our dynamic parameter ^^^affiliateid^^^ will automatically populate with the affiliate ID that generated the click referral. E.g. if the clickthrough parameter was set up like affiliate=^^^affiliateid^^^, the destination URL will be like https://www.mysite.com?affiliate=12345
The following dynamic parameters are available:
^^^siteid^^^ (populates the site/campaign id)
^^^campaign_name^^^ (populates the site/campaign name)
^^^affiliateid^^^
^^^affiliatename^^^
^^^linkid^^^ (populates id of the banner)
^^^cid^^^ (click id)
^^^referer^^^
^^^date^^^ (format: YYYYMMDD)
^^^datetime^^^ (format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS)
^^^timestamp^^^ (format: Unix timestamp)
^^^linkname^^^
^^^channeltype^^^
^^^publishergroups^^^
The default clickthrough parameters we set for a program are: source=webgains&siteid=^^^siteid^^^
Google Analytics and UTM Parameters:
UTM parameters are a variant of URL parameters used by marketers to track the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns across traffic sources and publishing media using software such as Google Analytics.
Google Analytics (GA) learns about how users engage with a link, if a UTM parameter is present. So, when the link is clicked on, the UTM ‘tags’ send information to GA about where the user came from, along with some other key data.
More information can be found here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10917952?hl=en#zippy=%2Cin-this-article
There are 5 different UTM parameters, which may be used in any order:
utm_source: Identify the advertiser, site, publication, etc. that is sending traffic to your property, for example: Webgains, Google, Facebook
utm_medium: The advertising or marketing medium where the link was shared, for example: cpc, banner, email newsletter, social
utm_campaign: The individual campaign name (or slogan, promo code, etc)
utm_term: Identify any keywords for the campaign. If you're manually tagging paid keyword campaigns, you should also use utm_term to specify the keyword
utm_content: Used to differentiate similar content, or links within the same ad. For example, if you have 2 CTA links within the same email message, you can use utm_content and set different values for each so you can tell which version is more effective.
To build the clickthrough parameter using UTMs, individual parameters are written as the UTM code, an equals sign, and then your identifying text.
Example: utm_source=webgains
Each UTM parameter should be separated by an ampersand (&)
Example: utm_source=webgains&utm_medium=affiliate
Also, it’s important to keep in mind that the UTM parameters never use spaces, are case sensitive, and each parameter begins with a question mark (but as mentioned earlier in the doc - our system will add this on automatically for the clickthrough parameters).
Example of a Webgains affiliate link that contains UTM Parameters:
Clickthrough URL: https://www.webgains.com
Clickthrough Parameters: utm_source=webgains&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=^^^affiliateid^^^
Tracking Link: https://track.webgains.com/click.html?wgcampaignid=111&wgprogramid=222
302 Link Redirects (redirecting the user through our tracking to the website/destination URL)
Destination URL: https://www.webgains.com/?wgu=222_111_15914659014636_78a3160e38&wgexpiry=1599241901&utm_source=webgains&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=12345
Webgains links with this setup will generate sales (last click dependent) with the Source / Medium column within their GA’s ecommerce section as: webgains / affiliate
Top Tips;
It’s key to remember when adding any custom clickthrough parameters that your users can see them. Once the link redirect has happened, the clickthrough parameters will show on the destination URL (like with the example above). So, don’t use anything you wouldn’t want your readers or competitors to see!
UTMs give you an opportunity to collect granular data that you can’t find without tags on individual links. But the data aren’t always perfect. Users can copy links and share them on other platforms, which can alter the data and provide incorrect metrics. As you assess and review your final campaign metrics, allow some room for error.