Tracking your Reader Acquisition & Activity Using the URL Builder

The URL Builder is a great tool: it allows bloggers to see how readers from each social network interacted with any blog article.

All you have to do is build a custom URL and set campaign parameters for each social network you plan to share your blog with.

Later, when you check your analytics, you won't have to sift through multiple funnels or paths in Google Analytics to view the performance of each post. Instead, you can get all the information you need in Behavior > Site Content.

Let's get started...

Tracking your Reader Acquisition & Activity Using the URL Builder

using the URL BUILDER

Using Google's URL Builder to Track Reader Acquisition

  1. Before you Share a Blog, Build a Custom URL
  2. Fill out the form. You can also do these URLS for promoted posts or PPC campaign.
  3. Generate your URL and share this new URL instead of the original link.

Using Google's URL Builder to Track Reader Acquisition - Example of Custom URL​​

 In the above example, I made a URL for Twitter and I'll share this URL only on Twitter. I can do this for every social network I plan to share this blog in.

Tracking blogs in Google Analytics

Now you can easily track a post's performance in each campaign in Behavior > Site Content, rather than going through multiple funnels for the same information.

General Overview of Traffic - Viewing Social Acquisition is Easier with Custom Built URLs

Previously, seeing which articles were accessed via Facebook and how readers interacted with the content took more effort:

IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS: ​​Social > Network Referral > click on a Network (Facebook) > see the posts readers found via Facebook. Reapeat for each social network.

Viola! Now you can see all this valuable information at a glance. It's never too late to start tracking these metrics - so get started and build your custom URLs for your next article.