I like to track numbers. I’m a numbers guy.
Do you like to track numbers, too?
Then this post is for you!
And even if you aren’t really into tracking, this is good for you to know.
The big discovery I’ve had this month is using a WordPress plugin called Pretty Links. Click here to check it out.
Here’s what I know so far and how it has helped me with tracking:
- Pretty Links allows me to create endless unique URLs using my website domain name, businessbuildingonline.com, which can be redirected to a different URL.
- This helps with tracking because if I put a link for a lead magnet or product offer in a blog post, social media post, video, e-book, or anywhere, I want to know where clicks are coming from. I can use the unique URLs I generate in Pretty Links to track better.
Example
Let’s say I have a lead magnet I want to promote on social media, and I put a link to the opt-in page in 10 social media posts.
And let’s say the opt-in page’s URL is businessbuildingonline.com/leadmagnetoptinpage. All 10 posts have this link in them.
If I get 20 total clicks, I have no idea if I got 20 clicks from one post, or 10 from one, and 10 from another. Or maybe two on a post, four on another, one on a third, and three on a fourth.
Do you see the potential problem?
Here is the solution using Pretty Links
In Pretty Links, I can create 10 unique URLs for each post.
For example, one unique URL could be businessbuildingonline.com/socialmediapost1; another could be businessbuildingonline.com/socialmediapost2, and so on.
Next, which is key, Pretty Links allows for a target redirect. In this case, the target URL is the opt-in page for the lead magnet.
All 10 unique URLs I made in Pretty Links go to the same lead magnet opt-in page.
Prettylinks has a tracker that tells me the number of clicks on each unique URL.
You see how this can be hugely beneficial?
I can see how many clicks each unique URL gets.
If one social media post gets a lot of clicks, this can be valuable data for me to know.
This might tell me that the audience interested in a specific topic is also interested in the lead magnet.
I can leverage this information in the future and focus on driving more traffic to the lead magnet with posts focused on a particular topic.
The big question
The big question I have is how to use Pretty Links properly.
Do I make a unique URL EVERY time I have a link to something like a lead magnet opt-in page or affiliate product?
Or do I use one URL for a group or category?
For example, I can make one URL for all blog posts (the category or group being “blog posts”) and another for all social media posts on a particular platform.
Do you have any experience with Pretty Links to share?
If so, feel free to leave a comment!