| Redirects can be extremely useful for webmasters | | | | track the number of times this redirect occurs. If you |
| and marketers alike. Redirects allow for marketing | | | | have multiple pages redirecting with this tracking |
| advertising departments to advertise small, easy to | | | | technique, be sure and give each one a different |
| remember URLs that customers can remember, and | | | | campaign name, so that you can track each redirect |
| redirect them to the often long and complicated URLs | | | | separately. |
| where the advertised products actually reside. | | | | How to track a JavaScript redirect |
| Likewise, webmasters can use redirects to redirect old | | | | If you are using a JavaScript redirect, then you can |
| URLs to newer ones. This way, webmasters can | | | | either track the redirect using the campaign tracking |
| redirect users who have bookmarked old, non-existent | | | | technique above, or you can embed the Google |
| URLs to their newer replacement. | | | | Analytics tracking code on the redirect page in the |
| One important thing to remember is the importance of | | | | body section before the redirect code itself. This will |
| tracking each redirect. Analytics tools such as Google | | | | help ensure that the tracking script is parsed before |
| Analytics won't track a visit to a page unless that | | | | the redirect takes place. You can track each redirect |
| page runs the analytics tracking code. If your redirect | | | | by viewing your Top Content or Top Landing Pages |
| page is a blank page with no code besides the redirect | | | | (under Traffic Sources). |
| code, a webmaster will be left with no way to track | | | | The importance of tracking a redirect |
| the redirect. Fortunately, there are ways around this. | | | | The ability to track each redirect is important, especially |
| How to track a 301 redirect | | | | if these redirects are for pages published in off-line |
| With a 301 redirect, you are essentially telling the | | | | media. Tracking redirects is one of the many ways in |
| search engines that this page has moved permanently. | | | | which you can measure traffic from off-line sources |
| Because of this, your best bet is to add campaign | | | | (TV, radio, print, etc). |
| tracking to the URL you redirect to. This way, you can | | | | |