Mastering Tracking URL HubSpot: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Tracking URLs are the key to unlocking the full potential of your marketing efforts. With HubSpot’s robust tracking URL features, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your campaigns and optimize them for maximum results.

The Essentials of HubSpot Tracking URLs

The foundation of any successful marketing campaign lies in accurate tracking and analysis. Tracking URLs are custom links that include UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters, allowing you to measure and anlyze the success of marketing channels, campaigns and traffic sources.

Applying these tracking URLs helps accumulate significant data related to your campaign performance, which simplifies the process of optimizing your marketing efforts.

HubSpot provides a comprehensive platform for managing tracking URLs, which simplifies the procedure of creating, analyzing, and optimizing your HubSpot campaign.

HubSpot’s Tracking URL Builder allows for the quick creation of unique tracking URLs and integrates smoothly with Google Analytics, providing all the necessary information for data-driven decisions.

What is a Tracking URL?

A tracking URL is a custom link that includes UTM parameters, small pieces of code appended to the end of a URL to monitor the source of website traffic. These parameters help you track the effectiveness of different campaigns and sources, providing valuable insights into user behavior and campaign performance.

Key UTM parameters include:

• Campaign: Identifies the specific campaign.
• Source: Indicates the source of the traffic, such as Facebook.
• Medium: Specifies the medium, like email or CPC.
• Content: Differentiates similar content or links within the same ad.
• Term: Used for paid search to identify the keywords.

Tracking URLs are essential for monitoring user engagement and attributing success to specific campaigns. By using these URLs, you can accurately measure traffic from various origins and optimize your marketing efforts based on data-driven insights.

You can track what your leads are doing after you sent a message, like on LinkedIn if you imported a lead with our hubspot LinkedIn itnegration, and sent a link on the chat, you will be able to track what pages they visidted.

Learn more about the concept of URL Tracking in the video below.

Why Use HubSpot for Your Tracking URLs

HubSpot’s Tracking URL Builder offers a user-friendly solution for creating and managing tracking URLs. The platform allows you to easily tag and track external links, as well as integrate seamlessly with Google Analytics for a comprehensive view of your campaign performance.

Benefits of Using HubSpot’s Tracking URL Builder:

• Track Campaign Traffic: Monitor the traffic generated by different campaigns.
• Integrate UTM Codes: Use UTM parameters to get detailed insights.
• Improve Campaign Analytics: Make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns.
• Automatic Tagging and Tracking: Enhance online marketing strategies by tracking ad clicks and conversions.
• Streamline Customer Data Management: Measure the ROI of each ad campaign effectively.

Additionally, by combining HubSpot’s tracking URLs with HubSpot lead scoring, you can build a robust lead scoring system. Using data collected via tracking URLs, you can track a lead's behavior and engagement with your company to assess their potential for future conversion.

Setting Up Your First HubSpot Tracking URL

Setting up your first HubSpot tracking URL is a simple process that allows you to start gathering valuable data on your marketing campaigns.

Accessing the Tracking URL Builder

To access the Tracking URL Builder in HubSpot:

• Log in to your HubSpot account
• Navigate to Tracking & Analytics 
• Click on Tracking URLs and then on Create Tracking URL

• Start generating your custom links

The platform offers an easy-to-use interface for creating tracking URLs, with features such as setting UTM parameters for Google Ads campaigns, visually refreshing the user interface, and integrating with HubSpot campaigns and sources.

Tip: Before you start generating tracking URLs, ensure that you meet the requirements for accessing the Tracking URL Builder in HubSpot. These include having a HubSpot account with the appropriate permissions and installing the HubSpot tracking code on your website.

Watch this tutorial on how to install the tracking code on your website:

Crafting Your Tracking URL

Creating a tracking URL in HubSpot involves selecting a target page, creating a campaign name, and choosing a source.

• The target page refers to the specific page on your website that you wish to track traffic to. To select the target page, simply enter the landing page url of the page in the appropriate field when creating a tracking URL.
• The campaign name is a unique identifier that allows you to track the performance of your marketing campaigns. To create a campaign name, provide a name that accurately represents your marketing campaign when setting up your tracking URL.
• Select the source from where the traffic originates.

Once you’ve generated the tracking URL, you can use it in your marketing campaigns to monitor performance and effectiveness.

For a step-by-step demonstration, watch this video on "Creating & Using Tracking URLs in Hubspot". This video guides you through the entire process, making it easy to follow and implement.

Adding UTM Parameters

UTM parameters play a crucial role in tracking URLs, as they help measure and analyze website conversions in greater detail. These parameters are snippets of text appended to the end of a URL to track the performance of a given digital campaign.

To add UTM parameters to a HubSpot tracking URL, you can input the necessary information such as:

• Campaign - Typically, the name you assign to the campaign like utm_campaign=winter_sale  
• Source - Indicates the specific website a visitor of the page will come from  
• Medium - The channel the visitor will come from, like organic social media, paid social media, search, or email  
• Content - Gives an idea of the content people clicked, whether an image, video or an article link, a sidebar link  
• Term - Gives an idea of the keywords used to drive traffic

These parameters enable you to track and attribute contacts to specific campaigns, providing invaluable insights into the origins of traffic and facilitating the optimization of inbound marketing efforts.

Integrating with Google Analytics

Integrating your HubSpot account with Google Analytics can provide you with a comprehensive view of your campaign performance and website traffic data.

By linking the two platforms, you can analyze HubSpot data within Google Analytics, ensuring a smooth flow of data and enabling detailed analysis of website traffic, user behavior, and other relevant metrics in one central place.

Linking HubSpot and Google Analytics

To connect your HubSpot account to Google Analytics :

1. Go on Settings
2. Navigate to the Website Section
3. Click on Pages in the left sidebar menu
4. Add your Google Analytics account number to connect your account with Hubspot

Once connected, HubSpot will automatically add the Google Analytics tracking code to your website, ensuring accurate data collection and seamless integration.

For a step-by-step demonstration, watch this video on "How to integrate Google Analytics with HubSpot content". This video guides you through the entire process, making it easy to follow and implement.

Analyzing HubSpot Data in Google Analytics

Once your HubSpot account is connected to Google Analytics, you can view and analyze HubSpot tracking URL data within Google Analytics for deeper insights into your marketing campaigns. To set up custom reports in Google Analytics for HubSpot data, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Google Analytics account.
2. On the left panel select Reports.
3. Select the Customization tab.
4. Click on New Custom Report.
5. Configure the report settings, such as the report name, metrics, and dimensions.
6. Apply filters to include only HubSpot data.

Here is an example of how you can use Google Analytics to analyze Hubspot data :

In Google Analytics, you can evaluate various metrics for HubSpot tracking URLs, such as:

• Website traffic data by source, topic cluster, and device type
• Time on page
• Bounce rate
• Number of page views
• Referral source/medium

By analyzing these metrics, you can assess the success of your marketing campaigns and make informed decisions to enhance your marketing strategy.

Advanced HubSpot Tracking Techniques

To fully harness the power of HubSpot tracking URLs, it’s essential to explore advanced tracking techniques.

Differentiating Between Paid and Organic Traffic

Distinguishing between paid and organic traffic is essential for optimizing your marketing campaigns. Paid traffic typically originates from paid search campaigns or advertisements, while organic traffic comes from non-paid search engine results.

In HubSpot, you can differentiate between paid and organic traffic by examining the traffic sources in the Traffic Analytics tool and selecting the ‘Organic search’ source in the Sources table.

Using HubSpot tracking URLs to differentiate between paid and organic traffic allows you to gain valuable insights into the performance of your marketing campaigns and sources. This information can help you make informed decisions to optimize your marketing efforts and allocate your resources more effectively.

A/B Testing with Tracking URLs

A/B testing with tracking URLs involves:

• Creating multiple tracking URLs with distinct UTM parameters
• Evaluating and comparing the effectiveness of various campaign elements, such as ad copy, design, or calls to action
• Comparing two versions of a URL to determine which one performs better in terms of user engagement, conversions, or other metrics.

Tip : To effectively compare and monitor different A/B tests, make sure to use a tracking tool.

A/B testing with tracking URLs can enhance marketing performance by providing marketers with the ability to:

• Assess the effectiveness of varied versions of marketing content
• Accumulate data on user activities and behavior
• Optimize their campaigns
• Make informed decisions for improved outcomes.

Best Practices for Managing Tracking URLs in HubSpot

Consistency Is Key

Utilizing UTM codes consistently allows you to assess the performance of your marketing initiatives and acquire valuable insights into visitor behavior on your website.

Moreover, keeping your brand elements consistent across different platforms helps to amplify their effect and reinforce your brand identity.

Tips for Maintaining Consistency:

• Establish uniform UTM tracking codes.
• Ensure your URLs and links are consistent.
• Utilize a consistent naming convention for your UTM parameters across campaigns.
• Keep names straightforward and comprehensible.

Keeping Track of Your URLs

Keeping a centralized list of your tracking URLs is vital for effective management. Tracking your URLs helps avoid duplication, simplifies management, and lowers the risk of inaccurate data.

To keep track of your URLs in HubSpot, you can use the Tracking URL Builder to create tracking URLs and the Traffic Analytics tool to monitor and manage your tracking URLs effectively.

Additionally, you can utilize the ‘Manage Duplicates’ tool available for Professional and Enterprise tiers of HubSpot to identify and remove potential duplicates in your CRM records.

Regular Audits and Clean-Up

Performing regular audits and clean-up of your tracking URLs is necessary for maintaining accurate data and achieving optimal campaign performance. It is recommended to audit and clean up tracking URLs in HubSpot on a monthly or quarterly basis for optimal results.

Real-World Applications of HubSpot Tracking URLs

HubSpot tracking URLs have a wide range of real-world applications, from enhancing email marketing campaigns to boosting PPC ad performance. By implementing tracking URLs in your marketing campaigns, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your campaigns and optimize them for maximum results. To start reaping the benefits, incorporate a tracking url immediately into your strategy.

Enhancing Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing campaigns can greatly benefit from the use of tracking URLs. By creating unique tracking URLs for email links, you can track traffic from the campaign to a particular page with the HubSpot tracking code. This allows you to assess the efficacy of your email campaigns and understand how and when visitors access your site through a URL in a given campaign.

Tracking URLs also allow you to run tests, experiment with different language and offers, and observe which elements resonate with your audience. By analyzing the UTM data from your email campaigns, you can track and gauge the efficacy of your email campaigns using UTM parameters, ultimately optimizing your email marketing strategy.

Boosting PPC Ad Performance

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a powerful online marketing strategy that allows advertisers to pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. By implementing tracking URLs in your Google Ads, you can track keyword performance, ad placements, and overall campaign success, enabling you to optimize your campaigns based on data-driven insights.

Tip : By creating unique tracking URLs for your PPC ads and analyzing the resulting data, you can optimize your marketing strategy and achieve better results.

Key Takeaways

• HubSpot’s Tracking URL Builder simplifies campaign analytics by providing an easy-to-use platform for managing tracking URLs.
• UTM parameters can be added to track website traffic and measure user engagement, allowing for optimization of campaigns based on data insights.
• HubSpot provides convenient features such as the Traffic Analytics tool and Manage Duplicates feature, enabling users to differentiate between paid/organic traffic, conduct A/B testing, audit & clean up URLs regularly for accurate data & optimal performance.