Don’t Forget the Tracking Code!
So a few days ago I decided that it was time to update the look and feel of eComm Tips. So I went out and found a new design that I liked and then made some tweaks for a day or two.
This was all part of a sort of ‘re-launch’ for this site. I’ve had it up for awhile but let it stall for a few months because I was working on other projects. So hopefully you like the new look!
So today i was looking at my stats and it was showing that I had no traffic for the last couple of days. I thought that was rather odd, because I know that I’ve had traffic because I’ve had people leaving comments.
A few thoughts raced through my mind: “Did my tracking company have a problem?”, “Am I really getting no traffic for some reason?”, “Have I been banned from search?” Then it came to me…I forgot to bring the tracking code over from my previous template!
So that’s the lesson for today. If you make changes to a site like a redesign or something like that, always make sure to bring over the essential things like tracking codes, etc. It will save you a headache :-).
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its surprising that no traffic to your site….. but the good thing is that you figured out the reason and thanks for sharing it…… i think i will not do that too thx busy for the post
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Dan Reply:
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:43 am
That’s the thing - I know that this blog gets traffic every day so needless to say it was a little concerning. I hope others can learn from my mistake
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Thanks for a good piece of advise, Dan. I will take a note.
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Dan Reply:
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Glad it helped!
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its surprising that no traffic to your site!
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Dan Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 am
Good thing that in the end it wasn’t true!
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It has suprised me that no traffic has come to your site.Hope it comes.But anyway you found the reason & thanks for sharing it.
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Dan Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:14 am
yeah it was definitely a relief that it wasn’t really anything bad, just my own error!
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Hey i am first time reader on this site, but it great tip for every one of us. Thanks Man!!
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Dan Reply:
October 6th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Thanks for visiting, and I hope you find some good tips here!
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Dhirender yadav Reply:
October 6th, 2008 at 9:29 am
thanks
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I actually had a semi-similar problem a while back with a free wordpress template that I was using. The template was beautiful, but the footer had been written with a call to another file in it, thereby eliminating my ability to insert tracking code (although in hindsight, I probably could have inserted it into the header or someother regularly repeating section). I managed to track down the designer, sent him an email describing the situation, and he was nice enough to send me back the footer.php file with the condition that the original links remain. A fair trade off.
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Dan Reply:
October 6th, 2008 at 9:05 am
That’s weird that he would have it calling from a completely different file. I guess he really wanted to make sure that the links stayed there!
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I did a similar thing with my analytics - It was frustrating when I found out as I lost days of valuable data!
Hopefully you post will stop people learning the hard way like us!
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Dan Reply:
October 6th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Agreed! It sure was a frustrating few days, and it still frustrates me when I look back and see the black hole of missing data from those days. Oh well, live and learn!
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What do you track? The number of visitors?
Why not tracking the companies that are visiting your website (if B2B website)?
That’s more usefull than nameless visitor numbers.
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Dan Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 8:19 am
It all depends on what you’re looking for. If you model is based on CPM ad sales, then all you really care about is visitors. If you’re trying to sell something you want to see if people are staying on the site, where the bottlenecks might be, and where they’re coming from so you know what’s effective.
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If you are in B2B sales getting the company names of your visitors allows you to cold call on warm companies, as they have shown interest in your solutions or products.
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Dan Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Very good point! So what do you do to capture that information from your visitors?
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Many people still face problems in installing the code and make Google track it probably to pull the correct status.
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Dan Reply:
December 10th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Well, I guess the other problem is installing it wrong. But if you follow the instructions you should be just fine.
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Such tracking information could be critical. We should increase the maximum number of ads per page to reflect the tracking code’s presence.
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Dan Reply:
December 10th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Not a bad idea.
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Thans..
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It is so easy to ignore the tracking codes or confirmation codes, but when the times comes that you need them, you may not be able to achieve anything without them! I always print the page with the code, and then use it as scrap paper after I no longer need the number anymore.
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