Tracking links are used to provide data about web traffic and user behavior. A tracking link is a regular URLs with tags (or queries) added at the end. These tags are called UTM parameters, and they can indicate where a visitor to the URL is coming from, the specific piece of content they clicked on to get to the URL, and which marketing campaign the URL is related to.

Tracking links can be generated in many marketing platforms, or using tools like Google’s Campaign URL Builder.

By using tracking parameters on the URLs in your listings, you can gain insight into metrics like:

• Referral traffic driven from listings
• Bounce rate
• Number of conversions

In Listings, you can use tracking links in two ways – with fields and publishers. This article will walk you through both options.

Using Tracking Links in Fields

You can use tracking links on any URL field on your entities:

• Website URL
• Reservation URL
• Menu URL
• Order URL
• Delivery URL
• Custom fields using the URL type

There are two ways to use tracking links in fields:

1. Simply copy and paste your entire tracking URL into the desired field in Yext. This means that every time that field is referenced, the user who clicks that URL will have the same tracking parameters applied to their visit.
2. Use embedded fields to reference other fields in Yext as UTM parameters. This will mean that you can choose specific scenarios where additional tracking should be added.

There are good use cases for both options: for example, customers might want to have a tracking parameter for "utm_campaign=yext" to be added to all instances of their Website URL on their listings.

However, other customers may want their tracking URLs to be specific to certain locations. For example, customers using Featured Messages on Listings may want to understand which listings with featured messages generate the most interest. They could do this by using a UTM parameter like "utm_content=[[storeId]]" so that when a user clicks their Website URL on a specific listing, they can easily see which location listing brought them there.

 

Using Tracking Links with Publishers

For Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, and Bing, you can sync different URLs to different publishers. This gives you the flexibility to add different tracking parameters to your links for different publishers.

To do this, you will need to override your Website URL field in your Publisher Configuration.

Step 1: Choose the field for your tracking link

To store your tracking link, use the corresponding built-in Website Override field for your desired publisher(s):

• Google Website Override
• Facebook Website Override
• Yelp Website Override
• Bing Website Override

In most cases, you should use the built-in override fields. If you have a specific use case where a different field is needed, you may choose to create a custom field to store your tracking link.

Step 2: Add your tracking link to your entities

• Click Knowledge Graph in the navigation bar and click Entities.
• Select the entity/entities you would like to edit.
• Paste the tracking link into the URL field you chose in Step 1. If you have different links for different publishers, you will need to paste each separate tracking link into its corresponding Website Override field.
• Click Save.

Step 3: Edit your Publisher Configurations

If you want to use a tracking URL for Google Business Profile, Facebook, or Yelp, you'll need to override your default Website URL field.

• Click Listings in the navigation bar and click Publishers.
• Click on the name of the desired publisher: Google Business Profile, Facebook, or Yelp.
• Click on the Configuration tab.
• Click on the desired URL field and select the override field you edited in Step 2.
• Click Save.
  • Note: Once your listings are synced, and customers click on the tracking link, you will be able to view the breakdown of your traffic data in Google Analytics.