Conversion Tracking Troubleshooting

Distribution: Internal Only !
Topic: Conversion Tracking and Troubleshooting !
A u t h o r s : a u r k o . c h a t t e r j e e @ h a y s t a k . c o m , a n t h o n y. b a l b o @ h a y s t a k . c o m ,
david.goldstein@haystak.com !
Date Published: Jan 28, 2014 !
Date Revised: !
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BASIC TERMINOLOGY!
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Conversion - A conversion is defined as any
meaningful action taken by a user after clicking on an
ad and going to a dealership's website while on
desktop / tablet devices or when a user takes a
meaningful action when a user interacts with a mobile
ad. At Haystak, we have 3 primary conversion types.
Calls, Emails and Click to Calls. Conversions in dealer
speak are also known as “leads”. !
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Calls - The user physically calls a number present on
the dealerships website. !
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Emails - The user fills and submits a form on the
website either via the contact us page or any other
opportunity provided on the website to contact the
dealership via emails. !
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Click to Call - A click to call is a conversion type where
a user clicks the “call” button on the dealerships mobile
ad. An image of a click to call button has been shown
alongside. !
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Tracking - Software implemented for two primary
reasons. i) To determine and attribute a conversion to
our advertising efforts ii) To understand which source
( search, display etc), campaign, ad group, ads and
keywords are contributing towards conversions.
Tracking is usually achieving by tagging unique parameters to a URL, for ex. www.haystak.com/
vsrefdom?._3456 where “vsrefdom?._3456” is a unique parameter appended to the existing
URL. It is also achieved with the installment of a code at the back end of a website. At haystak
we also use other tools that help us track conversions like ‘reverse proxies’ and ‘server-sideswaps’ which have been explained below. !
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Reverse Proxies - Think of reverse proxies as a mirror image of the original website. These
websites are generally created to give us larger control over the placement of codes on a
dealer's site. This is necessitated especially in cases where other web providers either cannot
install code correctly or in certain cases refuse to install the code altogether. A prime example of
this is Cobalt. Over the last couple of months, we have increasingly started using reverse
proxies as we have seen far more accurate tracking as a result of its implementation. To 1
determine if a website has been reverse proxied you will need to go to the .calls.net variant of
the website. For ex: chinohillsford.com vs. chinohillsford.calls.net!
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CONVERSION TYPES IN DEPTH !
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A. Call Tracking - Provided by Marchex a Third Party Vendor. !
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We execute number swapping. This allows us to swap the numbers on a dealers page to a
trackable phone number. This only happens to users that click on our ads. This is done by
the following methods. !
Code Placement - A code is placed on every page of the website. This code is received
from an accounts Management Tab > Call Tracking > Check box the number > Select
Number Replacement Code Every account has a specific vsrefdom =p.###. This number
ties the dealer site to their Kenshoo profile which sets the numbers to the appropriate call
tracking number!
Reverse Proxy - We use a proxy server to copy the dealers website exactly and then it
scans the website and it swaps the numbers it finds with the call tracing number. Keep in
mind if a provider names its images similar to a phone number (EX. 1235431234.jpg) the
reverse proxy my cause img breaks because it tries to swap the number. If this is an issue
Tech can fix this. !
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B. Form Submission- Provided by Kenshoo!
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This is done by code placement that is found in the Management Tab > Profile settings > and in
advanced Tab. !
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This code is placed on the form confirmation pages on the dealers website or our reverse
proxy site. When someone fills out a form and hits submit, the code on the confirmation
page fires to track that conversion.!
We only track form submissions when you have ad set at the tracking level. ( In Kenshoo Pull the column from the Ads section and in AdWords, if you hover over the ad headline you will see the server - 1177 or 1196. )!
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C. Click To Call - Provided by Google!
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This is done by adding a call sitelink to the account. You can do this in adwords or by checking
the campaign > select edit > go to the call extension tab > and putting the number. !
This puts a call button next to mobile ads and the actual phone number in desktop and tablet
ads. This allows someone to call the dealer directly .The information is provided to us through
google and not by any tracking code we place. This metric is not trackable in the dealers
dashboard. !
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TECHNICAL TROUBLESHOOTING BY CONVERSION TYPE!
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A. Call Tracking!
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On a RP site (calls.net) you should see the numbers swapping already on the page if not
you need to put in a ticket !
On a non RP site you will need to go through an ad in Adwords to see if the numbers swap.
If they do not. !
Right click and view the source code!
CTRL-F and search for Voice-star or the server number.!
If this is found it should match the code that can be found in that particular Kenshoo
accounts call tracking information!
If it is not the code it will need to be provided to the website provider to get it placed.!
This code should be found on every page of the website.!
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B. Form Submission!
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The pixel must trigger when a confirmation page is loaded. !
This can be tested on either a reverse proxy or non proxy website.!
The easiest place to look for this would be on a “contact us” page!
Fill out the form information on the page with generic information.!
Before you press submit hit right click > inspect element > switch to the network tab the
press submit. !
Confirmation page should load and the inspect element tab will flash with resources being
retrieved from the server. !
In the resources column - CTRL + F - find “redir” that will show the pixel in its entirety. !
If this not located on the page then this could be the issue!
If the code is located there it should match the code in your dealers Kenshoo account!
this code would need to be found on every form confirmation page!
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C. Mobile Click To Call!
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This should work as long as the call extension is in place in google within the Adwords profile for
the account. !
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Another element that you want to make sure you have enabled is the Google forwarding
number. A forwarding number is a tracking number provided by Google which forwards to your
call extension. This will also help you identify manually dialed calls - these are calls made by
users without necessarily clicking on your ads. This is a great set of data that is not reported by
Kenshoo but can show added engagement to the client. !
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CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS ( ONCE YOU CAN’T FIND A TECHNICAL ISSUE ) - SIX CHECKS. !
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Average position - Again, check the benchmarks matrix in order to ensure that your
campaign avg. position is where it should be. As a ground rule we gun for position 3,
anything below is a red flag. Why this is important to note is that low positions mean that
your ad is unlikely to get clicked on very frequently. The lower the traffic to your website the
lower your chances to get a conversion to your site. This is applicable for both desktop and
mobile ads. !
If your average position is OK - Take a look at your CTR. If you find that your CTR is low
even at high average positions investigate why using the following flowchart. !
If your average position and CTR are OK - Its time to take a look at how your account is
spending on a daily basis. Its now time to run a report via the dimensions tab in Adwords.
Go to the dimensions tab in your account: !
What we’re trying to do here is to see how
quickly you are running out of budgets in a
given day on average. A lot of times you will
find that a campaign doesn't convert because
it has spent out by 11 am. We usually find
that the largest number of conversion come
during a dealerships operating hours. If you
aren’t showing then - you’re likely never to
get a qualified lead via the phone. !
Once you’re in the dimensions tab go to the
‘view’ tab and then select day > hour of day.
Please view the below screenshot for
clarification. Make sure you choose the
campaign that you are currently investigating
for accurate results and data. Now go ahead
and click on the columns tab > customize
columns > competitive metrics and add the
search impression share , Lost IS Rank and
Lost IS Budget column. What this will do is
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bring up hour by hour data that shows you your impression share every hour. Note that if
your impression share isn't consistent in a dealerships business hours there is a problem.
Not showing up enough times or consistently when the dealership is open results in the
likelihood that your campaign is going to miss potential clicks, visits and as a direct result
conversions. !
You should now see the following - Make sure that you sort this data by “hour of the day” in
ascending order, ie, 0100 Hrs to 2400 Hrs. Typically, once you’ve reached this step you will
find one of two things - your impression share is solid across all hours that you have chosen
to run your campaigns or your impression share is nowhere near sufficient in hours that are
critical to the dealership. Case in point is the image below: Whether you lose to rank or
budget is critical. If you’re losing to rank - make sure your quality is solid and your bids are
high enough to bring you into a better position. If you have a lack of budgets - ask the
dealership for more explaining to the contact at the dealer that your campaigns are suffering
due to a lack of budget. !
In scenarios where you’re losing largely due to low budgets or limited budgets - it might be a
good idea to day part your campaigns and deliver ads within a timeframe that is more
conversion friendly for the dealer., typically the hours the particular store is open. !
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The last step in the process is to find out if your geo’s are too wide or too narrow. Per
autotrader.com , high conversions are typically seen upto 20 miles. In rural / semi -urban/
low population areas this can increase to 30 miles. In urban areas however anything over
20 miles is a huge risk. Dial up or dial down your geo’s based on where your dealership is
located. An advanced concept discussed later is how you can actually use market
intelligence to determine accurate geographies. An advanced step in conversion analysis is
mapping and utilizing sales data to draw targeting decisions - splitting out campaigns etc.
This has been covered in a separate document.!
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A QUICK LOOK AT CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION AND WHAT WE CAN CONTROL !
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PART I : ADS !
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IN OUR CONTROL !
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Right ad, right place, right time!
Correct messaging with good ad copy!
Directing to the right page !
Directing to a working page !
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PART II : THE WEBSITE !
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IN OUR CONTROL !
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Correct Tracking Parameters!
Deep Linking to appropriate pages !
Directing calls to the right numbers!
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NOT IN OUR CONTROL!
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Page Layout and Design!
Number of conversion points !
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PART III : THE DEALERSHIP!
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IN OUR CONTROL !
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Accurately communicating our
tracking practices!
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NOT IN OUR CONTROL!
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Inventory and Pricing !
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