ConversionRuler ROI Tracking User’s Manual

ConversionRuler Basic

Version 1.0

Contents

Getting Started with ConversionRuler tracking

Conversion Ruler was designed with ease of use in mind. These are the steps involved.

  1. You sign up for Conversion Ruler and your account is created.
  2. You define the "conversion actions" that you want to have as data points when you track as "conversion actions" your marketing campaigns. In addition to clickthroughs, the default data points are "Newsletter signups", "Catalog Requests" and "Orders". You can rename these actions or add more actions via the "Account Management" option shown when you login to your account.
  3. You login and use the "Code Generator" to create snippets. These snippets are of two general types: "Landing Page Snippets" and "Action Snippets. See Using the Code Generator for more information on how to set up your inbound links.
  4. You paste the snippets into the pages of your site. Specifically, you paste the "landing page snippet" into the code of each your landing pages (if your site uses a universal include, this can usually be used). You paste the newsletter request snippet onto your newsletter confirmation page, the catalog request snippet on the catalog request confirmation page and, lastly, the order confirmation snippet onto the or Order Receipt page.
  5. You edit the links coming into your site so that they contain a query string with ConversionRuler’s tracking parameters. See Setting up inbound links for tracking for more information on how to set up your inbound links.
  6. At this point you would get reporting on any campaigns that you are running. However, there is an additional step if you want to get more detailed information in your reporting (most clients do). In order for your Conversion Ruler report to show order amounts, order totals and order reference numbers, you must put that information in the snippet on your Order Receipt page.

    The exact method for doing this depends on the technology you use for your shopping cart, but since the ConversionRuler action snippet for orders is typically on the order receipt page, the method is basically to output the values in the snippet in the same way that you output them in the receipt. See Commerce and Advanced Tracking for more information.

If you need help installing Conversion Ruler on your site, we can help. We provide analysis and implementation services at affordable rates, and have experience with a wide variety of shopping carts and middleware technologies. Because we are very familiar with the installation issues of our product, we can usually save clients time in installation whether by installing the snippets ourselves or by working with your web developer.

Contact us with any questions.

Using the code generator

The code generator displays the actions you have configured on your web site and allows you to configure whether the installation page is secure or not. A secure page is one which begins with "https://".

To determine if the page you are installing the snippet on is secure or not, navigate using your web browser to the page you wish to track. If the URL (or Address) begins with https, then you will need to check the "Is this on a secure page?" checkbox before cutting and pasting the snippet on the page.

Snippets that are displayed always reflect the current "Is this on a secure page?" setting for the particular action.

The Landing Pages snippet should be installed on all pages on your web site where a visitor may arrive from your PPC campaigns.

The Action: snippets should be installed on individual pages where you wish to record user behavior or track commerce information. See Commerce and Advanced Tracking for more information about how to configure your snippets to record order amounts and order numbers.

Setting Up Inbound Links for Tracking

ConversionRuler basic does not track all traffic coming into your website. It only tracks click- throughs that have a certain value in a "query string" on the "click-through url". It is probably easiest to explain what a query string is by showing an example: This address DOES NOT have a query string:

http://www.example.com/

This address does:

http://www.example.com/?category=5&template=6

The query string in this example is:

?category=5&template=6

A query string begins with a question mark and is composed of a series of "parameters" and "values", separated by ampersands ( "&" ). In this example, there is a parameter called "category" (that has a "value" of 5) and another parameter called "template" (that has a value of 6).

If you do not understand this, then you will probably need to get some help to setup ConversionRuler tracking. Please contact us if you are interested in our integration services.

For ConversionRuler tracking there are three parameters that you can use. They are: "crcat", "crsource" and "crkw". These three parameters end up as Category, Campaign and Segment, respectively, in your ROI report.

The "source" parameter is required in order for ConversionRuler to work. The "crcat" and "crkw" parameters are not required, but can be used to make your reports more informative and valuable. Specifically, the crcat (Category) parameter is used to organize groups of information into a larger group for the purpose of summarizing the information, and the crkw (Segment) parameter can be used to provide more detailed information about your marketing activities.

Generally speaking a query string comes after a file name, including the file suffix. Thus,

http://www.example.com/page.htm

becomes

http://www.example.com/page.htm?crcat=payperclick&crsource=google_ads&crkw=adgroupname

However, in the case of a homepage url, a file name and suffix is not generally required. So

http://www.example.com/

becomes

http://www.example.com/?crcat=payperclick&crsource=google_ads&crkw=adgroupname

In cases where a query string is already present in your click- through address, you simply add the name value pairs onto the end of the URL using a leading ampersand. Thus,

http://www.example.com/?category=5&template=6

becomes

http://www.example.com/?category=5&template=6&crcat=payperclick&crsource=google_ads&crkw=adgroupname

Using the ConversionRuler parameters to organize your reports

ConversionRuler organizes its reports in a very literal way. This makes tracking very easy to do, but it also implies risks for you if you are unclear or undisciplined in the execution of your clickthrough links.

For example:

If you write the the value of the "crcat" parameter in last month’s message as "Emails" and then write the value in this month’s message as "Emailings", the two messages will not be grouped together.

Therefore it is important to define how you are going to setup your tracking at the outset and to follow through with consistent use of the tracking parameters in the execution of your campaign. Understand the implications of your choices.

Example:

A campaign with the following click-through links could yield the report shown below:

http://www.example.com?crcat=email&crsource=Aug1&crkw=segment1
http://www.example.com?crcat=emails&crsource=august21&crkw=segment2
http://www.example.com/?crcat=emails&crsource=august1&crkw=segment3
http://www.example.com?crcat=emails&crsource=august21&crkw=subject1
http://www.example.com?crcat=emails&crsource=august21&crkw=subject2
http://www.example.com?crcat=emails&crsource=august21&crkw=subject3
http://www.example.com?crcat=ppc&crsource=Overture&crkw=dogcollar
http://www.example.com?crcat=ppc&crsource=Overture&crkw=petsupplies

Tips:

For your Google Ads, we recommend that you use Powerposting (https://adwords.google.com/select/powerpost.html) to setup separate clickthrough urls for each of your keywords.

Regardless of whether you use Powerposting it is important to set consistent values in the first two parameters and only change the third so that it reflects the particular ad that you are tracking. Thus, your tracking urls might look like this:

?crcat=payperclick&crsource=google_ads&crkw=adgroup1

and this one to your second

?crcat=payperclick&crsource=google_ads&crkw=adgroup2

The report for these would have separate rows for adgroup1 and adgroup2 and a summarizing total for "google_ads" within the category of payperclick.

The values you use can be whatever you want. Choose a convention that you find easy to remember and illustrative of the marketing campaign that you are tracking.

A NOTE ON SYNTAX:

Write the variable values without spaces. You can use capitalization, underlines or plus symbols to help with legibility e.g. "EffectiveKeyterm", "Good_Keyterm", etc.

For more information on syntax of query strings, see this KB article:

http://support.conversionruler.com/faq.php?cmd=view&id=20

Commerce and Advanced Tracking

Can I get ConversionRuler to track orders in my shopping cart?

Qualifying Questions:

  1. Do you have access to the files (Examples: html, asp, cfm, php, etc) of your shopping cart?
  2. Can you access the order amount and the order reference number on your order confirmation page? Ask your programmer: Could I say, "Thank you for your order in the amount of X. Your order reference number is Y"?
  3. Do you have the programming skill to output these values within the ConversionRuler snippet on the order confirmation page?

If you answered yes to all three questions, you can set up ConversionRuler to track order amounts.

How does it work?

In order for your Conversion Ruler report to show financial information, i.e. order amounts, order totals and order reference numbers in the reporting it provides, this information has to be sent to our servers by way of one of our snippets. This is usually an "order page snippet" that lives on your "Order Confirmation Page". The snippet passes the financial information to our server using a simple, albeit precisely controlled syntax within a Javascript function called "cr_track". The cr_track function has several "arguments" which are values separated by commas within parentheses.

The first is the action identification number (As generated for the corresponding action in the Code Generator). The second is the order amount and the third is the order reference number.

Example:

The syntax for an order of $199.99 with order number 2369 is this:

cr_track(3,199.99,'2369');

If you were to choose not to include an order reference number, the syntax would be:

cr_track(3,199.99,'');

How do these values get written?

You, your programmer, or one of our integration specialists will need to be able to populate these values in the "order snippet". This will generally require some coding in the technology that your shopping cart uses. Remember the starting point for tracking is to generate the appropriate snippet using ConversionRuler’s Code Generator. You should start by logging in and generating the appropriate snippet. Usually this is the "Order" snippet. Don’t forget to select the "Secure Checkbox" if the order confirmation page on your website is secure (https)

Once you generate an "order snippet" in the Code Generator the snippet will need to be modified. Specifically, the "cr_track" call will need to be populated with the values for the orders that you might track. There are three arguments. The first is simply the identifier of which action is being tracked. This is produced by the Code Generator and it should not be changed. Next is the amount of the order. (If you want to track the order total, you will write code that writes this amount. If you want to track only the purchase price of the goods you should write code that pulls just this amount.) The final value is an order reference string. This can be your order#, a random number, or blank if you choose not to pass a reference number. This parameter is optional, but highly recommended as it provides a good handle for understanding the details of your internet marketing programs.

Have more questions?

Try our support Knowledge Base, or contact support for specific questions for your installation.

ConversionRuler Glossary

This glossary outlines various terms used in ConversionRuler ROI tracking.

Action
An Action is a transaction from your Web site that is reported by ConversionRuler. For example, a visitor completing a catalog request, sig ning up for a newsletter, or placing an order are all actions.
Action Page
An Action Page is the page of your Web site on which an Action Snippet is placed. Typically, there is a separate Action Page for each Action, such as the order confirmation page or the catalog request confirmation page. In some cases involving Web sites using a middleware technology such as Active Server Pages, Cold Fusion, and PHP, the Snippet might simply reside in some conditionally displayed code rather than on a page dedicated for the confirmation. In this case, the conditionally displayed code would be considered the Action Page.
 
Action Snippet
Action Snippets are short pieces of code used for transmitting Action information to the ConversionRuler reporting database. Contrary to Landing Page Snippets, Action Snippets ARE UNIQUE to each particular action. Every Action Snippet includes an action identifier. Every Action Snippet can also include a reference value that helps clarify more about the Conversion. For example, you might want to include the e-mail address in the reference field of the Action Snippet on your newsletter confirmation page. That way you could tell not only the gross number of e-mail signups a particular marketing campaign caused during a period of time, but also you could also tell exactly which individuals signed up as a result of that particular Category, Campaign or Segment (keyword).
Additional Action
By default the ConversionRuler reporting database is set up to report on 3 Conversion Actions: tracked orders, catalog requests and newsletter signups. The latter two are renameable. It is possible to track any number of additional Conversion points with "Additional Actions". These Actions work just like the defaults; they each require a unique Action Snippet with its own unique ID. Like the default actions, these Additional Actions allow you to get a count on the particular conversion they are set up for and also are capable of recording reference information about the conversion, e.g. e-commerce and/or information like the order number, e-mail address, or contact name of the converted visitor. You could, for example, set up Additional Actions for reporting on conversions for 10 different white paper requests. Each white paper would be a column in the ConversionRuler report and a tally count of each conversion would be shown for each of the Categories, Campaigns or Segment (keyword) that you were tracking. A click on any tally number would show a detailed report that could show you the reference information for each conversion.
Ad Group
Ad Groups are a component of the Google AdWords system. Many users set up their AdWords programs so that the Ad Group is the most precise entity for which there is a unique trackable Query String. However, it IS possible to have higher precision, i.e. keyterm by keyterm tracking without making separate Ad Groups for each keyterm. This is done by using a technique called Google's Power Posting. Power Posting is free and relatively easy to implement.
AdWords
AdWords is Google.com's Pay-Per-Click marketing program. For more information on AdWords click below:

https://adwords.google.com/select/?hl=en

Campaign
A Campaign is the second-level ConversionRuler tracking identifier (e.g., e-mail, Pay-Per-Click, banner ad, etc.). ConversionRuler's overall reporting hierarchy (in order of increasing detail) is: Category, Campaign, Segment.
Category
Category is the top-level ConversionRuler tracking identifier (e.g., e-mail, Pay-Per-Click, banner ad, etc.). ConversionRuler's overall reporting hierarchy (in order of increasing detail) is: Category, Campaign, Segment.
Click-Through
A Click-Through is the event of a visitor entering your Web site from an external place. This link might be in several forms. For example: "ConversionRuler Basic" tracks only Sourced Click-Throughs, whereas "ConversionRuler Complete" tracks both sourced and Unsourced Click-Throughs.
Click-Through Referrer
The page that sent the visitor to the Web site. In the case of search engine referrers, this datum can be used to understand what a person actually searched on to reach the Web site. This is an especially useful datum for Web masters advertising with general keyterms at Google AdWords.
Click-Through URL
The URL that is used to get to a Web site. In the case of ConversionRuler tracking, this URL is usually modified to include tracking Parameters in a Query String.
Code Generator
The tool used to create ConversionRuler's Code Snippets.
Code Snippet
A Code Snippet is a small excerpt of code that is pasted between the <body> tags of a Web page’s HTML code.
Conversion
Conversion is "success." Conversion means that you have successfully induced a site visitor to do something that you wanted him or her to do (one of your Most Wanted Responses), such as placing an order, requesting a catalog, or signing up for your e-mail newsletter.
Conversion Action
Conversion Actions are the specific things that you want ConversionRuler to report on. These are typically your "Most Wanted Responses" from visitors to your Web site. Examples include a visitor completing a catalog request, signing up for a newsletter, or placing an order. You will place an Action Snippet on the pages that are shown when someone successfully completes a Conversion Action so that ConversionRuler can receive the appropriate data about that Conversion and report on it.
Cookie Days
"Cookie Days" refers to the number of days for which Conversion Actions continue to be attributed to a particular tracked Click-Through. The term is a carry over from the world of affiliate marketing where affiliate program sponsors decide how long they will continue to pay commissions after the initial click-through. If there is only 1 cookie day, commissions are only paid for Actions that occur on the day of the referral and the click-through. If a program offers 14 cookie days, then any sale made within 2 weeks of the clickthrough is recorded and the affiliate is compensated accordingly.
Cookie Days Plus
Cookie Days Plus is ConversionRuler's advanced Cookie Day reporting technology. With Cookie Days Plus, data is collected from a cookie for as long as is possible. You can then view reports that show Conversion figures for whatever period after the initial Click- Through you choose. For example, you could report on the sales that occurred within 1 day, 1 week, a month, etc.
Cookie
A Cookie is a text file that a Web site can place on a site visitor's computer such that information can be read later. Cookies are used by Web sites to help the Web site remember the visitor on subsequent visits. Cookies are a standard Internet technology and cannot provide any information to the site owner that was not known by the Web site at the time the cookie was written. For more information on cookies, click below: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/c/cookie.html
IP Exclusion
The technique used to prevent the site activities of a particular computer (or company or another entity that might have a fixed IP address) from skewing the tracking data. This is appropriate only when there is anomalous browsing activity from a fixed IP address. For example, you might want to exclude the IP address of a Web developer on a Web site so that his or her activity isn't included in the traffic or Conversion reporting.
Landing Page
The Landing Page is the page through which someone enters a Web site; the first page they see upon getting to your Web site. There must be a Landing Page Snippet on the Landing Page for ConversionRuler to work.
Landing Page Snippet
A Landing Page Snippet is the Code Snippet that you put on any known Landing Page (or potential landing page) of your Web site so that the Click-Through to that page will be properly handled by ConversionRuler. Unlike Action Page Snippets, Landing Page Snippets are not unique. The same code is used on every landing page. Therefore, it is possible (and, in most cases, highly desirable) to leverage any common element of your site that is included into all of your pages by way of a "server side include." In cases where you have a unified footer, for example, you can place the landing page snippet in the footer file and effectively cover your entire site.
Most Wanted Response
"Most Wanted Responses" are tangible outcomes that help you identify whether a site user fits a desired profile. Usually, these indicate whether you provide value to the visitor and if they are likely to provide value to you. The concept of identifying "Most Wanted Responses" also includes the idea of creating tangible metrics that simplify the analysis of a marketing Campaign's performance while still providing accurate Actionable data.
Name-Value Pair
Part of a Query String, specifically a Parameter, an equals sign, and a value.
Example: crcat=email
See the Query String definition for a detailed example of a name-value pair in the context of a full URL.
Overture
Overture.com is a Pay-Per-Click advertising company partnering with Yahoo and MSN.com. For more information visit their Web site http://www.overture.com
Parameter
Parameters (also called variables) are the specific terms used within the controlled vocabulary of software code. In the case of ConversionRuler.com, the Parameters used in the Query String of your Click- Through URLs are "crcat" (for your Category level value), "crsource" (for Campaign level value) and "crkw" (for Segment level value).
Parameter Mapping
The translation of an existing Parameter to one that is understood by ConversionRuler. Example: A Web site's Campaigns have been tracked using something like: www.homepage.com?src=overture&keyword=newproducts The mapping would say that the value of the "src" parameter should be translated to ConversionRuler's "crsource" field and that the value of "keyword" should be translated to ConversionRuler's "crkw" field.
Pay-Per-Click
(pay-per-click, payperclick) A Pay-Per-Click search engine enables you to list your site at the top of the search engine results for a particular keyterm if you are willing to pay (through an auction process) for each time someone clicks on that listing. The Pay-Per-Click listings are usually marked as different from non-paid search listings (e.g. Sponsored Links). There are usually 3-4 listing spots available at the top of a page for a given keyterm. Each keyterm is sold separately and positions are influenced by how much you are willing to pay per click.
Power Posting
Power Posting is a syntax for assigning individual max bids and Click-Through URLs for each keyterm in a Google Ad Group. It is relatively easy to deploy and is free. For more information on Power Posting, click below: https://adwords.google.com/select/powerpost.html
PPC
An abbreviation of Pay-Per-Click.
Query String
A Query String is the portion of a URL that is used to "pass variables" to a Web server. It begins with a question mark and is comprised of Name-Value Pairs of Parameters and their values.

Example:This is a URL without a Query String:

http://www.example.com/products/product5.html

And this is a URL with a Query String:

http://www.example.com/products/show.asp?productID=1&crcat=ppc&crsource=adwords&crkw=widgets

In this example the query string is

?productID=1&crcat=ppc&crsource=adwords&crkw=widgets

An example name-value pair is productID=1 (the parameter is "productID" and the value is "1").

There are four name-value pairs and these are separated by ampersands. If you wanted to add an additional name-value pair you would simply place another ampersand and a name-value pair at the end of the Query String.

ROI
Return on Investment – you spend X and get Y in return. The general hope is that Y is larger than (or in fact some multiple of) X. Higher profits with lower costs equal higher ROI.
Secure Snippet
When generating ConversionRuler Code Snippets for your Web site you need to specify whether the snippet will be placed on a secure or insecure Web page. Secure Snippets are those that are generated for secure pages. In ConversionRuler, you generate Secure Snippets by selecting the particular Action that the snippet will be reporting on, checking the "Secure" check box and generating the code.
Segment
Segment is the third and most detailed level of ConversionRuler's tracking hierarchy. ConversionRuler's overall reporting hierarchy (in order of increasing detail) is: Category, Campaign, Segment.
Snippet Page
A Snippet Page is the page on which a ConversionRuler Code Snippet exists. This data is stored by ConversionRuler.com so that we can create reports on it. For example, we can show you the pages on which the snippet is installed.
Snippet
See Code Snippet.
Sourced Click-Through
A Sourced Click-Through is when someone clicks on a link to a Web site that has been modified to contain a Query String, which includes information about the source of the click. These Click-Throughs can only be generated from links that the Web master has the ability to control, i.e. e-mailings, banner ads, Pay-Per-Click advertising. Other sources of traffic, such as unpaid search listings, do not have the sourcing information in their link.
Tracked Click-Through
These are the Click-Throughs that are reported by ConversionRuler and on which your billing is based. In the case of "ConversionRuler Basic", only the Sourced Click-Throughs count. In the case of "ConversionRuler Complete", both Sourced and Unsourced Click-Throughs count.
Unsourced Click-Through
Unsourced Click-Throughs to a Web site occur when someone clicks on a link that does NOT contain a Query String. Therefore, there is no information about the source of the click. Unsourced Click-Throughs are inherent to unpaid search listings and unsolicited links from other Web sites. These clicks do not have sourcing information on them and are more difficult to track.
URL
Abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web.
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ConversionRuler ROI Tracking User’s Manual