CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptwordpressgoogle-analytics
zgall1
zgall1

Reputation: 3025

Outbound link tracking with a redirect

I have set up Google Analytics to track outbound links. However, I have also installed a WordPress plugin called Amazon Link Localizer that modifies the outgoing URL such that its final form is prourls.com?url=www.amazon.com instead of www.amazon.com.

Is it possible to modify the Analytics script such that these outbound link clicks can still be tracked?

Upvotes: 8

Views: 1270

Answers (2)

Sally CJ
Sally CJ

Reputation: 15620

STEP 1: Add the trackOutboundLink script to your website.

Add this code in the <head></head> section of the page's HTML: (the full script is at the bottom of this page, but use this one to help minimize the page size)

<script>
var trackOutboundLink=function(t,e){var n,o="object"==typeof t?t.href:t,a=document.createElement("a");function c(){document.location=o}e=e||o,a.href=e,/\bprourls\.com?$/i.test(a.host)?e=(n=/[\?&]url=([^&#]+)/.test(a.search)&&RegExp.$1||"")?decodeURIComponent(n):e:/\blinksynergy\.com$/i.test(a.host)&&(e=(n=/[\?&]murl=([^&#]+)/.test(a.search)&&RegExp.$1||"")?decodeURIComponent(n):e),"function"==typeof gtag?gtag("event","click",{event_category:"outbound",event_label:e,transport_type:"beacon",event_callback:c}):ga("send","event","outbound","click",e,{transport:"beacon",hitCallback:c})};window.addEventListener("load",function(){var t,e,n=document.getElementsByTagName("a")||[];function o(t){t.preventDefault();var e=this.getAttribute("data-outbound-link");trackOutboundLink(this.href,"1"===e?"":e)}for(t=0;t<n.length;t++)(e=n[t]).href&&!/^#/.test(e.href)&&location.host!==e.host&&""!==e.getAttribute("data-outbound-link")&&e.addEventListener("click",o,!1)},!1);
</script>

Note that the script is a modified/customized version of the script provided by Google Analytics:

STEP 2: Add data-outbound-link="1" to outbound links' HTML.

For each outbound links that you want to track, add this to the link's HTML:

data-outbound-link="1"

(And if you previously added onclick="trackOutboundLink('http://www.example.com'); return false;" to the link's HTML, then please replace it with the above code.)

So instead of: <a href="http://www.example.com" onclick="trackOutboundLink('http://www.example.com'); return false;">Check out example.com</a>

..use this: <a href="http://www.example.com" data-outbound-link="1">Check out example.com</a>

THE FULL SCRIPT

Below is the full, unminified version of the custom trackOutboundLink script: (use this just for reference)

<script>
var trackOutboundLink = function(link, url2track) {
  var url2visit = ('object' === typeof link) ? link.href : link,
    a = document.createElement('a'),
    b;

  url2track = url2track || url2visit;
  a.href = url2track;

  // Dynamic redirect URLs via Prourls.com; this was for Amazon URLs.
  if (/\bprourls\.com?$/i.test(a.host)) {
    b = (/[\?&]url=([^&#]+)/.test(a.search) && RegExp.$1) || '';
    url2track = b ? decodeURIComponent(b) : url2track;
  // Dynamic redirect URLs via Link Synergy; this was for Footlocker URLs.
  } else if (/\blinksynergy\.com$/i.test(a.host)) {
    b = (/[\?&]murl=([^&#]+)/.test(a.search) && RegExp.$1) || '';
    url2track = b ? decodeURIComponent(b) : url2track;
  }
  // All other URLs are not parsed and expected to be valid outbound URLs.

  function onTracked() {
    //alert('Tracked: ' + url2track);
    document.location = url2visit;
  }

  if ('function' === typeof gtag) {
    gtag('event', 'click', {
      'event_category': 'outbound',
      'event_label': url2track,
      'transport_type': 'beacon',
      'event_callback': onTracked
    });
  } else {
    ga('send', 'event', 'outbound', 'click', url2track, {
      'transport': 'beacon',
      'hitCallback': onTracked
    });
  }
};

window.addEventListener('load', function() {
  var links = document.getElementsByTagName('a') || [],
    i, a;

  function _go(e) {
    e.preventDefault();

    // Track a custom URL address, if specified.
    var b = this.getAttribute('data-outbound-link');

    trackOutboundLink(this.href, '1' === b ? '' : b);
  }

  for (i = 0; i < links.length; i++) {
    a = links[i];

    if (!a.href || /^#/.test(a.href) || location.host === a.host) {
      continue;
    }

    if ('' !== a.getAttribute('data-outbound-link')) {
      a.addEventListener('click', _go, false);
    }
  }
}, false);
</script>

Upvotes: 3

vinoaj
vinoaj

Reputation: 1674

Try this:

First, Remove the onclick handlers on all of your links.

Second Include the following code in your <head> block

var trackOutboundLink = function(url) {
    var newUrl = url;
    var re = /prourls\.co.*\?.*url=(.*)/
    var matches = url.match(re);
    if (matches && matches.length > 0) {
        newUrl = matches[1]
    }

    // console.log(newUrl);

    ga('send', 'event', 'outbound', 'click', newUrl, {
      'transport': 'beacon',
      'hitCallback': function(){document.location = url;}
    });
};

var btns = document.querySelectorAll('a.btn');
for (var i = 0, l = btns.length; i < l; i++) {
    btns[i].addEventListener('click', function(e) {
        // console.log(e.target.href);
        trackOutboundLink(e.target.href);
    });
}

Modified trackOutboundLink() now:

  • Checks if it is of the form prourls.com?url=XXXX
  • Extracts the value of the url parameter
  • Passes that value to the GA event tracking call

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions