Outbound link tracking issue - Need Help!!

[Guillaume]

Hi Guys,

I have been struggling with a tracking issue for months now. I have a wordpress website which sends traffic to third party companies. We charge them on a CPC model.

Initially, I used Google Tag Manager to track the clicks on the links/buttons, and invoiced the clients based on this. This said, we quickly realized we were completely off on the results. The clients could trace 50% of our clicks, or 4 times more.

Hence, I changed my links to Bitly, and the results on Bitly match the results the clients see on their side.

The issue I have is that I cannot use Bitly data in GA or Google Data Studio which is important for me to run reports. My next move is to pay 35$/month US to export data from Bitly everyday and copy paste it in an excel spreadsheet connected to my Google Data Studio. But hey, that feels like the worst possible outcome!!

Any ideas??

P.S. I am also in the dark as to why my click tracking is off with GTM, but I assume it is because of fake clicks, people closing the window to quickly, etc. I tried many settings (just links, all clicks, wait for tags, etc.) but I never got any accurate data.

 

[Aditya007]

I cannot use Bitly data in GA or Google Data Studio

Could I know why not? As far as I remember, they do provide API for the statistics, that should do the job.

And a much better option would be to get a system developed that'll be much easier for you and your client, plus saving the monthly $35 cost.

 

[Guillaume]

Could I know why not? As far as I remember, they do provide API for the statistics, that should do the job.

And a much better option would be to get a system developed that'll be much easier for you and your client, plus saving the monthly $35 cost.

I wasn't aware of the api, but I am trying to do this without dev. I'd rather handle all of it myself than go to someone for changes.

As for a system developed, I thought of creating a new domain and using it only for redirection, while computing hits on the pages, but I wasn't sure that would be reliable. Any idea on how to do this without code?

 

[Aditya007]

In my opinion, you need to apply frequency capping and not count one use clicking a banner multiple times, as multiple clicks if that makes sense? I'm not sure if you can do it completely without code but wouldn't it be a much better idea to have it coded one time rather than paying $35 a month with manual work still needed?