Conversion tracking

Business plan. Conversion tracking tells you which clicks turned into results on your own website, such as a sign-up, a booking or a sale, and what they were worth. You see conversions next to your clicks, for each link and each campaign.

How it works

1. You turn on conversion tracking for a link.
2. When someone follows the link, we add a click ID to the destination address, as bgl_click.
3. Your website keeps that click ID while the visitor looks around, signs up or checks out.
4. When they convert, your server sends the click ID to us with the conversions API, saying what happened.
5. The conversion appears in your analytics against the link and its campaign.

You'll need someone who can change your website and its server code. It's usually an hour or two of work.

Turn it on for a link

1. Open the link's page in Links (or open More options when creating a link).
2. Tick Track conversions and save. The link's page shows Tracking conversions.
3. Follow the link yourself. The address you land on now ends with a click ID:

   The address the visitor lands on

   https://example.com/spring-sale?bgl_click=AQAAAAAAAAAqZxH3kQ8b2mVtPq7rWw

Any query string already on the destination, and the visitor's own parameters, stay as they are. With the API, set trackConversions to true when creating or changing a link.

Keep the click ID on your site

The click ID only arrives on the first page. Keep it until the visitor converts, which may be several pages or days later. The usual way is a first-party cookie, set by a few lines on your landing page:

<script>
  // Keep the click ID for 90 days, so a later sign-up or purchase still counts.
  const click = new URLSearchParams(location.search).get("bgl_click");
  if (click) {
    document.cookie = "bgl_click=" + encodeURIComponent(click) +
      "; Max-Age=7776000; Path=/; SameSite=Lax; Secure";
  }
</script>

Then send it with the sign-up or order, for example as a hidden form field:

<form method="post" action="/signup">
  <!-- … your fields … -->
  <input type="hidden" name="bgl_click" id="bgl_click">
</form>
<script>
  const m = document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )bgl_click=([^;]*)/);
  if (m) document.getElementById("bgl_click").value = decodeURIComponent(m[1]);
</script>

• If the visitor signs up straight away, you can instead read bgl_click from the address on the server and keep it in their session.
• For purchases that complete later (such as a bank transfer), store the click ID with the order and report the conversion when it's paid.
• If the visitor arrives through several tracked links, keep the most recent click ID, or the first, depending on which you want to credit. Be consistent.

Report conversions from your server

When the visitor converts, your server calls the API. Send it from your server, never from the browser, so your API key stays secret.

1. Create an API key in API keys with the Record conversions permission (conversions:write). See API quick start.
2. When someone signs up or pays, send the click ID and what happened:

   curl

   curl -X POST "https://bgum.me/api/v1/workspaces/$WORKSPACE_ID/conversions" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $BGL_API_KEY" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
     "click": "AQAAAAAAAAAqZxH3kQ8b2mVtPq7rWw",
     "event": "purchase",
     "value": 49.95,
     "currency": "AUD",
     "eventId": "order-1042"
   }'

   JavaScript

   const res = await fetch(`https://bgum.me/api/v1/workspaces/${process.env.WORKSPACE_ID}/conversions`, {
     method: "POST",
     headers: {
       Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.BGL_API_KEY}`,
       "Content-Type": "application/json",
     },
     body: JSON.stringify({
       "click": "AQAAAAAAAAAqZxH3kQ8b2mVtPq7rWw",
       "event": "purchase",
       "value": 49.95,
       "currency": "AUD",
       "eventId": "order-1042"
     }),
   });
   if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${await res.text()}`);
   const data = await res.json();
   console.log(data);

   Python

   import os
   import requests
   
   res = requests.post(
       f"https://bgum.me/api/v1/workspaces/{os.environ['WORKSPACE_ID']}/conversions",
       headers={
           "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['BGL_API_KEY']}",
       },
       json={
           "click": "AQAAAAAAAAAqZxH3kQ8b2mVtPq7rWw",
           "event": "purchase",
           "value": 49.95,
           "currency": "AUD",
           "eventId": "order-1042",
       },
       timeout=30,
   )
   res.raise_for_status()
   print(res.json())

3. You get 201 Created back. If the call fails because of a network problem, send it again with the same eventId: a repeat returns 200 with the first record, so nothing is counted twice.

A conversion counts if it happens within 90 days of the click. Full details are in the API reference.

Read your results

• A link's page and Analytics show Conversions, the Conversion rate (conversions per click from people in the same period) and the total Value per currency.
• Conversions are broken down by event, and on Analytics by campaign too. A conversion is credited to the campaign the link was in when it was clicked.
• Conversions are counted on the day they happen, in the workspace's analytics time zone, so a click on Monday and a sale on Friday show the sale on Friday.
• The CSV export has a conversions column. See CSV export.

Privacy

• A click ID says which link was followed and when. It contains nothing about the visitor, and we don't set any cookies ourselves.
• Click IDs are signed, so they can't be guessed or altered.
• If you store the click ID in a cookie, treat it like your other analytics cookies in your privacy policy and cookie notice.
• Don't send personal details, such as names or email addresses, in event or eventId.

Common problems