WordPress plugin: Track subscriber inbound traffic in Google Analytics

Posted August 7, 2009 by Brian Cray

Reading time: About 1 minute

The problem

I can’t directly attribute traffic to my subscribers because they aren’t segmented in my web analytics.

Why? Subscribers coming from offline applications get categorized under “(direct) ((none))” in Google Analytics. I can’t simply attribute “(direct) ((none))” to only subscriber traffic because “(direct) ((none))” could include browser bookmarks, direct URL entry, or other apps (such as Twitter apps).

The solution

This morning I had a brilliant idea that would solve this issue: Automatically tag my RSS permalinks with UTM campaign tags (see also). Then my subscriber traffic will automatically be segmented in Google Analytics!

Implementation: I wrote a WordPress plugin to make it easy :)

I’m trying to get it hosted on WordPress for easier installation. Until then, do this:

  1. Download the plugin and unzip it
  2. Upload it into your /wp-content/plugins/ directory
  3. Activate the plugin Subscriber Inbound Traffic Tracker from your WordPress control panel
  4. Subscriber traffic will begin to show up under Campaigns in Google Analytics

Links to your posts in your RSS feed should now contain extra stuff in the URL that will allow you to track your inbound subscriber traffic in Google Analytics. Enjoy!

About the author

Photo of Brian Cray

Brian Cray is a Columbus, Ohio-based web entrepreneur & consultant. View some of Brian’s work in his portfolio and learn how to make kick ass websites by reading his blog.

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