Small Business | Forum « Bit.ly versus Google Analytics for tracking

Bit.ly versus Google Analytics for tracking (11 posts)

Topic tags: Bit.ly, google analytics, Link tracking

Kristy C. Cartier said
4 months ago:
Okay, I was set on using GA links to track my conference registrations (email, social media, partners, etc.); however my CTO mentioned that Bit.ly would be better. We do have an account already setup.
What do you think? What do you use?
@kc_kreative | # | Top
E N Brown said
4 months ago:
HI @kc_kreative —
I use a combination of several places for traffic. But if you are looking for conference registrations, I’ve not done that, so can’t be of much help really. What program are you utilizing for registrations? If your campaign was set-up with tracking in mind, there should be useful stats available through that venue.
Not worth .02? Heh.
Eileen
@supereb | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
4 months ago:
@supereb We have a very limited/old AMS system so doubtful it can be of any help. Though I will ask my CTO. I might not be able to track true registrations; however, I’d at least like to track where people are coming from when they land on the registration page (once it’s live).
This is why I would like to use GA or Bit.ly links…
@kc_kreative | # | Top
Rich Brooks said
4 months ago:
@kc_kreative
I’m actually 3/4 the way through a post on using Google’s URL Builder for better tracking.
But since it’s not done, here’s a short version:
If you’re really interested in getting detailed reports, use URL builder, then take the long URL and throw it through bit.ly.
You’ll get all the benefits of both systems, and be able to tell not just whether traffic came through Facebook, but WHICH post generated the click through.
Hope this helps.
@rich-brooks | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
3 months, 4 weeks ago:
@rich-brooks Thanks Rich. I’ll take a look at it and then start building my links! I do have to wait until the conference site is online however…
@kc_kreative | # | Top
Mitch Rezman said
3 months, 4 weeks ago:
fyi: http://goo.gl/f9Rsm
@mitch-rezman | # | Top
Alice Ly said
3 months, 4 weeks ago:
@kc_kreative I do it the same way as Rich, and create bit.ly bundles to keep track of the multiple social links for each campaign. Be sure to edit the title of each bit.ly accordingly (i.e. Facebook, Google+ etc) otherwise all the link titles will look the same.
@alice-ly | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
3 months, 4 weeks ago:
@alice-ly Thanks for the tip! Guess I should setup my link list now while I’m waiting for the site to go live. That way I’ll know how many I should create.
Alice & @rich-brooks Also, do you use one link throughout the entire campaign or do you have different ones? For example, should I have links for early bird reg promotions and then one for regular reg? Should I setup non/member links?
@kc_kreative | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
3 months, 4 weeks ago:
@mitch-rezman Thanks! This looks like a good article
@kc_kreative | # | Top
Mitch Rezman said
3 months, 3 weeks ago:
I don’t know if bit.ly will tell you where your registrations came from which is a metric I think I’d be interested in?
@mitch-rezman | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
3 months, 3 weeks ago:
@mitch-rezman I can’t track past getting them to the registration page as my AMS (association mgmt system) isn’t user friendly (and I have limited knowledge of it). I’ll try to remember to report back if anything interesting turns up.
@kc_kreative | # | Top