Cross-Domain Tracking

How to enable cross domain tracking with AnyTrack

AnyTrack enables you to track cross-domain conversions while using first-party data. It will capture the visitor first party data and traffic information on your first domain and pass it to any other websites connected in your AnyTrack account.

To measure sessions, AnyTrack sets and collects a clientId value in every hit. clientId values are stored in cookies - in a first party scope.

The clientId belongs to the first party data of your site. Since cookies are stored on a per-domain basis, and websites on one domain cannot access cookies set for another domain.

When you measure sessions across multiple domains, the clientId value has to pass from one domain to the other. To achieve this, Anytrack Tag has a linking function that allows the first domain to place the clientId in the URL parameters of the destination URL parameter of a link.

This way, the destination domain can read the clientId from the URL parameter and use it for tracking purposes.

Cross-domain tracking popular use case

• When you run native ads campaigns promoting advertorials where you promote products sold on your own Shopify store.

• When articles from your blog promote products sold on a Woocommerce hosted site.

What are the challenges of cross domain tracking?

Due to strict browser privacy settings, ITP, ETP, user tracking / cookies data can't be shared across domains. Therefore, when users navigate from Domain A to Domain B, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixels and other pixels, will initiate a new user session, with new first party data, cookies and tracking information.

In cases where you advertise landing page on Domain A, which promotes products on Domain B, you will want to attribute the conversions to ad clicks that triggered the initial visit on Domain A.

Since the user first party data (i.e. Google Cookie ID) is associated with Domain A, it can't be used on Domain B, and consequently the conversions can't be attributed to the initial ad click.

1. landing-page-blog.com - A landing page or blog where you review / promote products sold on your Shopify store.

2. my-store.com - a Shopify store where your visitors can purchase your products.

AnyTrack enables you to do that using the atclid parameter

When do you need to track activity across multiple domains?

You will need to use cross-domain tracking if you want to aggregate visits on multiple domains into one single session and you want to attribute the conversion to the initial touch point via a postback URL.

If one of the domains is not under your control, you probably want to track it using one of the native integrations found under the integration catalog.

The atclid Parameter

Whenever you are passing traffic from one domain to another, AnyTrack will need to know about it using the atclid param. The atclid param is a URL param that needs to pass on every link from the original domain to the second.

https://my-store.com/product-123?atclid={click_id}

There are 2 ways to pass the atclid param:

1. Use the link tracking attribute crossdomain keyword as a marker. For example: rel="crossdomain" or data-tracking-group="crossdomain"
2. Use the click id placeholder and add the atclid param manually on the links. For example: https://my-store.com/product-123?atclid=--CLICK-ID--

Tracking Conversions

Whenever AnyTrack sees the atclid param on the URL, it will capture all the attribution data from the original click id and assign those on the current user session.

A real life example

Your visitors click on a Facebook Ad and visits your landing page. Using the atclid param you forward the client to your Shopify store and the client bought a watch on your store.

Once the purchase is made, you will see that the users came from the Facebook campaign and you will have Facebook click id attributed for that user.

Please note that AnyTrack will not sync back the conversion on the landing page property and you will see that on the last website the user made the purchase on. Learn more on that in the next section.

Multiple Properties vs Single Property

When tracking traffic over multiple domains, you have a choice between tracking all the traffic using a single AnyTrack property or split each website on a separate property.

There are Pros and Cons for each method, but ultimately you will have to pick the method that best suits your goals.

Single Property

Using this method, both websites will use the same AnyTrack TAG. This means that all the conversions will be attributed to a single property, and the same tracking pixels such as Google Analytics will be set on both websites.

Benefits:

• Easier to manage and setup

• You can analyze your entire dataset with one single set of pixels / analytics.

Disadvantages:

• As bowser privacy gets stricter, you might find cases where tracking data is being blocked.

• Reporting on Google Analytics can be complex.

Multiple Properties

In this method, every website uses a different AnyTrack TAG. This means that the conversions will be listed under the property where the conversion was made and you will have a complete data separation between each property.

Each property will need to be set with the following:

• AnyTrack Tag

• Google Analytics & Facebook Pixel / Conversion API

How to send conversions from your Shopify Property to your Blog property

If both properties have been set according to the instructions, what is left to do is to send the conversions from shopify to your "blog property".

In order to achieve this task, we use the webhook feature, which will fire the conversions from the shopify property to the blog property.

1. Setup a webhook under the shopify property

2. Place your webhook

3. Select the events you wish to track (in most cases you will want to track the Purchase event)

4. Create a custom affiliate network

5. Name it and add some dummy values to each parameter

6. Copy the postback url

7. Return to Zapier or Integromat (where you created your webhook.

8. Trigger a sale

9. Complete your Zap / integromat scenario

If you don't know what is a webhook, it's time to up your game as it will help you achieve tons of automations.