Understanding the Impact of Redirects on Web Analytics: How to Ensure Accurate Referrer Data

When tracking website traffic and conversions, it's important to understand how email referrals work. Specifically, an email referring domain is considered a source of traffic when visitors click a link from an email that uses protocols such as imap:// or mail://. For example, if a user clicks a link from a Yahoo email, but the protocol is https:// (as it is with most email services), it will not be counted as an email referral.

To put it simply, emails from Outlook, for instance, will show up as “Typed/Bookmarked” traffic in your analytics, and any referral that comes from a search engine will be placed in the "Search Engine" category.

For more on referral types, check out Adobe's Referrer Types Documentation.

The Journey of Email or Mobile Campaign Clicks

When you receive an email or mobile campaign, the first thing you might notice is the URL in your browser window. After clicking the link, you may see that the click is redirected first to your campaign provider and then onto your actual website. This is a common occurrence with redirects, and understanding how different redirect methods affect referrer data is crucial for accurate web analytics.

Redirect Methods and Their Impact on Analytics

It’s essential to ensure that redirects are set up correctly to pass the referrer string to your landing page. When you use a 301 redirect, also known as a permanent redirect, it passes the original referrer to the landing page, allowing analytics tools to track the true origin of the traffic.

However, using a 302 redirect (temporary redirect) can cause issues, as the referrer string may not be passed along. Depending on the server setup, the referrer may appear blank or show up as "direct" traffic, making it difficult to know where the traffic originated.

Redirect Method Comparison

Conclusion: Best Practices for Redirects

From the results above, it’s clear that server-side redirects (especially 301 redirects) are the best way to preserve referrer data and ensure accurate tracking in your web analytics tools. Avoid relying on JavaScript or meta refresh methods, as these can lead to blank or misleading referrer data, which will incorrectly show up as direct or internal traffic in your analytics reports.

In conclusion, if you're planning to implement redirects on your site, ensure they are permanent 301 redirects to avoid losing critical data and to maintain accurate insights into your web traffic sources.