The Value of URL Parameters in Google Ads

In Google Ads, there are seemingly endless ways to track user activity. With URL parameters, advertisers can learn more about where their traffic originates.

The more you know about your ad clicks, the more informed your decision-making will be.

And that is always a good thing.

In this article, we’ll learn more about what URL parameters are and see what they can do for you.

What are URL Parameters?

In Google Ads, URL parameters are extensions to a website URL that pass information about ad clicks. Specifically, this information lets advertisers know more about where the click came from before landing on the website.

These parameters contain a key and a corresponding value, which are separated by the equal sign (=). In any URL, the first parameter begins with a question mark (?).

Within a single URL, there may be several key-value sets. These are joined by the ampersand symbol (&).

You can use two different types of URL parameters:

1. Content-modifying parameters
2. Tracking parameters

1. Content-Modifying Parameters

These are exclusively used to pass information to your landing page about specific content. For example, when a user clicks on a particular product image, a defined value will be passed on so that directs users to a specific product page corresponding to that image.

2. Tracking Parameters

These parameters carry information about ad clicks – they pass information about the source of the click. There are two types:

• Custom Parameters — advertisers define these in the tracking templates.
• ValueTrack — you can add these to the landing page URL.

Google Ads Has Upgraded Its URL Parameters

In 2018, there were a lot of significant changes in Google Ads, including an upgrade to the URL parameters. In effect, this gave advertisers more control over their campaigns and also helped save time.

Before these changes, destination URLs were used to specify the part of your website users landed on after clicking on an ad. This also required some additional coding and an editorial review, which ultimately, wasn’t the most convenient method of tracking ad clicks.

Now, these upgraded URL parameters permit tracking information updates without triggering an editorial review of your ad.

These new parameters make it possible to track in multiple ways:

• Final URL — Displays a list of landing pages for your ad, keyword, or site link. The final URL is what the user sees in the browser after they click your ad.
• Final Mobile URL — Displays a list of possible final mobile URLs for your ad, keyword, or site link.
• Final App URL — Displays a list of final app URLs that is used if the user has installed the specific app.
• Tracking template — An optional template to set additional tracking parameters. You can add this as part of the final URL, custom parameter, or tracking template.

How to Implement URL Parameters in Advertising?

Imagine you are running an advertising campaign on several platforms, including Google Ads, Facebook, and Microsoft Ads. With lead generation in mind, you wish to track the leads that come from these individual platforms.

To do this, you must add an “src” parameter in the destination URL.

You can use custom parameters to set the source value. For example, you may set it to ‘G’ for Google Ads traffic, ‘F’ for Facebook Ads traffic, and ‘M’ for Microsoft Ads traffic.

A potential problem may arise if a user navigates to a different page, as it may cause the URL to change.

To combat this problem, you must edit the settings so that Entry URL only stores information if:

1. The user fills out the lead-capture form; or
2. The user completes an action that you have defined as a lead in your Google Ads campaign.

Ultimately, this data will be collected, and it will help you identify the platform that drives the most leads — and revenue — for your PPC campaign.

3 Reasons to Use URL Parameters in Google Ads

Google Ads does a lot of hard work for advertisers. However, that doesn’t mean you can kick your feet up and do nothing.

If you want to make the most of your budget, you must develop good habits in tracking and testing, so that you can adequately analyze performance metrics and adjust accordingly. Otherwise, you’ll be relying on guesswork.

With custom parameters, you can track the source of your clicks, which gives you more knowledge about the sources driving your site traffic. This offers several key benefits:

1. You Can Assess Device Performance

Custom parameters provide insights about how your ads are performing across multiple devices. You can compare how smartphones, tablets, and desktops drive clicks, which will help you improve the user experience on each one.

2. You Can Track Clicks on Keywords

The keywords you choose can make or break your pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. By monitoring the clicks history in your account, you can determine high-performing keywords that are generating more user engagement.

This gives you a better understanding of user intent, so you will have a clearer idea of what people want. The more you know, the more likely it is you will be able to refine your keyword list to include more high-value keywords that attract more clicks.

3. You Can Increase the Efficacy of Geographical Tracking

In recent years, there has been a massive push in local search engine optimization (SEO). Local SEO allows advertisers to narrow their targeting to focus on specific areas where they do business.

For example, you can run ads that will only be displayed to potential customers in a certain city or neighborhood, close to your physical business premises.

By tracking clicks with custom parameters, you will have more control of your ads budget and audience targeting. Over time, with careful analysis and adjusting, you can improve your geo-targeting to generate a better return on investment (ROI).

Understanding the Customer Journey Is Crucial

For newcomers to paid advertising, the concept of digging into data about URL parameters may seem daunting. However, it is well worth the effort.

When you know more about your site traffic sources, you can learn more about the journey your site visitors are on.

Ultimately, understanding more about the customer journey allows advertisers to tailor their ads and marketing efforts to engage prospects on a deeper level. In the end, this will drive more engagement, more clicks, and eventually, more conversions.