Ok, so we have sites. Sites exchange data.
If you've been keeping up with the business track, you know that conversions drive sales, and sales drive revenue. A 1/10th of a percentage improvement can mean several thousand dollars.
Want to see how we can make this all work together?
Pixel Tracking
Pixel tracking uses cookies, information from the URL that got you to the page, and sometimes browser fingerprinting (learn more) to identify a unique user and link them to the ads they were shown.
This often takes the form of code snippets that you put on your site.
While this is effective, it's also easy for ad blockers to block. This is ironic because ad blockers usually block showing ads, not reporting on ads you've already seen. But that's not the precise point.
The point is: client-side pixel tracking gets blocked a lot.
Server-Side Tracking (The Better Way)
Since most of the data you need is already in the request to your site, you can implement the callback to Facebook (or Google, or whoever) directly from your API — remember those?
This is cool because it doesn't rely on cookies for ad attribution. It happens on your server, not in the user's browser. Ad blockers can't touch it.
UTM Parameters
UTM parameters are little pieces of information added to the end of URLs. They tell you where a visitor came from.
The main ones are:
- utm_source — the platform (e.g., facebook, google, newsletter)
- utm_medium — the type of traffic (e.g., cpc, organic, email)
- utm_campaign — the specific campaign name
- utm_term — the keyword (for search ads)
- utm_content — the specific ad or link variant
Example URL:
https://yourbusiness.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=spring_sale&utm_content=ad_variant_1When someone clicks that link, your site knows exactly where they came from and which campaign brought them.
These data points all tie into who came to your site and where they came from.
For more detail, check out Google's UTM spec.
Doing What Works
Back when I was entering the workforce, "StrengthsFinder" was all the rage. Basically, the claim was that leaning into your strengths yields better outcomes than correcting your... charming personality idiosyncrasies. (Quirks.)
The same is true for your business and for driving conversions.
Do more of what works. Max it out. Keep working it until it stops working.
Ad Tracking and Attribution
This stuff works because you operate on feedback. Feedback from real data that reflects real customers' decisions.
When you understand your customers better, you can sell them solutions to problems they didn't know they had.
This isn't just a little more money. This is true business leverage. Put the fulcrum in the right place, and the lift is easy.
What's Coming
That wraps up the series. We've covered:
- What a business website is and why it matters
- The technical building blocks
- The anatomy of a business site
- How sites talk to other systems
- The virtuous cycle of conversions and reinvestment
- And now, the technical tracking that makes it all measurable
Next: the series conclusion.
Recap
- Pixel tracking — effective but blockable by ad blockers
- Server-side tracking — better, harder to block, doesn't rely on cookies
- UTM parameters — tell you where visitors came from
- Do more of what works — lean into strengths, max out what's working
- Ad tracking gives you feedback — real data on real customers = leverage
