When sending out a Mailshot from the Sitekit CMS mailing list module, you may want to know how many people visit your site as a result of clicking links in the email.

Whether you are using Google Analytics or any other tracking, the principle is usually the same. Each unique link should have a corresponding hidden redirect page set up on your site. It is this redirect page that contains the tracking, and then redirects to the actual real page on your website to be viewed.

Knowing the number of “click-throughs” is useful as a marketing tool, but even more useful is knowing exactly who each click belongs to. This is possible in Sitekit CMS as the mailing list module in Sitekit CMS stores the Name and Email Address of each person who subscribed to the mailing list, and therefore, who the email was sent to.

The mailing list name, email address and name can all be integrated as variables in the redirect page link’s query string in the mailshot, for example:

http://www.sitekit.net/mailshot-redirect.htm?emailname=%%name%%&emailaddress=%%%email%%

The %% keywords above are used in Sitekit CMS mailshots, which are then replaced by the recipient’s name and email address when the email is sent to them. There are only three possible keywords that are used, which are:

%%email%% - Email Address
%%name%% - Name
%%channelname%% - Mailing List Name

Once set up, you should then configure your tracking to recognize the redirect page (usually as a specific “custom event” or “goal”), and also the keywords that you have specified. The redirect should be set as normal in the Page Properties > Advanced Options.

You can use this same method for all links in the email, but remember if you wish to track different links, you need to set up new redirect pages for each one.

IMPORTANT: Before using this technique, please be sure this complies with your website and company privacy policy and rules on data collection