Hi, I was wondering if its possible to track conversions if I advertise on a forum for instance but through banner advertising directly through the site owner. I know I can track conversions through keywords and through adsense but can I also track conversions through external advertisingoptions?
Yes you can set goals and see how many people cam from a certain site and converted - you may want to also try urchin or a more robust analytics program if necessary to track ad campaigns but that will do - you'll just have to sift through your data
Yes, Google Analytics can definately handle what you described. Simple set up some goals and then you'll be able to view them by source/referrer to see how many conversions you're getting. How to set up goals
Here's what you do; Go To this URL: google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en-us&answer=55578 and generate a URL for your banner or text ad. Setup Goals (see Digital_Scientists post above) and then see GA campaign reports.... Using this tool to generate links will ensure correctness and better reporting...