Does anyone know of a preferably free way of tracking where a visitor goes after leaving a site? I want to trck how much traffic I am sending to another site or sites and don't trust the owners to give an honest answer. I would appreciate any ideas, please.
I know it's possible because the reports we get from Index Tools keep tabs on exit info through javascript. I just have not yet been able to figure out how they do it.
Could you not have the link go to one of your own pages (made especially for this purpose) and instantly redirect? Then it would show up in your stats.
If you have a php website I'd happily help you with a bit of code....It's not hard, but it does stop you giving 'real' links... Unless you only track real visitors and display the real link to search engines...if that makes sense.
If you have access to your log files, a log analyzer can give you exit pages..... With my affilaite sites, I run all affiliate clicks through a server-side forwarding script. With my log anaylazer, I can specify that file for tracking and see howmany people are passing through it on daily, weekly, monthly etc.
Would that still work/be feasable with many links? Thanks for your input yfs1. Thanks TFMG, one of the sites is PHP. I would love to try your code. It doesn't matter that it's not a real link - I assume it won't pass PR? Thanks Sadcox66 I will take a look at that. Thanks iShopHQ, but I have never been able to make any of the log analyzers work for me. I do have access though - one day I expect I will take the time to get it right! Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I will check them all out. This is something I have been trying to do for ages, so if any of them do the trick, I will be one happy bunny!
A log analyser won't give you the exit urls for the google adsense ads since the links are in the .js script. Without some form of javascript to capture the exit link and save it to a log file of some sort, the basic log file won't give you the full story.
Put a code on the AdSense url, like: www.MySite.com/index.asp?src=ad&kw=KeyWord When somone hits your site, look for these variables. If they exist, write them into a session var or session cookie. On your order confirmation page, look for these variables. If they exist, drop the date, time, keyword, and order amount into a database. It won't tell you when they leave the site, but it will tell you which AdSense clicks from which keywords on what dates complete the purchase process. Or wait about another week or and I'll have my beta done for tracking (initially) AdWords PPC, and then (after a few more weeks) Overture PPC.