When you work with web site traffic, you must have the tools that show you the real picture about this traffic. You must know for sure how targeted your visitors are, what they want, what offers they like more, what offers cut down their motivation to use your product/service.

Only professional URL tracking tools can show you the real picture about your online business. And those who do not want to see real picture, venture their business to a great risk of losing everything.

HOW TRACKING WORKS.

Nothing difficult at all. You create a special link and put it inside your copy, mailing message, autoresponder letter, pop-up window, web page - anywhere you wish. Your URL gets special 'counter' that is activated every time someone clicks your link. When you know the statistic information about clicks on any of your links, you see the response that your business gets with clients, subscribers and web site visitors.

A simple example will show how URL tracking can help you to qualify the motivation for your products among subscribers. Let's say you have 3,000 subscribers in your car driving tips course. Using URL statistics you can see how much clients exactly are ready for special action with your web site.

You write email letter to your subscribers, saying: "bla-bla-bla. You are my subscribers. I have terrific car related offers to you."

Then you place several trackable links with text:

"...Click this link if you want to get discounts for car wash: http://www.YourWebSite.com/link1

Click this link if you want to get car insurance: http://www.YourWebSite.com/link2

Click here if you do not have a car and want to get loan for car purchase: http://www.YourWebSite.com/link3 ..."

This example is simplified, but you can get the idea. People will click on particular links if they like any particular offer. And you just look at the statistics for the number of clicks on each link and know:

1. How many people from your list have a car (link 1 + link 2)

2. How many people from your list do not have a car (link 3)

3. How many people from your list are interested in lower prices car wash services (link 1)

4. How many people from your list need new car insurances (link 2)

5. How many people from your list ignored all your offers (3,000 - link 1 - link 2 - link 3)

This info is very useful. Maybe after such a test you will find out that 2,600 out of "your" 3,000 subscribers did not click any of the links at all. Then you should think it over: maybe you do not have a car targeted traffic.

That was an example of URL tracking aimed at qualifying the subscribers into different groups by their interest. But tracking can give more useful info about your online business.

You can check what type of your ad copy is more effective with a simple URL testing technique. Write two ad copies that will differ in some copywriting elements. Put two different links in these copies. Track both links and you will immediately know what ad copy works better. No hypothetical suggestions, only real facts.

The technique is universal: you can test different variants of texts, offers, products and services and see what works and what not. This technique is called split testing in Internet marketing. You make several variants (i.e. split you offer into several testing variants) and see what variant gets better response. Then you choose that variant that works better and stick with it, do more and more split testing to get a better and better effect from your web site.

Now that you know the benefits of using URL tracking, you should know what features professional URL tracking tools should have.

PROFESSIONAL URL TRACKING TOOL SHOULD HAVE THESE FEATURES:

- you can create and test as many URLs as you wish;

- you can make two types of links: HTML and TXT links;

- you must be able to edit your URLs;

- you must be able to track link statistics to see: when the link was clicked, how many times it was clicked, how many unique clicks were made, etc.

URL tracking does not bring you traffic, but it shows the most truthful picture about what traffic you get to the web site. This is a very important tool: it is always better to dodge troubles in advance then to face problems all of a sudden.