In-Page Analytics counts visits to the next page, so every link to the quote page shows one figure. Turn on enhanced link attribution in the property, add its line to the tracking code, and give each link an ID.

Two links, one number

An owner planning a redesign opens In-Page Analytics, which lays small percentage bubbles over the site's own pages, one beside each link.

On the home page, the menu link to the quote page and the large button to the same page show exactly the same figure. So does a text link in the opening paragraph.

It looks as though visitors use all three equally, which seems unlikely, and the owner wants to know which ones to keep.

What the overlay actually counts

By default, In-Page Analytics does not record clicks on a particular link. It counts how often a view of this page was followed by a view of the linked page.

Every link to the quote page therefore shares one number: the share of visitors who went from the home page to the quote page next, by any route.

The figure is accurate for what it measures. It simply measures the destination, not the link that led there.

What it can and cannot tell you

Read that way, the default overlay is still useful, within limits:

The second is the one that matters before a redesign, because the question is rarely where people go. It is which part of the page sent them.

Enhanced link attribution

Google Analytics has an option called enhanced link attribution that tells links to the same page apart. It identifies each link by its ID in the page's code, or that of the nearest surrounding element with one.

Two steps switch it on: a setting in the property, under In-Page Analytics, and one extra line in the tracking code on every page.

The line differs between the classic code and Universal Analytics, so it has to match the code the site runs. Neither step changes anything a visitor sees.

Giving each link a name

The option works best when each link has its own ID in the HTML: one for the menu link, one for the button, one for the link in the text.

Without IDs, links that share a section of the page may still be counted together. Adding them is a small job in the templates for whoever looks after the site.

Data starts on the day both steps are in place. Nothing is recorded backwards, so it pays to switch it on weeks before the figures are needed.

A worked example

A sod farm in a river valley grows turf for landscapers and homeowners and delivers it by flatbed truck with a forklift, from early spring into the fall.

Its home page had three links to the quote page: Order sod in the menu, a large delivery quote button beside a photograph of a new lawn, and a line in the opening paragraph.

Last summer the owner planned a redesign for the quiet winter months and wanted to know which links visitors actually used. In-Page Analytics showed the same figure beside all three.

The farm's web designer switched on enhanced link attribution in the property, added the line to the tracking code and gave each link an ID. After six weeks, each link had its own figure.

The menu link and the button carried nearly all the clicks between them, and the text link was rarely used. On phones, where the menu sat behind a button, the large button did most of the work.

The redesign kept the button where phones show it first and kept the menu link. The space taken by the text link went to a map of the delivery area.

What the separate figures show

With links told apart, the overlay answers practical questions: whether the large button justifies its size, whether anyone uses the footer links, and whether a link buried in a paragraph is ever clicked.

It also shows how phones differ. A link that matters on a computer may be out of sight on a phone, and the redesign has to serve both.

Where two links do the same job, keeping the one visitors prefer makes the page simpler without taking away anything they used.

Reading the overlay with care

A link further down the page tends to collect fewer clicks, partly because fewer visitors scroll that far. A low figure there is a reason to look, not proof that the link is unwanted.

Small sites gather clicks slowly, so compare several weeks rather than a few days. And since the overlay draws on the live page, changes made during the period make older figures harder to read.

Other ways to see the same thing

The navigation summary for each page lists where visitors went next, in a table rather than an overlay. Event tracking on a particular button counts its clicks directly.

Both work alongside enhanced link attribution, and both need a little setting up by whoever maintains the tracking code.

The counter-case

Where each page offers only one link to any destination, the default overlay already answers the question, because there is nothing to tell apart.

A site with very few visits may never collect enough clicks to compare links with confidence. A redesign also rests on what the business wants visitors to do next, not only on what they did before.

Even so, for a site about to be rebuilt, a few weeks of honest figures cost little and save a good deal of guessing.

Before the redesign starts

  1. Open In-Page Analytics on the main pages.
  2. Note the links that share a destination.
  3. Switch on enhanced link attribution in the property.
  4. Add its line to the tracking code.
  5. Give each important link its own ID.
  6. Collect several weeks of clicks.
  7. Compare phones and computers before deciding.

Step five decides how much the figures can say. Without IDs, the option has little to tell apart, and the menu and the button may still blur into one number.

Before the new design is built at a test address, keeping its page views out of the real site's figures takes the filter described in a redesign in progress inflating the visit count.

Frequently asked questions

Why do two links show the same percentage?

In-Page Analytics normally counts how often visitors went on to the linked page, not which link they clicked, so every link to that page shares one figure.

What is enhanced link attribution?

A Google Analytics option that tells links to the same page apart, using each link's ID in the page's code, once it is switched on and added to the tracking code.

Where is it switched on?

In the property settings in Analytics, under In-Page Analytics, and then by adding one line to the tracking code on every page. Both steps are needed.

Does it show clicks from before it was turned on?

No. It records clicks only from the day both steps are in place, so switch it on several weeks before you need the figures.

Do links need IDs?

It works best when each link has its own ID in the page's code. Without them, links in the same part of the page may be counted together.

Why does this matter before a redesign?

It shows which links and buttons visitors actually use, on phones and computers, so the new layout can keep what works and drop what nobody clicks.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Two links to one page, one number?

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