New Feature: How About Multiple Amazon Tracking IDs?

1. 74

   Edweirdoposted 14 years ago

   Anyone who uses Amazon capsules here on HubPages knows that it is all but impossible to track which hub each sale comes from. The reporting features available at Amazon are pretty "barebones" and not much use to us Hubbers...
   
   If you own your own website, you can create multiple unique tracking IDs from your Amazon affiliate account, and then create widgets that are tied to those IDs. That way you can at least track which ID is tied to each sale. By following an organized method of ID/widget creation, it is then possible to know which widgets (and which pages) are converting well and which are not.
   
   It would be great if HubPages allowed us to enter multiple Tracking IDs to our HubPages account. There could be a drop-down box in the Amazon capsule that would allow us to specify which ID to use for each capsule, and we would know where all of our sales are coming from!
   
   What do you think?

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   1. 67

      relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Since the tracking IDs and stats on Amazon sales come from Amazon and not HubPages, I think your wish is most likely just going to stay a wish. 
      
      As HubPages doesn't have access to all our Amazon account info details,  I'm curious as to how you think they will be able to differentiate and report on sales info they don't see?

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      1. 67

         Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Relache, Ed is talking about using tracking IDs you can create in your Amazon account, here
         https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp … g-ids.html

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      2. 74

         Edweirdoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         We would set up multiple IDs at Amazon, and then on HubPages we would add multiple ID values under our Affiliate Settings. These could populate a drop-down within an Amazon capsule (or a default ID as Misha pointed out for those who don't want multiple IDs)

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2. 67

   Mishaposted 14 years ago

   I think it is long overdue.
   
   Though I would keep one ID associated with an account as a whole for those who don't bother, and then have a field to enter a different ID in a capsule, as well as a drop down list of IDs already entered.

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3. 68

   lrohnerposted 14 years ago

   Would love to see this implemented.

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4. 77

   wildernessposted 14 years ago

   Will analytics tell us where a visitor went when leaving a hub?  I thought I saw a post the other day to that effect but didn't understand where that information would be.
   
   If so, that would indicate which hubs produced an Amazon click, and we already know which items were bought.  A little analysis would give a pretty good idea of what was going on, particularly for items purchased directly from a link.
   
   Of course, I understand that my few Amazon purchases would be a lot easier to track than you guys with hundreds each month.

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   1. 74

      Edweirdoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Analytics would only tell you which page they arrived at first at Amazon after leaving HubPages, not necessarily what they purchased.
      
      If someone leaves my hub about dog collars via an Amazon capsule, and then eventually ends up buying a DVD of "Avatar" while my cookie is in place, there is no link between the originating page and the purchase

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5. 77

   wildernessposted 14 years ago

   I'm feeling exceptionally stupid here.
   
   If the reader left "dog collar hub" for Amazon, that would seem valuable information - your hub produced a potential buyer.  If he bought a dog collar, that would be valuable information - you produced an actual buyer.  If he bought "Avatar" you don't really care, except that you made money.  After all, you can't convince someone to buy Avatar by advertising dog collars.
   
   What am I missing?

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   1. 74

      Edweirdoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Don't feel stupid!
      
      My example may have been misleading.
      
      A simpler analogy - having the ability I described is akin to using URL Channels in Adsense. It gives you details beyond simply knowing that someone clicked on a hub.
      
      A better example - let's say I have 10 hubs about dog collars and I make lots of sales each month. Wouldn't it be great to know which of those 10 had the best conversion rate? Then I could optimize my low performers to convert better.
      
      There's also the scenario I see a lot in my sales - for the last three months I have consistently sold hundreds of dollars worth of beauty supplies, but I have no hubs that are even remotely about that product line. But maybe people are indirectly finding those products via another topic I write about, but I can't see what the connection is. If I knew which hubs those sales came from, I could target those types of sales instead of having them occur at random...
      
      And there's the general idea that people don't always purchase the item they click on from inside a hub - they might click on a frying pan capsule and end up buying cutlery. If I have a hub on each of those topics, I have no way of knowing how the buyer arrived at the product...
      
      Does that make more sense?

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      1. 64

         prettydarkhorseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         it makes really sense and that is a good idea Ed...

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