Some gap between clicks and visits is normal. A large one usually means a redirect strips the code AdWords adds to each click, or a landing page lacks tracking. Test each destination with ?gclid=test added.

A hundred clicks, a handful of visits

The AdWords report for last week shows a hundred clicks. Analytics, for the same week, shows a few dozen visits from paid search.

The owner wonders where the rest went, and whether Google is charging for clicks that never reached the site.

Usually the clicks did reach the site. Analytics missed them or filed them elsewhere, often because of a redirect or a landing page nobody has checked since the ads were set up.

Clicks and visits are counted differently

AdWords counts a click when someone presses the ad. Analytics counts a visit only when the page loads far enough to run its tracking code, so some gap is normal.

People press an ad by mistake and go back before the page appears, some browsers block tracking, and someone clicking the same ad twice in a few minutes is usually one visit.

A gap that is large and steady, though, points to something in the path between the ad and the page.

The small code each click carries

With auto-tagging switched on in AdWords, every click arrives at your page with a short code added to the end of its address, after a question mark. It begins with gclid.

Analytics reads that code to recognise the visit as a paid click and to match it to the campaign, ad group and keyword. Without it, Analytics sees only a visit that came from a Google page.

That visit is then filed under Google's free results, or as a direct visit, depending on what the browser passes along. The click was paid for; the report simply cannot tell.

Where the code goes missing

The first two are common on small sites: redirects get added during a redesign, and nobody remembers the ads still pointing at the old addresses.

Phones and separate mobile sites

Plenty of small businesses keep a second, phone-only version of the site on its own subdomain. A script on the main site spots a phone and forwards it there.

Those scripts often deliver every phone to the mobile version's front page, discarding both the page asked for and anything after the question mark. The visitor loses the promised page; Analytics loses the code.

Since enhanced campaigns, phone clicks are part of every campaign rather than a separate one, so a redirect like this can affect much of an account without anyone noticing.

Auto-tagging, linking and filters

Auto-tagging is a setting in the AdWords account. If it is off, or if some ads carry tracking codes typed by hand instead, clicks can arrive without the code Analytics expects.

The two accounts also need to be linked, so Analytics can match each code to the campaign and keyword behind it. Linking needs someone with administrative access to both accounts.

Check the filters on the Analytics view too. One written to exclude the office, or to include a single hostname, can quietly drop visits that pass through a booking page or mobile site.

Testing a landing page

Take an ad's destination address, add ?gclid=test to the end, and open it in a browser. If the address already holds a question mark, add &gclid=test instead.

When the page has loaded, look at the address bar. If gclid=test is still there, the code survived. If it has vanished, a redirect along the way removed it.

Do it again on a phone, since mobile redirects often behave differently, and do it for each distinct destination, including the minor ones.

Then view the page's source and search for the tracking code. A page that keeps the code in its address but carries no tracking will still lose the visit.

A worked example

A skydiving centre at a small airport runs tandem jumps from spring to fall and advertises them in AdWords, with separate ads for gift certificates and for groups.

Last fall the site was rebuilt and its pages moved to new addresses, with redirects from the old ones. The ads were never updated, so every click went through a redirect first.

When the spring campaign started, Analytics showed few paid visits and an odd number of free search visits landing on the tandem page. The test with gclid=test showed the code vanishing on every ad.

The redirects had been written in a way that discarded everything after the question mark. The gift certificate ads also pointed to a standalone sale page made outside the template, with no tracking code at all.

The developer changed the redirects to keep the end of the address, pointed the ads straight at the new pages, and added tracking to the sale page. Every destination was retested on a computer and a phone.

Reading the reports afterwards

Compare clicks and visits by campaign over a few weeks, not day by day. A modest, steady gap is normal; a gap concentrated in one campaign points back to its landing page.

Check the time zones too. AdWords and Analytics can be set to different zones, which shifts clicks and visits between days and makes daily comparisons misleading.

The counter-case

An advertiser spending a small amount, with one ad pointing at the home page, may see a modest gap and nothing wrong. For them, one test with gclid=test is enough reassurance.

And an account judged by phone calls rather than visits cares less about Analytics' labels than about which ads make the phone ring.

But anyone deciding which keywords to keep needs Analytics to see each paid visit correctly, because what visitors do after the click is only visible there.

Following each click to the page

  1. Confirm auto-tagging is on in AdWords.
  2. Check that the accounts are linked.
  3. List every destination address in the account.
  4. Add gclid=test to each and open it.
  5. Run the same test on a phone.
  6. Fix redirects that drop the end of the address.
  7. Add tracking to any landing page without it.

Step four finds the commonest of these problems in minutes. A disappearing code shows up right there in the address bar, and it tells the developer which redirect to fix.

If the clicks look suspicious rather than lost, what AdWords filters before billing and what to check before blaming anyone is covered in suspecting a competitor is clicking your ads.

Frequently asked questions

Is some gap between clicks and visits normal?

Yes. People press ads by mistake and leave before the page loads, some browsers block tracking, and repeated clicks by one person within minutes usually count as one visit.

What is gclid?

The code AdWords adds to the end of each clicked address when auto-tagging is on. Analytics reads it to recognise a paid visit and match it to its campaign.

How do I test a landing page?

Add ?gclid=test to the ad's destination address and open it in a browser. If gclid=test has gone from the address bar once the page loads, a redirect removed it.

Where do the missing paid visits show up?

Usually among free Google search visits or direct visits, because without the code Analytics cannot tell that the visit began with an ad.

Why do phones lose the code more often?

A phone-only version of a site is often reached through a script that forwards every phone to its front page, dropping both the requested page and the code.

Does AdWords charge for clicks that never arrive?

AdWords charges for clicks, and it filters many invalid ones before billing. Usually the visitor did arrive, and Analytics filed the visit under another source.

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.

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