What is a Click Reference?
Click References (ClickRefs), or SubIDs, are custom tracking references added to affiliate links that help you track additional data.
What are the benefits of using ClickRefs?
There are several ways to use ClickRefs. Here are some of them, along with the key benefits:
Differentiate website activity
Unique ClickRefs can distinguish traffic generated by various websites. This is especially useful for publishers managing multiple sites under one account. For example, you can set a ClickRef for your first website as Website1 and for your second site as Website2. To learn more about managing multiple websites under one account, see I have a new website. Do I need to create a new account or can I use my existing account?
Monitor specific pages
ClickRefs can track activity on specific pages of your website. By assigning unique ClickRefs to different pages, you can see where sales originate from on your site. For example, you can name your ClickRef Homepage for affiliate links placed on the homepage, or ProductPage for affiliate links embedded in product pages.
Monitor different platforms
ClickRefs allow you to analyze performance across multiple platforms besides your website, including social media accounts and blogs. By assigning unique ClickRefs to links shared on each platform, you can analyze their effectiveness in driving traffic and conversions. For example, for links shared on Facebook, you can name your ClickRef FacebookPost, and for links embedded in blog articles, you can use BlogPost. To learn more about monitoring post performance with ClickRefs, see How can I analyse the performance of certain campaign?
Allocate commissions
Subnetworks and Cashback publishers can use ClickRefs to accurately attribute commissions to their respective sub-affiliates and end-users. For example, naming your ClickRef CashbackUser123 enables you to identify user123, and using WebsiteXYZ will enable you to identify sub-affiliate XYZ. To learn more, see What are the best practices for a Cashback website?
Ultimately, click references offer visibility into traffic sources by showing where visitors found the link to the advertiser's website.
How to populate the ‘extr’ parameter correctly
To pass the source page URL, use the extr parameter. This field is specifically designed to capture the referring page’s URL.
- URL-encode the full source page URL.
- Append it using this format:
&extr=[[encoded_source_page_url]]
This ensures the URL is correctly recorded in the publisher_url column of the Transaction Report.
Types of ClickRef
Awin offers the following three tracking parameters:
Click Reference (ClickRef)
A ClickRef is added to an affiliate link to track conversion activity.
View Reference (ViewRef)
A ViewRef is a tracking reference added to a banner image to track its activity.
Publisher Reference (PRef)
A PRef is a combined parameter that can be used to track both banner images and affiliate links.
How to use ClickRefs
Within the Awin platform, you can add up to 6 different ClickRefs per link to track multiple data points. To learn how to create ClickRefs via the Link Builder tool, see How can I use Link Builder to create deep links?
ClickRef best practice
- Use unique, descriptive ClickRef names you'll recognize and understand, or keep a record of what your ClickRef names correspond to.
- Limit ClickRef names to 50 characters or you won't see the full reference in your Click Reference report.
- Always use lowercase letters and approved characters. Approved characters are Latin1 alphanumeric values and the following special characters:
!$%()*,-./0123456789:;?@[]^_`{}~ - Do not use the following characters:
# + " ; & | ' - Only the first ClickRef,
ClickRef1, is visible to advertisers. - If you create your own affiliate link, add ClickRefs before the destination URL.
Note: To add an extra layer of performance analytics to your ClickRef data, use a campaign parameter to differentiate between your affiliate campaigns.
Accessing performance data
You can view ClickRef data for your first ClickRef as a report in the Awin platform. Export the report or use the Publisher API to retrieve data from subsequent ClickRefs. To learn more about the ClickRef report, see Click References Report and for more on Awin's Publisher API, see What is the Publisher API and what are the benefits?
