Learn about Query String Parameters. What they are and how to use them in Funnelytics.
Overview:
Query String Parameters are located in the URL bar after the root or base domain and are used to pass specific information from one page to the next.
What They Look Like:
Query string parameters are the values that come after the '?' sign. The '?' sign is not part of the query string but identifies the beginning of the string.
Query strings contain a key and value. These are called parameters.
URL's can contain multiple parameters separated by the ampersand sign (&)
http://example.com/?firstname=John&lastname=Stockton
In this example, there are two values that were passed from one URL to the next. First Name and Last Name.
Tip: UTM parameters are a form of query string parameters.
Why They Are Used:
These parameters are used to further identify the traffic that is coming to your pages.
For example, from a sales page to a thank you page you might pass the parameters
?paid=yes or ?member=yes or ?product=myproduct
Often times, the pages are loaded dynamically based on what values are contained in the URL parameters.
For example, if the sales page passed the person's first name to the thank you page, then the thank you page could load with the person's first name right on the page.
How to pass URL parameters from one page to the next is not in the scope of this article, but we do need to understand them better in order to track them in Funnelytics.
How to Track Them in Funnelytics:
Step 1
As a general rule, make sure that all your pages are mapped out and contain urls.
Commonly, parameters are passed from a sales page or an opt-in page to a thank you page. Let's look at how to track a ?Paid=Yes parameter on our thank you page.
Step 2
Click the Gear icon to open the Thank You page settings > Click on the Parameter Section > Click the "+" Button > Enter in the key and the value you want to look for in the URL.
In our example, the key is Paid and the value is Yes.
What we just told Funnelytics is to only track page views on the thank you page when the parameter criteria is met.
So, what would happen if a person landed on the thank you page but the URL contained no parameters?
Funnelytics would not show any data for that pageview because we told it to look for ?paid=yes in the URL and it wasn't there.
In Funnelytics you can add more than one parameter. This creates an AND argument. Meaning, the first AND the second values must be contained in the URL in order to track.
In the example below the URL would have to be http://example.com/thankyou?Paid=Yes&Member=Yes
If you have any questions or need further clarification with Query String Parameters, remember to reach out to our support team anytime by clicking the support icon in the bottom-right corner of your dashboard, we are always ready to assist you!