Stop Guessing and Start Tracking
I’ve sat down with hundreds of business owners from Chermside to Cleveland, and almost all of them share the same frustration: "I’m spending money on Facebook, Google, and local sponsorships, but I have no idea which one is actually making my phone ring."
If you’re running a business, you don’t care about "impressions" or "engagement." You care about whether the $500 you spent last week resulted in a $5,000 job. Most of what you read online about tracking your marketing is written for people sitting in fancy agencies using big words.
Today, I’m going to cut through the rubbish. I’m going to show you a simple way to tag your links so you can see exactly which clicks turn into cash. In the industry, they call these "UTM parameters," but for you and me, let’s just call them "Digital Breadcrumbs."
What Are Digital Breadcrumbs (UTMs)?
Imagine you send out an email newsletter and also post a link on your Facebook page. Without these tags, when someone clicks through and buys something, Google just sees "Social Media" or "Direct Traffic." It doesn’t tell you which post worked.
Digital Breadcrumbs are just a few extra words stuck to the end of your website link. They don't change where the customer goes, but they tell your tracking system exactly where that person came from.
It looks like this: yourwebsite.com.au/?source=facebook&campaign=summer_sale
It’s the difference between knowing "someone walked into the shop" and knowing "someone walked into the shop because they saw the sign on Milton Road."
Why Most Brisbane Businesses Get This Wrong
Most small business owners either don't use these tags at all, or they do it inconsistently. I’ve seen a local landscaper use "FB" one week, "Facebook" the next, and "fb_ads" the week after. To a computer, those are three different things. It makes your reports look like a mess.
Here is the reality: If you don't track your links properly, you are flying blind. You might be pouring money into a Facebook ad that looks busy but never results in a quote, while your simple monthly email is actually paying your mortgage. Without these tags, you’ll never know. This is the first step to measuring if your marketing is working rather than just hoping for the best.
The "Golden Rules" for Tracking Your Links
If you’re going to do this, do it right. Here is my no-nonsense guide to tagging your links so you actually get useful data.
1. Keep it Simple and Consistent
Decide now what you’re going to call things. Use lowercase for everything. If you use "Facebook" and "facebook," your reports will split them up. Pick one and stick to it.2. Don’t Use Them for Internal Links
Never use these tags for buttons inside your own website (like a button on your homepage leading to your contact page). It messes up your data and makes it look like a new person just arrived. Only use them for links coming from outside—like social media, emails, or other websites.3. Use a Simple Link Builder
You don't need to be a coder to do this. There are free "Campaign URL Builders" online. You just type in your website address, write "Facebook" in the source box, and it spits out the long link for you to copy and paste.Trends for 2024: What’s Changing?
The world of tracking is getting harder. Apple and Google are making it tougher to follow people around the internet because of privacy. This is actually a good thing for you if you use these Digital Breadcrumbs.
Why? Because while "cookies" (those creepy trackers that follow you after you look at a pair of shoes) are dying, these link tags still work perfectly. They don't rely on spying; they just rely on the link the customer clicked.
My Prediction: In the next 12 months, businesses that don't use these tags will have zero idea where their customers are coming from. The "free ride" of automatic tracking is over. You need to be deliberate if you want to stop losing customers because you didn't know what they liked.
How Much Will This Cost Me?
The cost is $0.
It takes about 30 seconds longer to create a tagged link than a normal one. If you hire an agency like us, we do this automatically for every single thing we run. If you’re doing it yourself, it just costs you a bit of discipline.
How Long Until I See Results?
You’ll see the data the moment the first person clicks. Within a month of tagging every link you post, you’ll be able to sit down with a cold beer on a Friday night, look at your Google Analytics, and say, "Right, that $200 I spent on the local community group's Facebook page got me zero clicks, but my LinkedIn post got me three enquiries. I’m moving my money there."
What Should You Do First?
Don't try to fix everything at once. Start here:
1. Tag your Email Signature: Every time you or your staff email a person, that’s a chance for a click. Tag it as source=email_sig.
2. Tag your Social Media Bio: Put a tagged link in your Instagram or Facebook "About" section.
3. Tag your Google Business Profile: This is huge. Tag the "Website" button on your Google map listing so you can see how many people find you through search vs. your paid ads.
What’s a Waste of Money?
Buying expensive "tracking software" that promises to do this all for you automatically is usually a waste of money for a small business. Most of them are just fancy wrappers for what Google already gives you for free.
Also, don't obsess over every single click. If you get 2 clicks from a post, it doesn't mean it failed. Look for the big patterns over a month or two.
The Bottom Line
Most Brisbane business owners are guessing. They "feel" like Facebook is working, or they "think" their newsletter is a waste of time. In business, feelings don't pay the bills—data does.
Tagging your links is the simplest, cheapest way to take control of your budget. It turns your marketing from a gamble into an investment.
If you’re too busy running your business to mess around with link builders and analytics reports, that’s where we come in. At Local Marketing Group, we make sure every cent you spend is tracked, measured, and reported in plain English. We don’t care about "algorithm updates"; we care about your phone ringing.
Want to see which of your ads are actually working? Let’s have a chat.