When a person visits your website Ruler checks the source of the traffic which is recorded in
the Dashboard. Ruler is an intelligent system so can identify certain traffic sources on it's
own but you can also override Ruler to ensure traffic is attributed correctly or for bespoke
campaigns. Certain traffic sources will only work if you create your own URL. Please see the section below called
The Ruler URL to see how this is done.

&nbsp;

<article><header>
<h3>The Ruler URL &amp; Variables</h3>
</header>You can override Ruler by using the variables in the url. Ruler recognises Google's UTM variables (utm_). Below is a list of the variables you can use, you can use all of them or none at all.

</article><article>Ruler contains a short link builder (found in your settings) to do all this for you or you can create your own bespoke tracking links. </article><article><header>
<h3>Google Variables:</h3>
</header></article><article>
<ul class="contentList">
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - The source of the traffic e.g. google, facebook, email etc</li>
	<li><b>utm_medium</b> - The medium of the traffic e.g. ppc, social</li>
	<li><b>utm_term</b> - The keyword that if applicable e.g. analytics - Keyword Insertion (KWI) will also work</li>
	<li><b>utm_campaign</b> - Any specific campaign details you might want to see in reports</li>
	<li><b>utm_content</b> - Any specific content details you might want to see in reports</li>
</ul>
For instance the following URLs would tell Ruler the traffic was from a Google, 'PPC campaign' with the keyword 'Analytics':
<pre><code>http://www.yourwebsite.com/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_term={keyword}</code></pre>
For the specific traffic sources for each area please see below. Ruler will also check if your variables contain any variables in a different section and apply to correct section accordingly incase you use a different rationale.

</article><article><header>
<h3>Something to bear in mind</h3>
</header>It is imperative that you test each URL to make sure it works with your site as your site may rely on variables in the URL already. If your site URL already includes a ?variable you will need to use a &amp;variable, for instance if your URL looked like this:
<pre><code>www.yourwebsite.com/?cat=10&amp;prod=20</code></pre>
You would add:
<pre><code>www.yourwebsite.com/?cat=10&amp;prod=20&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_term={keyword}</code></pre>
The golden rule is to check your URLs for each type you set-up.

</article><article><header>
<h3>Different traffic sources, different codes</h3>
</header>You will need to create URLs for certain traffic sources to ensure that Ruler knows exactly where your traffic comes from. The codes for each traffic source on the dashboard are below.

</article><article><header>
<h3>Direct</h3>
</header>People who type in your website address into their browser, no URL required.

</article><article><header>
<h3>Search Engine (PPC)</h3>
</header>Ruler can automatically detect traffic from Google AdWords (PPC) including the keyword, you just need to make a quick tweak in your settings. You may want to override the urls for bespoke campaigns or for use with Yahoo and Bing.

In order to ensure Ruler collects Google Adwords data you need to ensure that 'Auto Tagging' is enabled. To do this sign in to your Google Adwords account, click on the My Account menu and choose Preferences. Under the tracking heading, ensure that Auto Tagging is set to 'Yes'.

Here are the variables and examples:
<ul class="contentList">
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - google, yahoo, bing etc</li>
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - ppc</li>
	<li><b>utm_term</b> - e.g. analytics, analytics program - Keyword Insertion (KWI) will also work</li>
	<li><b>utm_campaign</b> - if applicable e.g. mobile, display network etc</li>
	<li><b>utm_content</b> - if applicable e.g. special offer of page name</li>
</ul>
e.g.
<pre><code>http://www.yourwebsite.com/&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_term={keyword}</code></pre>
</article>&nbsp;

<article><header>
<h3>Search Engine (SEO)</h3>
</header>You can't bespoke your SEO URLs as the search engine determines this. However Ruler picks this information up anyway if it is available.

&nbsp;

</article><article><header>
<h3>Referral</h3>
</header>People who click a link from another site, no URL required.

&nbsp;

</article><article><header>
<h3>Social Media</h3>
</header>You can set-up URLs for Social Media to track people back to the post or tweet they are responding to. The first two characters tell Ruler where the traffic comes from. You can then use your own reference to identify the exact nature of the visit, here are a few examples:
<h4>Social Media Codes</h4>
<ul class="contentList">
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - facebook, twitter, pinterest, linkedin</li>
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - social</li>
	<li><b>utm_term</b> - if applicable you can use this as a unique reference such as to identify the tweet or post</li>
	<li><strong>utm_campaign</strong> - if applicable</li>
	<li><b>utm_content</b> - if applicable e.g. post, status, tweet or image</li>
</ul>
e.g.
<pre><code>http://www.yourwebsite.com/?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_term=status-offer-1234&amp;utm_content=status</code></pre>
&nbsp;

<header>
<h3>Email</h3>
</header>Email works in the same way as Social Media With the nature of e-mail software you could add specific
references for the email, the different links in the email and even the email address.
<ul class="contentList">
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - email</li>
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - email</li>
	<li><b>utm_term</b> - if applicable you can use this as a unique reference such as the email address</li>
	<li><b>utm_campaign</b> - if applicable newsletter-month, segment1</li>
	<li><b>utm_content</b> - if applicable e.g. product, special offer</li>
</ul>
e.g.
<pre><code>http://www.yourwebsite.com/?utm_source=email&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=info@ruleranalytics.com&amp;utm_content=welcome-email</code></pre>
&nbsp;
<h3>Other</h3>
For anything else use the Other source. You could use this for anything that doesn't fall into normal traffic sources or other specific campaigns such as banner ads or other adverts, for instance:
<ul class="contentList">
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - other</li>
	<li><b>utm_source</b> - other</li>
	<li><b>utm_term</b> - if applicable you can use this as a unique reference such</li>
	<li><b>utm_campaign</b> - if applicable qrcode, bannerad</li>
	<li><b>utm_content</b> - if applicable e.g. product, special offer</li>
</ul>
e.g.
<pre><code>http://www.yourwebsite.com/?utm_source=other&amp;utm_medium=other&amp;utm_term=ref123&amp;utm_campaign=bannerad</code></pre>
</article><article><header>
<h3>Questions</h3>
</header>Any questions <a href="/contact">get in touch</a> and we will be happy to assist with this.

</article>