How to identify paid vs organic Facebook traffic

Tagging links with UTM parameters allows you to identify the source and type of social media traffic bringing users to your website.

Facebook uses the fbclid parameter on all outgoing links. You can identify “paid” traffic from Facebook by adding a UTM parameter on all paid traffic (e.g., utm_medium=paid)

We recommend using campaign, source, and medium parameters, therefore advert links on Facebook would look something like:

yousitename.com?utm_campaign=summer&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&fbclid=IwAR1

When you use parameters on advert links, you can then create filters in Siteimprove Analytics to identify the data as required.

Creating a Facebook filter in Siteimprove Analytics

1. Go Analytics > Analytics Settings > Filters
2. Click on the button "New Filter”,
3. Give the filter a name (e.g., Paid Facebook traffic),
4. Add Filter Element: Parameters,
5. Select the match conditions as required:
   • For the Paid traffic filter: Include all links that have the parameter type fbclid. Include utm_medium=paid
   • For the Organic traffic filter: Include all links that have the parameter type fbclid. Exclude utm_medium=paid.
6. Click on "Add Match condition",
   Note: You can test the filter on a selected site on this configuration page using the “Test now” button above the parameter configuration section.
7. Click on “Create filter”.

You can then use these filters throughout Siteimprove Analytics to view the related visitor information.

See also: Analytics: Filters, Internal Search and Behavior Maps