'First & Last Touch Attribute' documentation video tutorial

Overview

The HandL UTM Grabber plugin tracks various UTM parameters and other relevant data to help understand the source and behavior of website traffic. This documentation focuses on the first touch parameters, which capture the initial interaction a user has with the website, and the last touch parameters, which capture the most recent interaction.

First Touch Parameters

First touch parameters are captured when a user first visits the website. These parameters are stored in cookies and are not overwritten on subsequent visits. The following are the first touch parameters:

• [first_utm_campaign]: Captures the utm_campaign variable for the first touch.
• [first_utm_source]: Captures the utm_source variable for the first touch.
• [first_utm_term]: Captures the utm_term variable for the first touch.
• [first_utm_medium]: Captures the utm_medium variable for the first touch.
• [first_utm_content]: Captures the utm_content variable for the first touch.
• [handl_original_ref]: Captures the original referral URL for the first touch.
• [handl_landing_page]: Captures the full URL of the landing page for the first touch.
• [handl_landing_page_base]: Captures the base domain of the landing page for the first touch.

How It Works

When a user visits the website for the first time, the plugin checks if the first touch parameters are already set in the cookies. If the parameters are not set, the plugin captures the current UTM parameters and other relevant data and stores them in cookies with the prefix first_. These cookies are set with a long expiration time to ensure they persist across multiple sessions.

Last Touch Parameters

Last touch parameters capture the most recent interaction a user has with the website. These parameters are updated on each visit and provide insights into the latest source of traffic.

Conclusion

The first touch parameters provide valuable insights into the initial interaction a user has with the website, helping to understand the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and the original source of traffic. By capturing and storing these parameters in cookies, the HandL UTM Grabber plugin ensures that this data is preserved across multiple sessions, enabling more accurate tracking and analysis.

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