Google includes a ‘test’ button next to AdWords Tracking Template field for Upgraded URLs.
Yes, it was a real pain testing the combination of Tracking Templates and Final URLs once you switched to Upgraded URLs. There was no way at all to test it.
However, I was using Ad Preview and Diagnostic Tool to test it. Hovering the mouse at the ad in the preview tool showed the complete URL in the browser’s status bar. Yes, that was the only method you could test your tracking template with. It worked for me on small accounts with lesser number of campaigns and ads, but again it was really difficult with the accounts which had hundreds of ad copies.
Anyway, thanks to AdWords Engineers, it’s now possible to test your landing pages before you go live. Here’s how it looks –
Next to the tracking template field, you would now see a test button and clicking this button will give you the diagnosis report.
It’s important to note that this ‘test’ button is available only at ad level and keyword level. But, that’s not a problem at all. Even when you are a using a shared tracking template, you can test your complete landing page URL, combined with tracking and final URL, at the ad level only.
The only difference is that if you are using a shared template at the upper levels in the hierarchy, you won’t see anything in the tracking template field at the ad level. But when you click the ‘test’ button, it will fetch tracking info from the upper levels and will show you the diagnosis.
Once you hit the ‘test’ button, you may see the following diagnosis info –
| Message | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Page found | Google found a page and it’s working. So, all good. |
| Page not found | The landing page was not found (e.g., 404 error). Check your tracking template, custom parameter(s), or final URL. |
| Final URL mis-match | The landing page and final URL do not share the same domain. Or even if they do, there is problem with your tracking. |
| Unreachable | The landing page couldn’t be reached (e.g., because it timed out). |
| Unknown/Tool failure | There was an error while testing your landing page. |
So quite obviously, if you get a message ‘page found’, your tracking is perfectly working. And if you got any other message, you need to do the troubleshooting.
Test your landing page at the ad level
- Go to the ad you want to test.
- Click Ad URL options.
- Next to “Tracking template,” click Test.
Have questions? Feel to free to post in comment section below.
