Automating My Manual Link Counting Page

[maimerisales]

There is a little bit to explain what I am doing so that I will preview what I am going to say.

 

1. I'll say what I am trying to accomplish.

2. I'll say what I've done up till now.

3. I'll say what I wish I could do.

4. Ask if there is a better way to do this??

 

1. I was told that the data base used in OSC puts together each page as it is requested and therefore the page addresses are variable. But I noticed that what appears in the address bar is stable for each product, and so we have been linking between products within the site (buy a smaller model, buy a bigger one, etc.) for some time.

 

We are also linking directly to products (and even to our internal search result pages) from outside the site with good success. See: www.amazingartsupplies.com/AA/GATE1/gate.html

for an example as to how we link into the OSC part of the site.

 

I call this a gate page because when I get someone to link with me I want to direct them to products and info that I think is directly suited for them, and not just drop them into the home page. Now I want to count how many visits (especially if I pay) each link produces.

 

2. I got the idea that all product views are already counted in the report section, so I made some dummy products buried deep in nested categories. The product would have a name like, "LINK COUNTER Artists Magazine" and I give a different dummy product link to each source of external links. I even made the title LINK COUNTER red, so that it will be easy to find as I scan the Product View reports. Here is one of them: http://www.amazingartsupplies.com/product_...products_id=222 This is the link that I give out, one new one to each source of links.

(I hope this link works in the forum, it looks truncated when I see it in the preview.)

 

Now within this dummy product there is another (now manual) link that takes you to the GATE page, and viola, the entrance is counted.

 

I did not intend this passage to be manual, because I thought I could just have a re-direct on that address that would change to the gate automatically. When I went to SiteGround, my host, and set up the re-direct, it truncated my address bar to: http://www.amazingartsupplies.com/product_info.php and left off all the "so-called" variable part of the address. Of course this re-directed every product that I have to the Gate Page, and in effect took down my site.

 

3. Now I want to ask if anyone knows a way to re-direct my counter pages automatically? Does a guest have to remain on a product for some minimum time to be registered in the product view counter?

 

Is there a script that could be inserted into a product page that would right away execute a link?

How about a script on a short timer, you see timers some times when they give you a few seconds to select, or with no action it goes by itself?

 

4. IS THIS REALLY THE BEST WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THIS? I am certainly willing to give it up for a better way.

 

Thanks all of you for taking the time to read this far.

 

Richard Miller