Troubleshooting: I can't see the data for a new Smart Link I created

You created and implemented a Smart Link but you can't find any corresponding data for the Smart Links dashboard of the Analytics tabs? Don't panic! We will walk you through a step-by-step approach to solve this issue.

Step 1: Check the link implementation

Verify if the link was implemented correctly. Mistakes are human, these are some of the common one that might be causing issues:

• The wrong link was used (for instance, the newsletter link was used instead of the FB organic link for a Facebook post)
• The correct link was used but it was altered. Always make sure the link is intact and has 6 alphanumerical characters following pdcst.to/ like so pdcst.to/xxxxxx.

• The '?' sign was forgotten between the Smart Link and utm parameters when using advanced tracking. Here's an example:

  Correct: https://pdcst.to/7dO7hC?utm_campaign=example

  Incorrect: https://pdcst.to/7dO7hCutm_campaign=example

  As you can see when clicking on the second link, failure to insert a '?' sign between your link and utm parameters will not only break the tracking but also prevent the page from loading and thus your visitors from accessing the content.

Step 2: Test the link

As long as no one clicks on the link and visits the landing page, no data for the link will appear in the dashboard. In other terms, only links with a visitor count of at least 1 will be displayed in the Smart Links Conversions table.

Now, depending on where you placed the link, it could really be that no one clicked the link. To rule out this case, you can test the link to artificially generate its first visit.

In order not to muddy your data, be sure to mark the test as such by appending a corresponding utm parameter.

1. Go the link settings in the Attribution tab, click on the edit button and make sure that the 'allow UTM override' box is checked. If not, check it and click on 'Save Smart Link' to save your changes.

2. Copy the link by clicking on the copy to clipboard icon

   

3. Paste the link in a text editor and append the following parameter ?utm_campaign=test so the final link looks like this pdcst.to/xxxxxx?utm_campaign=test
4. Visit the link, choose a player and listen to an episode
5. Note: clicking on the preview button will not count as a visit and thus can't be used for this test

Step 3: Wait

It can take up to 30 minutes for new data to appear on the analytics dashboard. If you add a new link or UTM parameter that has not been used before it might take up to 1.5 hours before it shows up on your filters list.

You followed all the steps and still can't see any data for your link? Reach out to support by clicking on 'Contact us' down below.