Report download links

[JyotiSharmaV]

We have a page with buttons for software download links for different Operating Systems. When the user clicks on them then automatically software is downloaded in .zip, .iso, .tgz, .dmg file format

I am wondering how should I report on downloads from these download buttons :

1) Via Activity Map as below

2) Or Via Download Link dimension against UV as below

Whats the best approach? 

[MandyGeorge · Accepted solution]

This really comes down to what your business question is. Do you want to know how many times the software was downloaded? Or do you want to know how many different people downloaded the software? Both are valid questions, but ultimately which one is the best approach will depend on your business. 

For example, if every time the software is downloaded it uses resources of some kind, then you would want to know exactly how many times it's happening. If you're more interested in the reach, knowing how many different people (or devices) are using the software, then the unique visitors would be better. 

It's going to come down what kind of question you/your stakeholders are trying to answer. You also might want to look at what other types of reports for similar things are being used by the business. If everyone talks in terms of unique visitors, it's best to match that to make it easy for stakeholders to understand.

[RobertBlakeley]

You could use either.

For us we track downloaded files as downloads rather than clicks. That is just how we have defined things.

The Activity Map report is different than the download report in Workspace. You might ask yourself, which would you prefer.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

 On top of the answer here, I did want to just add that if you are using your Activity Map data, you will want to make sure you are using segmentation to limit the report specifically to your downloads, or you will see All clicks site wide. 

Since the Activity Map data will be attached to the actual download tracking call, you could use a simple:

HIT

     Download Link Instance exists

Also, because the "download link" and "Activity Map Data" is on the same call, you can actually use both metrics in the same table, and use either the Activity Map Link Name (possibly more readable) or the Download Link dimension which will be the file name.

You can see that both the Download Link Instance and the Activity Map Link Instance are equal, you can use either metric here for the "Number of Clicks", and you can map in UVs. You can even do a Avg Clicks / UV in the same table:

[JyotiSharmaV]

@Jennifer_Dungan The Strange thing is the download links are coming up in the activity map links dimension also.

For example, this is the download zip file link so this is coming in the Download Link as well as the Activity map link dimension.

https://www.abc.com/documents/login/software/cli_linux.zip" 

To me Pulling metric "Download link instances" against the "Download Link" dimension, which looks better to tell numbers on how many times the particular installer link is downloaded

[Jennifer_Dungan]

It really depends on your site.. if the filename is also the visible link on your site, then the download link and Activity Map Link will show the same thing...

If for instance you had a link on your site like:

Linux Command Line Interface

---

And that linked to the file:
https://www.abc.com/documents/login/software/cli_linux.zip

The Activity Map would record "Linux Command Line Interface" instead of the file name.. (unless your developer did some code to override the link text)

On the other hand, if ALL your links say "Click Here to Download" then sadly, that is what Activity Map will record (again unless some intervention has been done on the tracking).

So long as you have usable, readable data, you are good to use whichever dimension makes the most sense.