It’s necessary to track file downloads from your website. True or false?
If you said true, good job!
Lead magnets are a popular way to grow email lists. You offer users a valuable download in exchange for their contact information. When you know how many times users have downloaded your lead magnets, you can make better decisions about where and how to use that content. The ability to track file downloads gives you valuable insights into your content’s performance.
In this post, I’m going to show you a super easy way to track your file downloads in WordPress so that you can boost your data-driven decisions. Ready? Let’s get started!
Track File Downloads in WordPress to Boost Data-Driven Decisions
As with other data you gather, there’s something to be gleaned here. Tracking your file downloads tells you which lead magnets are most popular and what kind of information users want to see. It turn, that can help you build out your content calendar and fill gaps.
Let’s take a look at how it works.
Setup: What You’ll Need to Track File Downloads
I’m going to show you how to track file downloads using some very specific tools. Here’s what you will need to follow along:
- WPForms account
- MonsterInsights account
- A website connected to Google Analytics (more info on setting up a property in GA4)
This tutorial is going to be a Beginner+ in terms of difficulty. It’s a step above absolute beginner level, but not yet intermediate.
You can technically use the free versions of WPForms and MonsterInsights here, but you’ll likely find it more straightforward if you have paid licenses with access to premium features.
Before you can track your file downloads, you’ll need a lead magnet and a form that users can fill out to access it. These forms are typically very simple and only ask for contact information.
In the example below from WPBeginner, you can see that they’re offering a free WordPress training in exchange for a name and email address.
Because this post is really about tracking your downloads, I’m not going to walk you through creating your lead magnet in WPForms. But don’t worry! We have other guides for that if you need to start there.
- What Are Lead Forms?
- How to Create a WordPress Lead Magnet Optin Form
- How to Give Sales Leads Something for Free (Easy Examples)
- How to Create a Multi-Step Lead Form
WPForms also has a Lead Magnet Download Form template that you can use.
When your lead magnet is up and running on your website, you’re ready to proceed.
Step 1: Install and Activate MonsterInsights
When your lead magnet is created and the download form is on your website, it’s time to make the magic happen.
The first thing you’re going to do is set up Google Analytics in WordPress using MonsterInsights.
To start, make sure you deactivate and remove any other Google Analytics plugin or tracking code you have on your website so there’s no interference.
Then you’ll need to install and activate the MonsterInsights plugin.
Here’s a quick walk-through of that process. This step should only take a couple of minutes, max.
After purchasing the MonsterInsights plugin, log into your MonsterInsights account by clicking on the Login link at the top of the page.
Next, go to the Downloads tab on your account page. You’ll see a link where you can download the MonsterInsights Pro plugin.
Now that you’ve downloaded the plugin, you have to install and activate it on your site. Keep your MonsterInsights account open in this tab (you’ll need to come back to it in a moment), and open WordPress in a new tab.
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins » Add New and click on Upload Plugin, found near the top of the screen.
On the next screen, select Choose File to select the zip file you just downloaded from your MonsterInsights account.
Click Install Now to upload the file and install it on your website.
Once uploaded, click Activate Plugin to activate it on your site.
Finally, click back over to the tab with your MonsterInsights account still open. If you’re still on the Downloads tab of your account, which is where you downloaded the plugin file, you’ll see the license key on the same page. Copy that.
Back on your WordPress dashboard tab, go to Insights » Settings from the left navigation menu. Paste your license key.
Now that MonsterInsights is installed and active on your website, let’s move on and connect Google Analytics. This connection is crucial to effectively track file downloads on your WordPress website.
Step 2: Connect Your Website to Google Analytics
To use MonsterInsights, you’ll need to connect your WordPress website to your Google Analytics account. If this sounds intimidating, don’t worry. It’s simple, painless, and requires no coding. 🙂
One of my favorite things about MonsterInsights is that it makes Google Analytics more accessible and easier to understand for people who just need to be able to easily view their analytics.
As I said in the Setup section, you should have your Google Analytics account set up already. If you don’t, please pause and go back and do that.
Next, go to Insights » General in your WordPress dashboard. Scroll down until you see the box for Google Authentication. Click on Connect MonsterInsights. It will take you to your MonsterInsights account so you can go through the setup process.
The setup process includes selecting the account and website you wish to use, as well as granting the plugin the ability to generate reports.
Follow the setup prompts. When you’re finished, navigate back to Insights » Settings » General from your WordPress dashboard. Now, instead of seeing an option to connect Google Analytics, you should see that it’s connected with an Active Profile.
Now your WordPress website is connected to your Google Analytics account.
Most common file extensions are tracked by default, but you can update the list by going to Insights » Settings » Engagement and scrolling down to File Extensions. Add or remove file types as needed.
Everything in this field will be tracked as file downloads.
Step 3: View Your File Downloads in WordPress
Before we move on to viewing your file downloads, here’s a quick recap of everything you’ve completed so far:
- Created a lead magnet and download form (using WPForms), and published them to your website (this all happened prior to the tutorial).
- Installed MonsterInsights on your site and connected to Google Analytics.
Once that’s been up and running for a little while, you can start digging into reports to track your file downloads.
To do this in WordPress, it’s quite easy. From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Insights » Reports » Publishers Report.
Under the Publishers Report, you can select either Overview or Pages Report. To see your top downloads, select the Overview.
There is a lot of valuable information on this page, so take a moment to take it all in. As you scroll down, you’ll see a section called Top Download Links. This is where you can see which of your assets has been downloaded the most, by link label.
At the top of the page, you can adjust the time period for downloads to be whatever you want — a week, a month, a year, etc. Then you’ll see how often your lead magnet has been downloaded in that period of time.
Remember that you have a little bit of context for these numbers. In the example above, I can see that Sullie’s Spring Flower Guide is the most popular download, which tells me readers have an interest in spring flowers, in particular.
So then why isn’t the Spring Planting Tips guide doing better? Maybe that one only ran for a short period. Maybe it just started running and hasn’t had a chance to get as many downloads just yet.
In other words, the numbers tell a story, but you’ll know how to read between the lines.
Step 4: View File Downloads in Google Analytics (GA4)
You can also view download data right in Google Analytics. To do this, start by creating a custom explore report in GA4. If you need some help with that step, this guide to creating custom explore reports will give you more specific details.
After you’ve named the report, set the time period, and added any segments, you’ll see the box labeled Dimensions. Click on the + next to that and import the following dimensions:
- File Name
- Link Text
- Page Location
- Event Name
To the right, in the Settings column, there’s a Rows field where you can also add dimensions. Drag the following from the dimensions you just imported and drop them into the Rows field:
- File Name
- Link Text
- Page Location
Below Dimensions, there’s a section for Metrics. Click on the + and add Event count. Scroll until you see the Values box in the second column. Click and drag Event count to the Values box.
And for the final step in this setup, click and drag Event name from the Dimensions section to Filters. For the conditions, choose exactly matches, then input file_download. After you’ve done that, click Apply.
Now your report is ready to go! You can use this to report to see the following:
- Files downloaded
- Link text
- Page where the download was initiated.
If you’re using MonsterInsights Lite, you won’t be able to access the report in the plugin, so you will have to view everything using this report through GA4.
And that’s all there is to it! Now that you’re equipped with the tools and know-how to track file downloads in WordPress, you can make more data-driven decisions about your lead magnets and ensure your content is irresistible.
FAQs — Tracking File Downloads in WordPress
Why should I track file downloads on my WordPress site?
Tracking downloads helps you understand user engagement, popular content, and resource allocation. It provides insights for content strategy and user behavior analysis. Overall, it makes you a better marketer!
Will tracking downloads slow down my website?
There will only be minimal impact on your site if you’re using a plugin like MonsterInsights. Good tracking solutions are optimized for performance and shouldn’t noticeably slow your site.
Will tracking downloads affect my site’s SEO in any way?
Tracking on its own doesn’t affect SEO. That said, displaying download counts can potentially increase user engagement, indirectly benefiting SEO.
How can I troubleshoot if my download tracking isn’t working correctly?
This will depend on the tools you’re using. Check plugin settings, make sure file paths are correct, disable caching temporarily, and verify server permissions. Contact the plugin’s support if you continue to experience issues.
How can I prevent bots from skewing my download statistics?
Many tracking plugins often include bot detection features. Additionally, when you create your download form, you should implement CAPTCHAs or IP-based download limits to reduce bot activity.
Once you find yourself building up a sizeable email list from your lead magnet downloads, check out these pretty wild email statistics. They’ll keep your email marketing momentum going!
And if you’re interested in placing popups on your website, complete with lead magnets to get people to subscribe, check out this tutorial on how to create a contact form popup in WordPress.
Ready to build your form? Get started today with the easiest WordPress form builder plugin. WPForms Pro includes lots of free templates and offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.
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