Get Started Capturing & Using URL Parameters

Place a single script on your website (using GTM) and turn on the URL Parameters Listener. We’ll automatically push structured data into the data layer whenever users visit your website with query strings on their URL.

Use ListenLayer to push custom values into the data layer based on these URL parameters and then capture it all with GTM. Once inside GTM, ListenLayer’s variables and events can be used to power all of your web analytics dynamically!

Once you realize the power of data layers from ListenLayer, you’ll never go back!

How URL Parameters Work

URL Parameters (query strings) are small strings of information added to the end of URLs on your website. The most common URL Parameters are Google’s “UTMs” that allow you to tag income traffic to your website based on campaign, keyword, content, etc.

URL Parameters are widely used across the Internet to understand better how users interact with pages. In addition, URL parameters can be passed from one page (or screen) to another, allowing information to flow across those interactions. For this reason, programmers use UTMs to power many experiences. Still, marketers are often limited in their ability to use query string data and customize their tracking without the help of a developer!

ListenLayer unlocks the power of URL Parameters by pushing them into the user’s data layer automatically. Now marketers can use this structure data to customize and enhance their web analytics –  no programming required!

How to Capture URL Parameters

Query strings can be captured from a URL using a number of programming methods. For example, marketers often use a server-side programming language like PHP to capture URL parameters, or client-side scripting language such as JavaScript can capture and store the values in an object.

You can ask your web programmer to capture specific, or all, query strings as objects from the URL; however, it can still be difficult for marketers to use these flexibly, especially if they are trying to utilize them across multiple analytics platforms.

ListenLayer allows you to easily capture all URL Parameter query strings and write rules to push custom values into the data layer. These can be pulled into GTM to power your web analytics framework – no programming required.

The Solution: Listeners & Data Layers

With ListenLayer, place a single script tag on your website (via GTM), and we’ll track all URL Parameter activity accurately and automatically. Then, we push this data into the data layer, which becomes available to write simple yet powerful rules in GTM to scale your tracking.

Once you have the basic setup in place, ListenLayer allows you to write powerful rules that generate custom data in the data layer. Use this to enhance, or refine, your website tracking. For example, capture custom campaign codes from URL Parameters and then use ListenLayer to assign real campaign names to each code. Then, GTM can be used to push these campaign name values to all of your marketing platforms!