How to connect document readers to visits on your website
How a one-line script links readers of a shared artifact to their visits on your own website, and what it does not track.
The short answer
Add the one-line ArtifactSend script to your website. When a reader clicks from your artifact to your site, you see the visit and get an email.
This connects two people who normally look like strangers: the reader of your document and the visitor on your site. With the script, you know they are the same person.
Why this matters
You send a proposal. The buyer reads it and clicks through to your pricing page. Then they read your security page. Without a link between the two, your website analytics show an unknown visitor. With the script, you see that it was the buyer from the proposal.
That tells you the reader is past the document and is now checking details. It is a good time to follow up.
How it works
- A reader opens your artifact through a reader door, such as email or email code.
- The reader clicks a link in the artifact to your website.
- ArtifactSend adds a signed reader reference to that click.
- The script on your website reads the reference, keeps it on your site and reports each page view.
- You see the pages they visited in the reader's report, and you get an email.
Set it up
- In ArtifactSend, open the Website page in your space.
- Add your website domain, for example acme.com.
- Copy the one-line script.
- Paste it into the head of each page on your website, or into your site template.
- Deploy your website.
- Add links to your website inside your artifact.
- Open the artifact as a test reader and click a link to check that the visit shows.
What you see
- The reader's email, when they came through an email-based door.
- The artifact they came from.
- Each page they visited on your website.
- An email that says the reader is on your website. You get it at most once a day for each reader.
- A line in your weekly reading report with the number of readers who went on to your website.
If no visit shows
- Check that the script is on the page that the reader opened, not only on the home page.
- Check that the domain in ArtifactSend matches your website domain.
- Check that the link in your artifact points to that domain.
- Open the artifact through its reader door first. A direct visit to your site has no reader reference.
- Deploy again if your site caches old pages.
- Wait a minute and refresh the report. Visits arrive in small batches.
Privacy: what the script knows
The script only knows readers who clicked from your artifact. It does not identify other visitors to your website. It does not use third-party cookies to follow people across sites. A visitor who finds your site from search stays unknown.
Tell readers that links in the document are tracked. A line in the footer is enough. If your site needs a cookie or privacy notice, add the script to it.
Good links to add
Place each link next to the claim it supports. For example, put the security page link next to your data handling section.
- Pricing page.
- Security or compliance page.
- Case study pages.
- Product demo or signup page.
- Careers page, in an investor update.
Act on the signal
- Reader visits pricing: send a short note with a pricing option for their size.
- Reader visits security: send your security summary before they ask.
- Reader visits careers: they may know a candidate, so ask.
- Reader returns to the site twice: suggest a call.
Cost
Website tracking is free on every ArtifactSend space. It is part of the free plan, with links, readers and analytics.