Alternate Domain Names
   

The list of alternate domain names is fundamentally important to the way ClickTracks determines the visitor session. In general, the correct behavior is for ClickTracks to start a new session (and therefore count a new visitor) whenever the referrer is coming from an external website. Using the example of visitors coming from Google, it's certainly correct that each time someone clicks from Google to the target site, a new session should be started; otherwise, those clicks will not match the pay-per-click (PPC) campaign clicks.

A problem arises when the site is known by several different domain names (e.g., both www.bobsfruitsite.com and www.bobsfruitsite.co.uk). The second domain must be listed as an alternate; otherwise, every page clicked in www.bobsfruitsite.co.uk will result in a new session and an additional visitor session. The New Dataset Wizard attempts to find cases like this based on examining the website's IP and DNS entries.

A related problem is having pages on an external site, such as a newsletter sign-up. ClickTracks Analyzer cannot track users across these different domains (only Professional can do this). However, it is possible to use a goal page that lives on the main site, and the visitor would see this page after completing the process on the external server. In this case, the external domain should be listed as an alternate.

RULES:

·Alternate domains should include any domain that is inside the website as your visitors perceive it. Visitors coming from any domain not listed will, by default, be coming from outside and will count as an additional new visit.  
 
·Separate domains in the list with a semicolon.  
 
·If alternate domain names are added, altered, or removed after the server dataset has been created, the server logs must be reprocessed for the changes to take place. In ServerAdmin, select the dataset name, right-click, and select Reprocess All Logs for This Dataset.  
 
·If your site has HTTPS and those pages are the same as under HTTP, you must specify https://domain.com as a domain alias of HTTP equivalent.  
 
·If your site has HTTPS and the pages are in a different domain, you must create a separate domain for them.