Create checkout links with useful tracking
Checkout links connect buyers to the correct product, price, offer, and checkout experience. Tracking settings such as UTMs help Campaigns, Financial Overview, and Sales reports explain where purchases came from.
Use this guide when you are preparing links for launch traffic, paid ads, affiliates, support agents, or upgrade campaigns.
What checkout links control
| Area | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Product | Determines what the buyer is purchasing. |
| Plan or offer | Controls price, billing model, trial, and subscription behavior. |
| Checkout design | Controls the buyer-facing checkout experience when a custom checkout is used. |
| Tracking | Adds UTM values for campaign reporting and attribution. |
| Affiliate attribution | Connects the purchase to an affiliate when the link is affiliate-specific. |
| Upgrade flow | Sends an existing buyer to an upgrade path instead of a normal first purchase. |
Link types
| Link type | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Main checkout link | You need the standard purchase link for a product, plan, or offer. |
| Custom checkout link | You need a campaign-specific link with UTM tracking or audience-specific organization. |
| Affiliate checkout link | An approved affiliate should promote the product and receive attribution. |
| Upgrade link | An existing buyer should move to another plan, offer, or product. |
| Product short link | You need a cleaner or tracked product link for sharing. |
| Support-agent global short link | A support agent needs a controlled tracked link without changing campaign ownership. |
UTM fields
UTMs work best when the team uses a consistent naming pattern.
| UTM field | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Source | The platform, partner, or traffic source. | facebook, google, email, affiliate-name |
| Medium | The traffic channel or method. | paid-social, cpc, newsletter, support |
| Campaign | The campaign or launch name. | black-friday, webinar-june, evergreen-vsl |
| Content | The ad, creative, placement, or variation. | video-1, banner-top, cta-button |
| Term | Keyword, audience, or targeting detail when needed. | high-intent, lookalike, brand-search |
Create a tracked checkout link
- Confirm the product, plan, and offer are ready.
- Open the product checkout or links area.
- Choose the correct link type for the use case.
- Select the plan or offer the buyer should purchase.
- Add UTM values when the link will be used for campaigns or reporting.
- Save or generate the link.
- Open the link in a browser and check the product, price, and checkout page.
- Run a test purchase when possible.
- Review Campaigns, Sales, or Financial Overview to confirm the attribution path.
Choose the right link
| Situation | Recommended link |
|---|---|
| Normal sales page button | Main checkout link or offer-specific checkout link. |
| Paid ad campaign | Custom checkout link with source, medium, campaign, and content UTMs. |
| Email promotion | Custom checkout link with email source and campaign name. |
| Affiliate promotion | Affiliate checkout link generated for that affiliate. |
| Existing customer upgrade | Upgrade link, not a normal checkout link. |
| Support conversation | Support-agent short link when support attribution should be controlled. |
Attribution checks before launch
- Link opens the correct product and checkout.
- Price, plan, trial, and offer match the campaign promise.
- UTM source, medium, and campaign are filled consistently.
- Affiliate links are used only for the correct affiliate.
- Upgrade links are used only for existing-buyer upgrade flows.
- Short links do not duplicate or overwrite campaign tracking.
- Test traffic appears in the expected report after a purchase or checkout event.
Best practices
- Create one clear link strategy before paid traffic starts.
- Use lowercase UTM values and consistent separators such as hyphens.
- Do not reuse one custom link for unrelated campaigns.
- Keep affiliate links separate from owner campaign links.
- Check attribution after the first few real sales so campaign reporting can be corrected early.
- Save link naming conventions where marketing, sales, and support teams can follow them.
FAQ
Which checkout link should I use for a paid campaign?
Use a custom checkout link with UTM source, medium, campaign, and content values. This makes Campaigns and Financial Overview easier to read after traffic starts.
How are affiliate links different from owner checkout links?
Affiliate links connect the purchase to a specific affiliate. Owner links are controlled by the product owner and should be used for the seller's own campaigns unless affiliate attribution is required.
When should I use an upgrade link?
Use an upgrade link when the buyer already purchased or subscribed and should move to a different plan, offer, or product. Do not use normal checkout links for flows that require upgrade-specific rules.
Why does campaign data look incomplete?
Common causes include missing UTMs, inconsistent naming, using the wrong link type, sharing untracked links, testing in the wrong business workspace, or checking reports before events finish processing.