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Can anyone offer any advice on creating a way to track sales from leads, much like how it is handled by google adwords?

I use Adwords, but also have other links I would like to track from some banner ads, email newsletters, and general directory listings.
I also have some offline stuff that I could use a special url for if I had a way to track from entry point to sale.

Any thoughts? I have no experience with cookie creation but I thought that would be one way to go, or perhaps use an online service, if there is such a place that can provide this service.

I currently use Hitbox to monitor the site, but it is not a tool to really track conversion / sales from multiple sources, especially when the sales cycle is a few days to a few months.

thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

timezone

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For : a practical, reliable way to track conversions across AdWords, banners, email and offline promos is to combine link tagging, a persistent visitor ID (cookie), and a server-side event store that links visits to later conversions. Tag every campaign link (utm_ or your own params), capture that first-touch on landing, persist a generated visitor_id in a long-lived cookie, and record both first-touch and subsequent touches in a small tracking table. When an order or lead is submitted, attach that visitor_id to the conversion record so you can attribute back to the entry channel even if the sale happens days or months later.

Suggested implementation flow:

  • Tag all marketing links with campaign parameters.
  • On landing: if no cookie exists, generate a UUID visitor_id, set a persistent cookie (e.g., 90–365 days), and insert a first-touch row: visitor_id, first_source, first_campaign, landing_url, first_ts.
  • On each subsequent visit update last-touch fields and/or append a visit row so you retain a history for multi-touch analysis.
  • On conversion (checkout or lead form) write a conversion row that references visitor_id and captures order_id, value, conversion_ts.
  • For offline channels use unique vanity URLs, promo codes, or call-tracking numbers that hit a logging/redirect endpoint which sets the cookie and then redirects to the public landing page.

Example minimal landing handler (PHP):

<?php
// if campaign params present, set persistent visitor id and note first-touch
if (isset($_GET['utm_source'])) {
  $vid = $_COOKIE['vid'] ?? bin2hex(random_bytes(16));
  setcookie('vid', $vid, time()+60*60*24*365, '/');
  // INSERT INTO tracking (visitor_id, first_source, landing_page, first_ts) VALUES (...)
}
?>

Cautions: cookies can be cleared and don’t solve cross-device tracking, so when a lead provides an email or phone capture that identifier (hash it) and match back to historical visitor_id rows. Store raw events so you can run first-, last-, or multi-touch attribution later. Also comply with privacy and cookie-consent laws before setting non-essential persistent cookies. As reminded, keep discussion in one thread; this post summarizes a practical path you can build on or hand off to a developer.

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No one has any thoughts on this? Someone must have some advice.

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