Customize your links
Learn about Singular tracking links, how to build them, and deploy them for your business needs.
What is a tracking link?
When a user views or clicks on one of your ads, they activate a tracking link that notifies your MMP. The MMP uses the information in this link to track mobile app installs, re-engagements, and other information.
What are Singular Links?
Singular Links is an advanced tracking link solution that provides a friendly UI for creating and managing tracking links, as well as several link customization options. They automatically leverage iOS Universal Links and Android intent technology to create deep links wherever possible.
There are two types of Singular Links - Partner and Custom Source.
If you are working with an ad service provider, create a Partner tracking link. If you manage your own email or influencer campaigns, create a Custom Source tracking link. In Singular, go to Attribution > Manage Links to get started.
Important:
- Tracking links are not supported by SANs. Attribution information is passed directly between Singular and a SAN through our integration. Simply configure them as a partner.
- Tracking links are for Android and iOS only. To create web links, see Creating Website Links.
- Most partners offer a single tracking link for Android and iOS platforms. However, some partners only support one platform on a single tracking link.
- Tracking links will automatically include partner macros that enable the partner to send Singular information about the campaign.
Build a tracking link with Singular Links
To build a tracking link, ensure you've first performed the 4 steps in Set Up Singular.
For partner links, you must have configured the attribution integration as shown in step 3.
- Go to Singular > Manage Links.
- If you haven't created a subdomain for your links, click Manage Link Domains. Type a subdomain name, click Create, and then click Done. [?]
- Singular links follow the format:
https://[SUBDOMAIN].sng.link/[PARAMETERS]
- Singular links follow the format:
- Select your app and click 'Create Link'. A shelf opens.
- Select the link type - Partner or Custom Source.
- Under the Source Name dropdown, choose your ad network or custom source, and under Tracking Link Name, provide a descriptive title.
- More sections are enabled. Choose your options for each and click Save.
In this section, provide the following:
- Link Sub-Domain: choose from the dropdown the subdomain you created. [?]
- Platform: Choose 'Enable iOS Tracking', 'Enable Android Tracking', or both. For your selected platforms, provide:
- Site - This is automatically populated with the bundle ID.
- 'If the app is not installed go to:' - This is your Play Store or App Store URL.
- 'If the app is already installed, go to: (deep link)' - Provide a deep link to the app here. [Learn about deep links]
This isn't mandatory, but adding one ensures that users who already have the app are redirected to the app when they click on the tracking link. If a tracking link is created without a deep link, it cannot be updated later. [Is this field disabled?] - 'After installation, when the user first opens the app, go directly to: (deferred deep link)' - Include the deferred deep link here if you want the new user to be directed to a particular page. If this is left blank, the new user will be directed to the deep link from the previous step.
- Fallback Destination for Other Platforms: Enter your website's URL. Non-mobile users (e.g. desktop users) will be redirected to it.
In this section, provide the following:
- 'Enable re-engagement tracking' - Toggle on if you want to track and optimize re-engagement. [Is this field disabled?]
- 'Override attribution windows' / 'Toggle to customize attribution windows for this link only' - Leave these as default unless you have any specific requirements.
- 'Enable connected TV measurement' - Leave this off unless you're measuring cross-device performance.
These are optional parameters for Custom Source links. They add functionality and reporting granularity to the tracking link. They can be added dynamically after creating the tracking link. See Tracking Link Parameters.
This section appears after you click Save and generate the tracking link. It contains your click-through link and a view-through link. These links don't expire.
If you create a Custom Source link, you can shorten it. You can also generate a QR code, which can be used for various campaigns such as desktop-to-app and billboard-to-app.
After you've created your Singular link, you have the freedom to dynamically override Android, iOS, and Website link re-directs without having to modify them in the dashboard. You can also freely edit link parameters. [?]
Customize your link further
You can make the link do even more work by adding data to it dynamically as you display your ads. Your app can then read and use this data if a user engages with one of the ads and then arrives into your app.
To add dynamic data, append the _p parameter and any value to the end of your Singular Link. _p stands for "passthrough," and you can give it a URL-encoded JSON value or an unstructured string value.
https://myshoppingapp.sng.link/A59c0/nha7
When you display the ad, the specific pair of shoes shown has a product ID, e.g., "Shoes123". You append the product ID to your Singular Link using the "_p" parameter. The result:
https://myshoppingapp.sng.link/A59c0/nha7?_p=Shoes123
Whenever a user engages with that banner and then installs and opens the app, your app can read the product ID using the Singular SDK. Your app team can use this information to personalize the user's first app experience.
JSON example: You can build a JSON object as follows:
{
“productid”:”Shoes123”,
“qty”:1
}Then you URL encode it and append it to the _p parameter in your Singular tracking link:
https://myshoppingapp.sng.link/A59c0/nha7?_p=%7B%22productid%22%3A%22Shoes123%22%2C%22qty%22%3A1%7DIt's easy to append parameters to already generated links. For a full list of parameters, see Tracking Link Parameters.
Note: If you need just one tracking link, you can add your parameters to it in the dashboard under “Link Parameters” itself.
Let's say you've built a custom (shortened) tracking link, e.g. You now want to now add Campaign Name (pcn parameter) and Campaign ID (pcid parameter). Your Campaign Name is "New Deals 2023" and your Campaign Id is "4868298".
- Create your parameters.
In this example, they are "pcn=New Deals 2023" and "pcid=4868298". - Combine your parameters with an &.
"pcn=New Deals 2023&pcid=4868298". - Encode spaces and special characters.
"pcn=New%20Deals%202023&pcid=4868298". - Append the string to your link with a ?.
https://seteam.sng.link/A15ru/5ybz/wz7t?pcn=New%20Deals%202023&pcid=4868298
If your link already has a "?" and additional parameters, use “&” to add your parameters to the existing ones.
If you need multiple tracking links for tracking influencers or other social media sources, you can create a single tracking link and use granular parameters to distinguish between users. See Customize your link with granularity parameters above.
Example: Let's say you need 5 tracking links to share with influencers. The first step is to create one custom tracking link naming Influencers.
e.g. https://seteam.sng.link/A15ru/5ybz/wz7t
Now, we use a granular parameter to differentiate the source of each install. We'll use Campaign Name (pcn parameter). You could use Campaign ID (pcid parameter) or another available parameter.
Assign the Campaign Name to the tracking link with different values to differentiate where the users are coming from. Your links would look like this.
https://seteam.sng.link/A15ru/5ybz/wz7t?pcn=user1
https://seteam.sng.link/A15ru/5ybz/wz7t?pcn=user2
https://seteam.sng.link/A15ru/5ybz/wz7t?pcn=criticalrole
https://seteam.sng.link/A15ru/5ybz/wz7t?pcn=gmm
https://seteam.sng.link/A15ru/5ybz/wz7t?pcn=sortedfood
Remember: When using Singular reports, you will see the same source name for 1 tracking link you duplicated and modified, so you need to choose to include the parameter used in the tracking link to see the different influencer names, i.e., Campaign Name in this example.
Load the tracking link in your Chrome browser. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+I or Cmd+Option+I to open Chrome Developer Tools.
Select the Network tab and then the Payload tab (see image below). If all the query parameters are displayed correctly, the implementation is good.
Your link is ready! Now is a good time to test your link. See How to Test a Tracking Link.
FAQ and Troubleshooting
Check if the link already exists. You cannot create a tracking link with the same source, tracking link name, and configured app site(s) as an already existing link.
Singular tracking links have the following structure, where [SUBDOMAIN] is chosen by you, and [DNS_ZONE] is "sng.link". Together, the subdomain and the DNS zone make up the domain.
You can create a single domain and use it for all your links, or you can create several to use for different purposes. You have to create at least one domain.
Example:
For a campaign that markets an app called Jewel Rush, you can create the domain "jewelrush.sng.link". Then you can use it to create tracking links with the following structure:
https://jewelrush.sng.link/[PARAMETERS]Under Link Settings and Redirects, there is a field called "If the app is already installed, go to: (deep link)". If this field is greyed out, you need to update the App Scheme.
- Go to Settings > Apps.
- Select your app and expand the Android or iOS app site.
- Toggle Show Advanced Settings.
- Update the field called Android Deep Linking / iOS Deep Linking.
» See How to Create Deep Links: Guide for Marketing/Business Teams.
Some partners do not support retargeting/re-engagement campaigns.
If a partner supports these campaigns, but the option is not available on Singular's Create Link/Edit Link page, contact Singular so we can update the integration.
» Learn more about re-engagement in the Re-engagement FAQ.