How to use server to server conversion tracking

A “thank you page” is the first page to appear after a conversion has taken place on a website and it’s where you would usually place a snippet of ClickMeter conversion code – or conversion pixel – so that when a customer reaches this page, their conversion is tracked.
But sometimes you won’t own or have access to the “thank you page” of the website you want to track conversions on. This is often a problem for affiliate marketers. This is where server to server conversion tracking can help.
Server to server conversion tracking – or S2S – allows you to track conversions without having to insert any code in the “thank you page”. This is also cookie-less so it works, even when a customer doesn’t have cookies enabled on their device. Instead of using cookies, the information is stored on the merchant’s server and once a conversion occurs, this information is sent to your ClickMeter account.
Unfortunately, setting up server to server conversion tracking isn’t simple. You’ll need to understand and follow both ClickMeter’s guide on server to server and post-back URL tracking and the merchant’s internal guide on S2S. It is vital that the merchant you’re working with accepts and is organized for server to server conversion tracking. Though S2S and post-back conversion tracking is the standard for large affiliate networks and major merchants that run affiliate programs.
S2S conversion tracking works in the same way for every merchant and third party tracker. The biggest difference you’ll come across is the way they label the variables.
To make it as clear as possible for you, the following is a diagram showing how server to server conversion tracking works in ClickMeter:
For more information on server to server tracking and postback URLs, check out ClickMeter’s FAQs – or if you have any burning questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
Related Reading:
- How does server to server conversion tracking work?
- 100+ Best Affiliate Networks: Ultimate List
- Affiliate tips: How to make money recommending ClickMeter
- How to track my affiliates performances
This blog post is about:
- Server to server conversion tracking
- Postback URLs
- S2S conversion tracking
- Overview of the best affiliate networks
Originally published: November 22, 2014.
Updated: November 12th, 2021.