How to Track Referral Performance with Custom Partner Links

Understanding where your referrals come from helps you grow smarter, not just bigger. By adding custom tracking parameters to your BisectHosting partner link, you can clearly see which platforms, campaigns, or placements are generating the most clicks and commissions. This allows you to see exactly what is working, and focus your efforts on the sources that perform best.  So here, we’ll go over everything you need to know about referral tracking and custom links to get the most out of your return!

What Is a Custom Referrer Tag?

A custom referrer tag is a short label you add to the end of your partner link to identify where traffic is coming from. You do this by adding the following to the end of your partner link: ?r=YourSourceName

Example

Default partner link:

• https://www.bisecthosting.com/YourName

Modified link with tracking:

• https://www.bisecthosting.com/YourName?r=MyModpack

With this example, any clicks, orders, or commissions generated through the specific link will appear in the Referrer section of your Partner Dashboard under the label MyModpack.

Why Referrer Tracking Matters

If every referral uses the same partner link, all your traffic appears the same in the Partner Dashboard. This makes it difficult to ascertain details such as which platform is performing best, the success of a new promotion or campaign, or whether your Discord posts outperform your website banner. Custom tracking turns your dashboard into a performance tool, not just a commission report.

How to Use Referrer Tags

So how do you get the most out of your referral tags? Here, we’ll go over three easy options and how to implement them.

Comparing Platforms

By creating a unique tag for each platform, you can measure your success in each area and easily track the difference a post makes. To use this, simply add tags like the following to the end of your partner links.

• ?r=Discord
• ?r=Website
• ?r=YouTube
• ?r=Twitter

After a few weeks, you can check your dashboard to see which platform generates the most clicks, which converts best, and adjust from there.

Tracking Individual Modpacks or Projects

For those who manage multiple modpacks or communities, tracking individual projects is a great way to have a more complete view of where you’re succeeding and converting the most. To use this, simply add tags like the following to the end of your partner links.

• ?r=SkyblockPack
• ?r=RPGModpack
• ?r=HardcoreServer

This shows you which individual audience segment is most likely to purchase hosting, so you can focus your efforts more effectively.

Testing Marketing Changes

Want to test whether your next announcement should come in the form of a post or pinned message? Referral tags are great for that, too! Simply add tags like the following to the end of your partner links.

• ?r=DiscordAnnouncement
• ?r=DiscordPinnedMessage

This helps you determine whether placement or messaging adjustments affect conversions and, to what degree, helping you hone your marketing process.

Best Practices & Improving Referral Results

To get the most out of your referral results, keep referrer tags short and easy to recognize when viewing your dashboard.  Avoid spaces in tag names, and use simple identifiers to keep results organized. When testing a new campaign or placement, it’s also good to create a new tag so the results can be measured separately. By identifying high-converting platforms, high-performing communities, and effective calls to action, you can focus your efforts where they generate the most revenue. Overall, these referral capabilities are a very powerful tool, so be sure to make use of them! And if you find yourself wanting additional parameters, do let us know in either the #Suggestions channel or contact Bash or CJ to pass on the feedback.