Why did Google Analytics clicks drop after moving email platforms?

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests asking the new platform 'how' they are blocking bot clicks. Are they outright returning 403 forbidden errors to bots not allowing them to follow the links? Are they redirecting them?

Email marketer from Email on Acid suggests that migration related deliverability issues could have a part to play. Poor deliverability directly equates to less people clicking links in emails.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that deliverability issues caused by the platform switch could prevent emails from reaching recipients or landing in spam folders. Fewer recipients seeing and clicking on links directly translates to lower click numbers in Google Analytics.

Email marketer from Stack Overflow explains that there could be GA configuration issues. Incorrect GA settings or missing GA tracking code on landing pages could result in lost data. Make sure the pages that were linked to in emails have GA properly configured to record their data.

Email marketer from Quora explains that switching platforms often involves new IPs, impacting deliverability. It takes time to build a good IP reputation, and you may experience lower engagement numbers initially.

Marketer from Email Geeks responds that without knowing anything else, it’s a large enough drop to investigate further.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that it depends on the platform, but it's unlikely they're 'blocking' bot traffic. Most just allow the automated traffic through the link tracking/redirect but don’t log it in their own internal analytics depending on the headers (user agent, asn, etc).

Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that a significant drop in traffic after a website change, including platform migration, can be due to various factors like incorrect redirects, changes in URL structure, or loss of backlinks. It's crucial to check these aspects to ensure a smooth transition and maintain search engine rankings.

Email marketer from Reddit shares that the new email platform might be more aggressive in filtering bot clicks. This could lead to a significant drop in reported clicks in Google Analytics, as bot traffic is less likely to trigger GA's tracking scripts.

Marketer from Email Geeks says he wouldn't block like that as there’s probably issues stemming from that approach, and you can imagine blocking a bot who is trying to check links for malware/spam/phishing isn’t the greatest idea.

Email marketer from Reddit shares that the new platform migration may have also coincided with some list decay. Over time lists become outdated, emails bounce, or people no longer engage with your brand. This lower list quality will cause click rate drops.

Email marketer from Email Vendor Knowledge Base explains a change to link tracking parameters or settings during the migration can affect how clicks are recorded in Google Analytics. If the new platform uses a different tracking method, it may not align perfectly with GA's tracking, causing discrepancies.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains a potential reason for lower Google Analytics clicks could be that the new platform is more strict with suppression lists and bounces, which is a good thing for your deliverability. Actively removing bad email addresses from your marketing list can have a positive impact on the number of visitors that make their way to your website from email marketing campaigns.

Expert from Spam Resource shares that the new platform has better spam filtering and validation. They may be removing invalid email addresses from email sends. While a good thing for deliverability it may cause reported click numbers to be lower than before.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that one potential reason for a drop in Google Analytics clicks after moving platforms could be related to IP warmup. If a new platform involves sending from new IPs, it's crucial to warm those IPs up gradually to establish a good sender reputation. Without proper warmup, emails might land in spam folders, drastically reducing engagement and clicks.

Documentation from Google Analytics Help explains that differences in click tracking across platforms are common due to variations in how clicks are defined and recorded. Some platforms might include bot traffic or pre-fetching clicks, while Google Analytics aims to filter out such invalid interactions for a more accurate representation of user engagement.

Documentation from Google Search Central explains a change in URL structure without proper redirects during the platform move might lead to lost traffic. If the URLs in the emails are outdated or broken, users won't be able to access the landing pages, resulting in a decrease in clicks registered by Google Analytics.

Documentation from Litmus explains that changes in how email clients render emails can affect click tracking. If changes make emails render poorly they can cause users not to engage with your emails, or incorrectly register clicks.

Documentation from Cloudflare explains that CDN and caching issues can impact traffic after migration. Outdated or incorrect cached content may prevent accurate tracking, leading to lower GA click counts.

Documentation from IAB explains that invalid traffic, including bot traffic, can inflate analytics numbers. New platforms might have better IVT detection and filtering mechanisms, leading to cleaner data and lower reported clicks in Google Analytics.

Documentation from MDN Web Docs explains that Javascript and Browser related issues on pages that are linked to in the emails might cause GA to not run. This will cause a drop in traffic due to browsers not correctly running Google Analytics.