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There are four different match types that define how WordStream identifies a goal or funnel URL (or both).
- Exact match: This will perform an exact character for character match on URL paths.For example, if the page URL is http://www.example-site.com/checkout.html [2], an exact match string should look like this: /checkout.html. Note that the http://www.example-site.com [3] is not included in the match string.
- Head Match: If your website uses dynamically generated content and/or URLs, use the Head Match filter and leave out the dynamic values. A Head Match will attempt to match the page URL character for character up until the end of the provided match string.For example, if the URL for a particular user is http://www.example-site.com/checkout.cgi?page=2&id=77345 [4] but the 'id' varies for every other user, enter /checkout.cgi?page=2 and select Head Match as your Match Type.
- Regular Expression Match: Regular Expression Matches are useful for matching URL paths with lots of variable data. For this type of match, a regular expression should be constructed to match the entire URL path.For example, in the case of the URL http://sports.example.com/checkout.cgi?id=006&page=1 [5], the user may want to match all entries with page=1 and any id. Since a simple head match cannot properly perform this type of match, a regular expression is ideal. The user would construct this expression to successfully match the URL: \/checkout\.cgi\?id\=[0-9]*?\&page\=1
- Substring Match: Substring Matches are used match URL paths where the path includes any occurrence of the substring.For example, in the case of the URL http://www.example-site.com/download.cgi?id=1&page=4 [6], if the user wanted to match any URL path where page=4, the user would enter page=4 and select Substring Match.
Troubleshooting Tips:
- All matches are case-insensitive by default. Specifying case-sensitivity applies to all match types including regular expression matches.
- Do not include a trailing / character in any match string. URL paths being matched have their trailing / character automatically removed.
- Matches are always performed on the path portion of the URL (eg. /checkout.cgi?id=006&page=1). Do not include the http://www.example.com [7] portion of the URL in the match string.