Referrer Conditions

Referrer conditions target a campaign based on where the visitor came from. The referrer is the address of the page that linked to the site, so these conditions make it possible to greet search visitors, partner traffic, and social traffic differently. This category contains six conditions.

Referrer conditions are found in the Campaign tab of the campaign editor sidebar, under Advanced Targeting. Open the Condition dropdown and select Referrer. Advanced Targeting requires ConvertForce Pro.

Four of the six conditions take a value, and the field label indicates what kind of value is expected. A field labeled URL expects a full web address, and a field labeled Text expects a fragment such as a domain name. The remaining two conditions take no value at all.

Available Conditions

Referrer Is

Matches when the referring address is exactly the value entered. Selecting it reveals a URL field, which expects a complete web address rather than a fragment.

Use it to respond to one specific linking page rather than a whole site. Because the match is exact, it is the least forgiving referrer condition, and a difference in protocol or a trailing slash is enough to prevent a match.

Use case: A tailored offer for visitors arriving from one particular review article, where a general partner message would be too vague.

Referrer Contains

Matches when the value appears anywhere in the referring address. Selecting it reveals a Text field, so a fragment such as a domain name is the expected input.

This is the most practical referrer condition and usually the right first choice, because one domain name as the value covers every page on that site at once.

Use case: Entering a partner’s domain so every link from anywhere on their site triggers a matching welcome message.

Referrer Begins With

Matches when the referring address starts with the value entered. Selecting it reveals a URL field, because a referrer starts at the protocol and domain rather than partway through.

More precise than Contains when a domain could also appear later in an address, such as inside a redirect parameter.

Use case: Restricting a rule to one subdomain or one section of a large referring site, where Contains would match the whole domain.

Referrer Ends With

Matches when the referring address finishes with the value entered. Selecting it reveals a Text field.

Use case: Matching a repeated final path segment used across several referring sites, such as a shared directory listing structure.

Is Search Engine

Matches when the visitor arrived from a search engine. No value is needed, so there is no list of search engine domains to maintain and no rule to revisit as search engines change.

Search visitors are the clearest case for referrer targeting, because they arrive with a question rather than existing familiarity with the site. A campaign written for them can be more introductory than one written for returning visitors.

Use case: A first-visit welcome offer that explains what the site does, shown only to visitors arriving from search.

Is External URL

Matches when the referring address is on a different domain, meaning the visitor arrived from another site rather than by clicking a link within this one. No value is needed.

This distinguishes an arrival from internal navigation, which is what makes it useful for campaigns intended as an entry-point greeting.

Use case: A welcome campaign that should appear when someone arrives on the site, but not again each time they move between pages.

Choosing the Right Condition

The field label is a useful guide to which condition suits a rule:

• Targeting a whole site — Use Referrer Contains with just the domain name. This is the most common case and the most forgiving.
• Targeting one page — Use Referrer Is with the complete address, and copy it rather than typing it.
• Targeting a section or subdomain — Use Referrer Begins With, entering the address as far as the section in question.
• Targeting search or arrivals generally — Use Is Search Engine or Is External URL, neither of which needs a value.

Where a rule could be written either way, Contains is the more durable choice, because it keeps working when a referring site changes its protocol, adds a subdomain, or restructures its paths.

Visitors With No Referrer

The referrer is supplied by the browser, and it is often absent. There is no referrer when a visitor types the address directly, opens a bookmark, follows a link from an email client or a messaging app, or browses with a privacy setting that suppresses it. Some sites also configure a referrer policy that strips the information before it arrives.

Direct traffic is a substantial share of most sites, so a campaign that depends on a referrer condition will not reach it. Two consequences follow:

• Never rely on referrer conditions alone for a campaign that needs broad reach. Pair the referrer-specific version with a general version that has no referrer condition.
• A campaign using Don’t match on a referrer condition will include direct visitors, because a missing referrer does not match the condition.

Common Use Cases

Search visitor welcome offer. Set Match → Is Search Engine so first-time search traffic gets an introduction that returning visitors do not need.

Partner-specific greeting. Set Match → Referrer Contains with the partner’s domain, so the campaign can reference the partnership by name.

Entry-point campaign only. Set Match → Is External URL so a welcome message appears on arrival rather than during internal browsing.

Search traffic offer on commercial pages. Combine Match → Is Search Engine with Match → URL Contains using a value of /pricing, reaching visitors who arrived from search and are evaluating cost.

Exclude one referring source. Set Don’t match → Referrer Contains with a domain, to keep a campaign away from traffic that already saw the same message elsewhere.

Frequently Asked Questions