Troubleshooting referral tracking issues

9 min

when a referral doesn't track properly, it can be frustrating for both brands and ambassadors while roster’s tracking system is robust, there are several external factors—browser behavior, site configuration, and device limitations—that can affect how referrals are attributed these challenges are common across the referral and affiliate tracking industry and not unique to roster this guide outlines the most common causes of untracked referrals and offers practical solutions to help you identify and resolve them when a referral link doesn't track below are common scenarios that may prevent a referral from being attributed to an ambassador 1\ ad or script blockers in the browser many users enable privacy settings or install ad/script blockers that can block tracking scripts, including roster’s if your roster script is installed via a third party tag manager (e g , google tag manager or adobe launch), it’s more likely to be blocked by these tools 2\ user declines cookies if your website prompts users to accept cookies and the user declines, roster’s tracking script may be unable to store the referral data the impact depends on how your cookie consent tool is configured and how the roster script is installed 3\ page load delays if a visitor clicks a referral link and navigates away from the page before it fully loads, the tracking script may not have time to run recommendation run a https //pagespeed web dev/ and optimize page performance to ensure tracking scripts can load quickly 4\ immediate page redirects if the landing page redirects to another url before the roster script runs, and the referral id is not preserved in the url, the referral will not be tracked 5\ mobile users switching browsers tracking can break if a user clicks a referral link in an embedded browser (e g , instagram or gmail in app) and completes their purchase in a different browser (like safari or chrome) similarly, if a user starts in their default browser and is forced into an in app browser to complete login or payment (e g , via 2fa), the session and referral data may not transfer 6\ javascript not executed properly if javascript is missing from your page or deferred due to how scripts are ordered in your header, referral tracking may not function recommendation confirm that the roster script is placed correctly in your site’s \<head> tag and that it’s not being delayed or blocked from running when the referral id is missing during checkout even when a referral click is tracked, issues during checkout can prevent final attribution common causes include 1\ third party payment gateways some gateways redirect users to a new domain for payment and don’t return them to your confirmation page if the referral id isn’t present on that final page, roster can’t track the conversion 2\ headless checkouts custom checkout experiences (e g , headless commerce) may bypass traditional tracking methods recommendation reach out to roster support for integration guidance specific to your headless setup 3\ subdomain changes during checkout if a user starts on www yoursite com but checks out on shop yoursite com, the referral id may not persist between subdomains unless cookies are enabled recommendation enable cross subdomain cookie tracking to retain referral information be aware that this may still require cookie consent from the user, depending on your site’s privacy settings summary referral tracking is affected by several technical and behavioral factors, many of which are outside of roster’s control to ensure accurate attribution optimize your site for performance confirm your tracking script is correctly installed avoid unnecessary redirects or domain changes understand how cookies and browser environments impact user behavior by systematically addressing these factors, you can improve referral accuracy and ensure ambassadors receive proper credit for their referrals need help? if you're still experiencing issues with referral tracking, contact our support team by emailing mailto\ support\@getroster com