Setting up product backlinks

Setting Up Product Backlinks

Product backlinks let you direct designers from your Canoa catalog straight to your website—whether that’s a product detail page, rep form, or a curated landing page. This gives you full control over the next step in the customer journey and allows you to track designer engagement using your own analytics tools.

---

🔗 What is a backlink?

A backlink is a hyperlink embedded in your Canoa product listing that leads to a URL you control. It’s typically a product page on your website, but you can also link to:

• Contact forms

• Custom spec request pages

• Digital cut sheets

• Campaign or landing pages

📌 These links only appear in public product listings. Private catalogs do not support external backlinks.

---

🎯 Why backlinks matter

1. They drive high-intent traffic. Designers are discovering your products mid-specification. That means clicks from Canoa are often moments away from purchase decisions or deeper inquiries.

2. You control the destination. Unlike marketplaces that trap users inside their own UI, Canoa sends them to your website. You decide what they see next.

3. You can track performance. Add UTM parameters to your links to track Canoa as a distinct source inside tools like Google Analytics, Amplitude, or HubSpot.

---

🛠 How to add backlinks

There are two ways to assign backlinks to your products:

✅ Option 1: Manual CSV Upload

1. Open your product spreadsheet.

2. Add a column called product_url.

3. For each row, enter the destination URL.

   • Example: https://yourbrand.com/lounge-chair-001?utm_source=canoa&utm_medium=referral

4. Save and upload the file through the Brand Dashboard.

✅ Option 2: API Sync

If you manage your catalog via API, include a product_url field in your schema. Reach out to your dev team or Canoa support for field mapping guidance.

---

📏 Best practices

• Use clean, campaign-ready URLs with UTM tags like: ?utm_source=canoa&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=spring_launch

• Link to pages optimized for designers (e.g., with downloadable assets, lead times, rep contact info)

• Avoid general homepage links—they dilute tracking and confuse the user

• Test your URLs before publishing to ensure they resolve correctly

---

❓ FAQs

Do backlinks apply to private catalogs? No. Only public product listings can include backlinks.

Can I change a link after publishing? Yes. Simply re-upload your CSV with an updated URL, or update it via API.

Does Canoa track clicks for me? Not currently. You own the link and can track visits using your existing analytics setup.