Why is GA4 showing (direct) / none for my Shopify checkout sales?

When users navigate from WordPress to a separate Shopify domain checkout, GA4 loses client ID cookies and generates a brand-new session. GA4 Linker fixes this by automatically appending the _gl parameter to cross-domain links.

Does GA4 Linker support slide-out AJAX carts and popup checkout buttons?

Yes! The Pro and Agency plans use a high-performance MutationObserver that detects dynamically injected DOM elements and AJAX cart drawers in real-time.

Is coding required to set up GA4 Linker?

Zero coding required. Simply install the plugin, enter your Shopify checkout domain(s) in the WordPress admin panel, and GA4 Linker handles link and form decoration automatically.

How does GA4 Linker preserve UTM parameters?

On Personal, Pro, and Agency plans, GA4 Linker captures incoming utm_source, utm_campaign, utm_medium, and gclid parameters from your landing page and persists them through internal navigation directly into the Shopify checkout destination.

🎯 WooCommerce UTM Persistence

How to Pass UTM & Tracking Parameters from Blog Subdomains to WooCommerce

By Dimsquid Engineering•Published Aug 5, 2026•8 min read

When paid ad campaigns land on your editorial blog at blog.yourbrand.com?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=summer_sale, visitors often read several articles before clicking "Shop Now" to go to your store at shop.yourbrand.com. During internal page navigation, those crucial UTM tags get stripped unless stored and forwarded.

1. How UTM Parameters Get Stripped

When a user clicks internal links within your blog, query parameters present on the initial landing URL are not automatically attached to subsequent internal page URLs. When the visitor finally reaches the WooCommerce checkout button, the original utm_source and utm_campaign tags are gone.

2. SessionStorage Persistence Engine

To maintain attribution across internal pages, GA4 Linker stores incoming campaign parameters in browser sessionStorage. When an outbound click to WooCommerce occurs, the plugin appends stored UTM parameters onto the destination checkout URL automatically.

⚡ Pro Feature

3. Pro Plan: WooCommerce Subdomain UTM Persistence

GA4 Linker Pro Plan includes UTM persistence and WooCommerce subdomain link decoration for multi-site setups.

Get Pro Plan ($149/yr) →