How to Use JavaScript to Redirect to a New URL

In this blog post, I will guide you through the process of redirecting to a new URL using JavaScript. Specifically, I will address a use case where you want to track the number of people who subscribe to your newsletter as a “goal” in your analytics.

Previously, you may have used Google Analytics, which allows you to set up “funnel goals.” These goals involve visiting specific pages in a specific order. However, if you are now using a different analytics tool like Plausible, you may need to find a workaround.

Here’s the scenario: after users subscribe to your newsletter, they are directed to a page where they can download some content. Since users can potentially save this page or bookmark it for later, simply setting the goal as “visiting this page” won’t suffice. To overcome this, you can implement a JavaScript solution.

To achieve the desired redirection, you can add a JavaScript snippet to the temporary page that users land on after subscribing. The snippet looks like this:

<script>
  setTimeout(() => {
    location.href = "/page";
  }, 2000);
</script>

With this snippet, users will be automatically redirected to the /page URL after a 2-second delay. This ensures that the redirection occurs only after users have had a chance to subscribe successfully.

To provide a fallback option in case JavaScript is disabled or doesn’t work for some reason, you can also include a message on the temporary page like “Redirecting you to the downloads in 2 seconds…” along with a link that users can click if they’re not automatically redirected.

I hope this tutorial helps you solve your redirecting needs using JavaScript. By implementing this technique, you can accurately track the number of newsletter sign-ups as a goal in your analytics tool.

tags: [“JavaScript”, “URL redirection”, “web analytics”, “Plausible”]