Affiliate and partner links
See which partners get clicks and which links you can drop or move.
Guide
How to track outbound link clicks without cookies
An outbound link takes a visitor from your website to another one. Knowing which of them get clicked tells you what your audience is interested in and what your partners get from you. This guide shows how to measure it in a privacy-friendly way.
What is outbound link tracking?
Outbound link tracking counts how often visitors click a link that leads to a different domain. A page view tool does not see these clicks, because the visitor leaves your website and the next page view happens elsewhere.
To measure them, a small script listens for clicks on links and records one event with the target domain before the visitor leaves. No profile of the visitor is needed for that.
Why measure outbound clicks?
Content that sends traffic away
Find articles that people use as a stepping stone to other sites.
Proof for sponsors
Show how many visitors you send to a sponsor or a client.
Link maintenance
Links nobody clicks may not be worth keeping, popular ones deserve a better place.
How to track outbound links with Noralytic
It takes one option and no extra tool.
- Open your website settings
Go to the settings of the website and look at the tracking code. - Tick the option
Choose "Clicks on links to other websites". The code gets a data-track attribute. - Copy the code again
Replace the old code on your website with the new one. - Open the events report
Clicks appear as events named "outbound" followed by the target domain, for example "outbound partner.example".
How to read the results
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Which domain gets the most clicks? | Events report, sorted by completions |
| Did a campaign change the clicks? | Choose two periods and compare the same event |
| Is a click rate worth a goal? | Add the event as a goal and watch the conversion rate |
| Which country clicks the most? | Use the filters for the pages and compare |
Good practice
- Remember the subdomain rule. A link from example.com to shop.example.com leaves the domain and counts as outbound.
- Mark sponsored links correctly with rel="sponsored" and keep them identifiable to your readers.
- Compare periods, not single days. Click numbers on small sites move a lot.
- Keep names stable. Events are grouped by the target domain, so one partner stays one line in the report.
Outbound link tracking and privacy
Noralytic records only the target domain. No full address, no cookie and no identifier of the visitor is stored. Because nothing is saved or read on the device, this does not need a consent banner for Noralytic itself.
This is not legal advice. Whether your whole website needs consent depends on all the tools you use.
Frequently asked questions
What is outbound link tracking?
It counts clicks on links that lead from your website to another domain, so you can see which external links your visitors use.
How do I track outbound links without Google Tag Manager?
Use an analytics tool that does it for you. In Noralytic you tick one option under the tracking code and copy the code again.
Does outbound link tracking need cookies?
No. The script records an event with the target domain and does not store anything on the visitor's device.
Can I track affiliate links separately?
Yes. Each target domain is counted on its own, so every affiliate network or shop is one line in the events report.
Do clicks with the middle mouse button count?
Normal clicks and clicks with modifier keys count. Links your code opens with JavaScript are not detected.
Keep reading
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