Your Independent Analytics Pro includes powerful click tracking that lets you monitor which links visitors are clicking on your website—without writing a single line of code. Whether you want to track downloads, affiliate links, email clicks, or any other link, the Click Tracking feature makes it simple.
What is Click Tracking?
Click tracking shows you how often visitors click on specific links across your site. This helps you understand what content resonates with your audience, which calls-to-action are working, and where visitors go when they leave your site.
The Clicks report displays all your tracked links with key metrics like total clicks, unique visitors who clicked, and when clicks occurred. You can filter, sort, and save custom reports just like with other Independent Analytics reports.
Getting to Click Tracking
From your WordPress admin, click Analytics in the sidebar, then click Click Tracking in the top menu. This opens the Click Tracking configuration page where you'll create "link patterns" that tell Independent Analytics which links to track.
Understanding Link Patterns
Link patterns are rules that automatically identify which links to track. Instead of manually tagging every link on your site, you create patterns that match multiple links at once. This makes click tracking incredibly scalable—you can track one link or a thousand links with the same amount of effort.
Independent Analytics Pro includes seven different types of link patterns, each designed for common tracking scenarios.
The Seven Link Pattern Types
1. Track by Class
Add a custom CSS class to any link or button, then tell Independent Analytics to track clicks on that class. This is perfect for tracking specific calls-to-action like "Download Now" buttons or "Get Started" links.
Example: Add the class track-download to your download buttons, then create a link pattern for that class. Now every button with that class is automatically tracked.
2. Track by File Extension
Automatically track downloads of specific file types. You can track PDFs, ZIPs, MP3s, MP4s, CSVs, and over 20 other file extensions.
Example: Enable tracking for .pdf files, and Independent Analytics will automatically count every PDF download across your entire site—no matter where the files are located or how many you have.
3. Track Email and Phone Links
Clicks on mailto: (email), tel: (phone), and sms: (text message) links are automatically tracked. This is great for monitoring lead generation—you can see which pages drive the most contact attempts.
Example: If you have "Contact Us" email links throughout your site, you'll see exactly how many visitors click them and from which pages.
4. Track by Subdirectory
Many affiliate programs redirect links through a specific subdirectory like /go/ or /recommends/. Track all links that include a specific subdirectory to monitor your affiliate link performance.
Example: If your affiliate links use yoursite.com/go/product-name, create a pattern for /go/ and track all affiliate clicks at once.
5. Track by Domain
Track clicks on all links pointing to a specific external domain. This is useful when you frequently link to a particular service or partner and want to measure that traffic.
Example: If you often link to YouTube, track the youtube.com domain to see how many visitors click through to your videos.
6. Track All External Links
Enable this pattern to track every single link that points to an external website. This gives you a comprehensive view of where visitors go when they leave your site.
Note: This can generate a lot of data, so you might prefer to use the domain pattern instead to focus on specific external sites.
7. Track by URL Contains
Create a custom pattern that matches any part of a URL. This is the most flexible option and works for unique tracking scenarios.
Example: Track all links containing discount to see how often promotional links are clicked.
Creating Your First Link Pattern
Here's how to set up click tracking:
- Go to Analytics > Click Tracking in your WordPress dashboard
- Click Add Link Pattern
- Choose the type of pattern (File Extension, Class, Domain, etc.)
- Enter the specific value (like
.pdforyoutube.com) - Give your pattern a friendly name so you can identify it in reports
- Click Save
That's it! Independent Analytics will immediately start tracking clicks on links that match your pattern.
Viewing Your Click Data
Once you've created link patterns, visit Analytics > Clicks to see your click data. The Clicks report shows:
- Link name - The friendly name you gave your pattern
- Total clicks - How many times the link was clicked
- Visitors - How many unique visitors clicked
- Click-through rate - Percentage of visitors who clicked
- Trend chart - Visual representation of clicks over time
You can filter the report by date range, sort by any column, and save custom views just like other Independent Analytics reports.
Common Click Tracking Scenarios
Tracking PDF Downloads
Create a file extension pattern for .pdf to automatically track all PDF downloads site-wide.
Tracking Affiliate Links
Use a subdirectory pattern (like /go/) or add a tracked class to your affiliate links.
Tracking Newsletter Signups
Add a tracked class like track-newsletter to your newsletter subscription buttons.
Tracking Social Media Links
Create domain patterns for facebook.com, twitter.com, linkedin.com, etc.
Tracking Contact Attempts
Email and phone links are automatically tracked, so you can see which pages generate the most leads.
Click Tracking Best Practices
- Start specific - Track your most important links first rather than enabling "all external links" right away
- Use clear names - Give your link patterns descriptive names so reports are easy to understand
- Review regularly - Check your Clicks report weekly to spot trends and opportunities
- Test your patterns - After creating a pattern, click a link that should match it and verify it appears in your report
- Combine with campaigns - Use click tracking alongside campaign tracking for complete marketing attribution
No Performance Impact
Click tracking is designed to be lightweight and won't slow down your site. When a visitor clicks a tracked link, Independent Analytics saves the click data in milliseconds without making database requests. The data syncs with your database once every 60 seconds in the background.
We Can Set This Up For You
Not sure which links to track or how to set up your link patterns? We're happy to configure click tracking based on your specific business goals. We can help you identify the most valuable links to monitor and set up patterns that give you the insights you need.
Want help setting up click tracking? Contact us at support [at] webops [dot] host or submit a support ticket. Our team is available 9am-5pm, 7 days a week (24/7 for emergencies).
Next in this series: Learn how to automatically track form submissions from Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, and 20+ other plugins.
