Automatic Link Click Tracking

Link tracking is the automatic capture of every outbound link click on your website by the AnyTrack Tracking Tag, generating a unique Click ID that travels with the visitor to third-party destinations. It connects the click to any downstream conversion — affiliate sale, partner checkout, external payment — so revenue attributes back to the original ad even when the conversion happens off-site.

When a visitor clicks an affiliate link, product link, or external checkout URL, AnyTrack fires an OutboundClick event and appends the Click ID to the destination URL. This is what makes server-side affiliate attribution work end-to-end.

Before you begin

The Tracking Tag is installed on your website
You have an active AnyTrack property
Outbound links use standard HTML anchor markup

How Link Tracking Works

The Tracking Tag monitors all links on your page. When a visitor clicks an outbound link:

AnyTrack fires an OutboundClick event
The event is forwarded to all connected ad platforms via Conversion API
AutoTag appends the correct SubID parameter for the destination platform
The Click ID travels with the visitor, enabling server-side conversion matching

No code changes needed — install the Tracking Tag and link tracking runs automatically.

Redirectless Tracking

Traditional affiliate tracking uses redirect URLs that get flagged by Facebook and Google as cloaking. Redirectless tracking eliminates redirects entirely — visitors go straight from your landing page to the offer, while AnyTrack captures full attribution data client-side.

This eliminates click loss from browser blocking, keeps ads compliant, and maintains accurate attribution.

Link Attributes

Add data attributes to your links to pass event data (payout, brand, label) to your analytics and Conversion APIs:

<a href="https://example.com/offer"
   data-payout="2.1"
   data-brand="nike"
   data-label="hero-button"
   data-tracking-group="impact">
  Try It Free
</a>

Attribute	Example	Purpose
`data-payout`	`2.1`	Event value passed to analytics
`data-brand`	`nike`	Brand or product name
`data-label`	`button`	Label for the element
`data-tracking-group`	`impact`	Appends `atrefid=clickIdValue` to the URL

Server-Side Conversions

Link tracking is the foundation for server-side tracking. When the Click ID travels with the visitor to an affiliate network or external checkout, the platform can return it via webhook or postback — connecting the offline conversion back to the original ad click.

FAQ & Troubleshooting

FAQ was last reviewed on 2026-05-13

Do I need to modify my links for tracking to work?

No. AnyTrack tracks outbound clicks automatically once the Tracking Tag is installed. Link attributes are optional and only needed if you want to pass extra data like payout values or brand names.

Does link tracking work with affiliate redirect plugins?

Yes. If you use plugins like ThirstyAffiliates, AutoScan discovers which affiliate networks the redirected links belong to and tags them automatically.

What is the difference between link tracking and redirectless tracking?

Link tracking captures every outbound click event. Redirectless tracking is a specific method that eliminates redirect URLs from the click path, keeping you compliant with Facebook and Google ad policies while preventing click loss.

How does AnyTrack track clicks on links opened in a new tab?

The Tracking Tag fires the OutboundClick event the moment the user clicks the link, before the new tab opens. This ensures the event is captured even if the visitor closes the original tab immediately after.

Will link tracking slow down my website?

No. The Tracking Tag loads asynchronously and link tracking runs entirely on click events. There is no measurable impact on page load speed or core web vitals.