How to Track Outgoing Link Clicks on Your Website (2026)

Want to know which links on your site people actually click? To track outgoing link clicks today, you turn on outbound click tracking in your analytics tool (Google Analytics 4, Plausible or Matomo) or route important links through a click-counting short link. This guide shows each method, step by step, and how to read the results.

Quick answer: In Google Analytics 4, outbound clicks are tracked automatically when Enhanced measurement is on. Every click to another domain is logged as a click event with the link URL. Register link_url as a custom dimension to see exactly which links were clicked. Plausible and Matomo can track outbound links with one setting, and a link-shortener plugin such as Pretty Links counts clicks on the links you choose.

Why track outgoing link clicks?

You already know how visitors arrive. Outgoing clicks tell you where you send them, which is just as useful:

• Find your most useful recommendations. If readers keep clicking one tool in a list, move it to the top or write a full guide about it.
• Measure affiliate and partner links. See which product links get clicks before the merchant’s report even updates.
• Spot leaks. A link that pulls readers away from your key page early may belong lower down, or open in a new tab.
• Fix dead ends. Popular outbound links to dead sites are worth replacing first.

Back in 2005 we used a small script called MyBlogLog for this. Yahoo bought the service and closed it in 2011, but the idea is now built into every modern analytics tool.

Method 1: Track outgoing link clicks in Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 tracks outbound clicks for free through Enhanced measurement, with no extra code.

Step 1: Check that Enhanced measurement is on

1. Open GA4 and go to Admin > Data collection and modification > Data streams.
2. Click your web stream and look at Enhanced measurement.
3. Click the gear icon and make sure Outbound clicks is switched on.

From now on, each click to a different domain sends a click event with parameters such as link_url, link_domain and outbound (set to true).

Step 2: Register the link URL as a custom dimension

The standard Events report only shows that clicks happened. To see which links, register the parameter:

1. Go to Admin > Data display > Custom definitions.
2. Click Create custom dimension, name it “Link URL”, set the scope to Event and the event parameter to link_url.
3. Repeat for link_domain if you want a per-site summary.

Custom dimensions only collect data from the day you create them, so set this up early.

Step 3: Read the report

• Quick view: Reports > Engagement > Events, then click the click event.
• Full list of links: open Explore, start a Free form exploration, add the “Link URL” dimension and the Event count metric, and filter by event name = click.
• Add Page path as a second dimension to see which of your pages sent each click.

For links that stay on your own domain (such as a download button), Enhanced measurement won’t fire. Use a Google Tag Manager “Just Links” trigger for those.

Method 2: Privacy-friendly analytics (Plausible, Matomo, Fathom)

If you’d rather not use Google Analytics, lighter tools track outbound links with a single setting:

• Plausible: in your site settings, turn on the Outbound links toggle. Clicks appear under the “Outbound Link: Click” goal, with the URL for each.
• Matomo: tracks outbound links automatically. Look under Behaviour > Outlinks.
• Fathom Analytics: supports outbound link tracking through events. See its help pages for the current setup.

These tools are cookie-free by default, so they usually don’t need a cookie banner. That makes them popular with small blogs.

Method 3: Count clicks with short links

For a handful of important links, such as affiliate links or a link in a newsletter, a short link is the simplest tracker. Every visitor passes through your redirect, so every click is counted:

• Pretty Links (WordPress plugin): creates links like yoursite.com/go/product and counts clicks. We use it on QuickOnlineTips for affiliate links.
• Bitly: hosted short links with click charts, handy for social posts and email.

Mark affiliate short links with rel="sponsored nofollow". Our guide to nofollow links explains when to use each attribute.

Method 4: WordPress plugins

On WordPress, plugins such as Site Kit by Google or MonsterInsights connect GA4 and show link reports inside your dashboard. See our list of ways to manage outbound links in WordPress for plugins that also add nofollow or new-tab rules.

What to do with the data

• Promote what gets clicked. Move popular tools higher, and turn them into in-depth posts.
• Prune what doesn’t. Links nobody clicks in a long list add clutter.
• Check for broken destinations. High-click links to dead pages hurt trust. Our guide on finding bad links on your website helps clean them up.
• Compare pages. Pages with many outbound clicks per visit may need stronger internal links to keep readers on your site.

FAQ

Does Google Analytics track outbound links automatically?

Yes. GA4 tracks clicks to other domains automatically when the Outbound clicks option in Enhanced measurement is on. To see the exact URLs, register link_url as an event-scoped custom dimension.

Why don’t I see link URLs in my GA4 reports?

The link_url parameter isn’t shown in standard reports until you register it as a custom dimension. Data appears only from the day you create the dimension, so older clicks can’t be broken down.

Can I track outgoing link clicks without Google Analytics?

Yes. Plausible and Matomo both track outbound links, and short-link tools like Pretty Links or Bitly count clicks on individual links without any analytics script.

What happened to MyBlogLog?

MyBlogLog was a 2005 service that tracked outgoing clicks and built reader communities for blogs. Yahoo acquired it in 2007 and shut it down in 2011. GA4, Plausible and Matomo now do the click tracking part for free.