{"id":228,"date":"2005-05-14T13:44:00","date_gmt":"2005-05-14T08:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/14\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T20:12:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T14:42:42","slug":"mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Track Outgoing Link Clicks on Your Website (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Want to know which links on your site people actually click? To <strong>track outgoing link clicks<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-66533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/track-outgoing-link-clicks.webp\" alt=\"How to track outgoing link clicks on your website\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/track-outgoing-link-clicks.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/track-outgoing-link-clicks-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/track-outgoing-link-clicks-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/track-outgoing-link-clicks-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/track-outgoing-link-clicks-768x403.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> In Google Analytics 4, outbound clicks are tracked automatically when Enhanced measurement is on. Every click to another domain is logged as a <em>click<\/em> event with the link URL. Register <em>link_url<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6acfaf0480bc9\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6acfaf0480bc9\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Why_track_outgoing_link_clicks\" >Why track outgoing link clicks?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Method_1_Track_outgoing_link_clicks_in_Google_Analytics_4\" >Method 1: Track outgoing link clicks in Google Analytics 4<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Step_1_Check_that_Enhanced_measurement_is_on\" >Step 1: Check that Enhanced measurement is on<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Step_2_Register_the_link_URL_as_a_custom_dimension\" >Step 2: Register the link URL as a custom dimension<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Step_3_Read_the_report\" >Step 3: Read the report<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Method_2_Privacy-friendly_analytics_Plausible_Matomo_Fathom\" >Method 2: Privacy-friendly analytics (Plausible, Matomo, Fathom)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Method_3_Count_clicks_with_short_links\" >Method 3: Count clicks with short links<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Method_4_WordPress_plugins\" >Method 4: WordPress plugins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#What_to_do_with_the_data\" >What to do with the data<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Does_Google_Analytics_track_outbound_links_automatically\" >Does Google Analytics track outbound links automatically?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Why_dont_I_see_link_URLs_in_my_GA4_reports\" >Why don&#8217;t I see link URLs in my GA4 reports?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#Can_I_track_outgoing_link_clicks_without_Google_Analytics\" >Can I track outgoing link clicks without Google Analytics?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/mybloglog-tracks-outgoing-links-where-did-your-traffic-go\/#What_happened_to_MyBlogLog\" >What happened to MyBlogLog?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_track_outgoing_link_clicks\"><\/span>Why track outgoing link clicks?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You already know how visitors arrive. Outgoing clicks tell you where you send them, which is just as useful:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Find your most useful recommendations.<\/strong> If readers keep clicking one tool in a list, move it to the top or write a full guide about it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Measure affiliate and partner links.<\/strong> See which product links get clicks before the merchant&#8217;s report even updates.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spot leaks.<\/strong> A link that pulls readers away from your key page early may belong lower down, or open in a new tab.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fix dead ends.<\/strong> Popular outbound links to dead sites are worth replacing first.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Method_1_Track_outgoing_link_clicks_in_Google_Analytics_4\"><\/span>Method 1: Track outgoing link clicks in Google Analytics 4<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/marketingplatform.google.com\/about\/analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Analytics 4<\/a> tracks outbound clicks for free through <em>Enhanced measurement<\/em>, with no extra code.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_1_Check_that_Enhanced_measurement_is_on\"><\/span>Step 1: Check that Enhanced measurement is on<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Open GA4 and go to <strong>Admin &gt; Data collection and modification &gt; Data streams<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Click your web stream and look at <strong>Enhanced measurement<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Click the gear icon and make sure <strong>Outbound clicks<\/strong> is switched on.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>From now on, each click to a different domain sends a <code>click<\/code> event with parameters such as <code>link_url<\/code>, <code>link_domain<\/code> and <code>outbound<\/code> (set to true).<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_2_Register_the_link_URL_as_a_custom_dimension\"><\/span>Step 2: Register the link URL as a custom dimension<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The standard Events report only shows that clicks happened. To see <em>which<\/em> links, register the parameter:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Go to <strong>Admin &gt; Data display &gt; Custom definitions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Create custom dimension<\/strong>, name it &#8220;Link URL&#8221;, set the scope to <strong>Event<\/strong> and the event parameter to <code>link_url<\/code>.<\/li>\n<li>Repeat for <code>link_domain<\/code> if you want a per-site summary.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Custom dimensions only collect data from the day you create them, so set this up early.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_3_Read_the_report\"><\/span>Step 3: Read the report<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Quick view:<\/strong> Reports &gt; Engagement &gt; Events, then click the <code>click<\/code> event.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Full list of links:<\/strong> open <strong>Explore<\/strong>, start a Free form exploration, add the &#8220;Link URL&#8221; dimension and the <em>Event count<\/em> metric, and filter by event name = click.<\/li>\n<li>Add <strong>Page path<\/strong> as a second dimension to see which of your pages sent each click.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For links that stay on your own domain (such as a download button), Enhanced measurement won&#8217;t fire. Use a <a href=\"https:\/\/tagmanager.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Tag Manager<\/a> &#8220;Just Links&#8221; trigger for those.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Method_2_Privacy-friendly_analytics_Plausible_Matomo_Fathom\"><\/span>Method 2: Privacy-friendly analytics (Plausible, Matomo, Fathom)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;d rather not use Google Analytics, lighter tools track outbound links with a single setting:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/plausible.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Plausible<\/a>:<\/strong> in your site settings, turn on the <em>Outbound links<\/em> toggle. Clicks appear under the &#8220;Outbound Link: Click&#8221; goal, with the URL for each.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/matomo.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Matomo<\/a>:<\/strong> tracks outbound links automatically. Look under <em>Behaviour &gt; Outlinks<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/usefathom.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fathom Analytics<\/a>:<\/strong> supports outbound link tracking through events. See its help pages for the current setup.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These tools are cookie-free by default, so they usually don&#8217;t need a cookie banner. That makes them popular with small blogs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Method_3_Count_clicks_with_short_links\"><\/span>Method 3: Count clicks with short links<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/prettylinks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pretty Links<\/a><\/strong> (WordPress plugin): creates links like <em>yoursite.com\/go\/product<\/em> and counts clicks. We use it on QuickOnlineTips for affiliate links.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bitly.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bitly<\/a><\/strong>: hosted short links with click charts, handy for social posts and email.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mark affiliate short links with <code>rel=\"sponsored nofollow\"<\/code>. Our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2020\/04\/nofollow-links\/\">nofollow links<\/a> explains when to use each attribute.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Method_4_WordPress_plugins\"><\/span>Method 4: WordPress plugins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>On WordPress, plugins such as <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/google-site-kit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Site Kit by Google<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsterinsights.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MonsterInsights<\/a> connect GA4 and show link reports inside your dashboard. See our list of ways to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/03\/manage-outbound-links-wordpress\/\">manage outbound links in WordPress<\/a> for plugins that also add nofollow or new-tab rules.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_do_with_the_data\"><\/span>What to do with the data<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Promote what gets clicked.<\/strong> Move popular tools higher, and turn them into in-depth posts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prune what doesn&#8217;t.<\/strong> Links nobody clicks in a long list add clutter.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check for broken destinations.<\/strong> High-click links to dead pages hurt trust. Our guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/11\/find-bad-malware-links\/\">finding bad links on your website<\/a> helps clean them up.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Compare pages.<\/strong> Pages with many outbound clicks per visit may need stronger internal links to keep readers on your site.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Google_Analytics_track_outbound_links_automatically\"><\/span>Does Google Analytics track outbound links automatically?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. GA4 tracks clicks to other domains automatically when the Outbound clicks option in Enhanced measurement is on. To see the exact URLs, register <code>link_url<\/code> as an event-scoped custom dimension.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_dont_I_see_link_URLs_in_my_GA4_reports\"><\/span>Why don&#8217;t I see link URLs in my GA4 reports?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The <code>link_url<\/code> parameter isn&#8217;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&#8217;t be broken down.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_track_outgoing_link_clicks_without_Google_Analytics\"><\/span>Can I track outgoing link clicks without Google Analytics?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_happened_to_MyBlogLog\"><\/span>What happened to MyBlogLog?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to know which links on your site people actually click? To track outgoing link clicks today, you turn on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":66533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66534,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions\/66534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}