How to Track Outbound Affiliate Link Clicks in Google Analytics 4

If you're using affiliate marketing to grow your online business, one of the key performance indicators you need to track is how many people are clicking on your affiliate links. Understanding which links are getting the most engagement allows you to optimize your content and focus on what works best. Fortunately, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) provides robust tools for tracking outbound link clicks, including affiliate links, so you don’t need third-party tools to see what's driving traffic.

In this guide, I'll walk you through how to track outbound affiliate link clicks in GA4 using Enhanced Measurement and custom Explorations. Plus, I’ll share a simple alternative using LinkTracker, a centralized platform for shortening and tracking links.

Step 1: Enable Enhanced Measurement for Automatic Outbound Link Tracking

Google Analytics 4 has an automatic feature called Enhanced Measurement, which makes tracking outbound links (like affiliate links) incredibly simple. With this setting enabled, you don’t need to manually tag links or configure Google Tag Manager.

Here’s how to ensure Enhanced Measurement is enabled:

1. Go to Admin in your GA4 account.
2. Under Property, select Data Streams, then click on your Web data stream.
3. In the Enhanced Measurement section, ensure that Outbound clicks is toggled on.

This enables GA4 to automatically track clicks on links that lead users away from your site, including any affiliate links you share.

Step 2: Create a Custom Exploration to View Outbound Link Clicks

While outbound clicks are tracked automatically, the default reports might not show you the exact URLs that users are clicking. To track the specific affiliate links that are being clicked, we’ll create a custom Exploration.

Here’s how to set up your exploration:

1. Open Explore in GA4: On the left-hand menu, click Explore to start creating a custom report.
2. Set Up Your Exploration:Click Blank to create a new exploration and give it a descriptive name, like “Outbound Link Clicks.”In the Variables section on the left, click + to add dimensions and metrics.Add Link URL (this will show which links were clicked) and Event Name as dimensions.Add Event Count as the metric (this will show how many times each link was clicked).
3. Configure Rows and Values:In the Rows section, drag Link URL to populate the list of URLs clicked.In the Values section, drag Event Count to display the number of clicks for each link.
4. Apply Filters:Under Filters, set a filter so that Event Name exactly matches "click". This ensures you’re only tracking outbound link clicks and not other types of engagement.
5. Run the Exploration:Once configured, refresh the exploration to view the data (if it does not update automatically). You’ll now see a list of all the external links (affiliate links) clicked and how many times each was clicked.

This report will give you the specific data on which outbound affiliate links are receiving the most attention from your users.

Step 3: Access and Monitor Your Report

Once you’ve set up this custom exploration, you can easily access it from the Explore tab in GA4 anytime you need to review performance. This gives you an ongoing way to track outbound clicks without needing to configure new reports every time.

To test the setup or verify real-time clicks, you can also use DebugView in GA4:

• Navigate to Admin > DebugView.
• Click on outbound links on your site, and watch the click events come through in real time with details like the link_url parameter.

Bonus: Use Event-Based Goals for Affiliate Clicks

If clicks on certain affiliate links are critical to your business goals, you can set up event-based conversions in GA4. For example:

1. Create a custom event for clicks on your most important affiliate links using the link_url parameter.
2. Mark this event as a conversion in GA4, so you can track it as part of your conversion goals.

This will help you track how many clicks on specific affiliate links contribute to your overall marketing objectives.

An Easier Alternative: Track Affiliate Links with LinkTracker

If you’d rather not configure Google Analytics, or if you’re using a different web analytics platform, LinkTracker offers a hassle-free solution. With LinkTracker (currently in beta), you can shorten your affiliate links and track their performance across multiple platforms in one centralized dashboard. This tool allows you to monitor clicks, performance data, and easily manage all your links without needing to log into multiple systems or configure advanced analytics. It’s a simple and effective way to keep track of your affiliate marketing efforts, especially for those who prefer an all-in-one tool.

Final Thoughts

Tracking outbound affiliate link clicks is crucial for optimizing your affiliate marketing strategy. Whether you choose to use Google Analytics 4 or a simpler tool like LinkTracker, gaining visibility into how users engage with your affiliate links will help you focus on what works.

With the powerful tools offered by GA4, including Enhanced Measurement and Explorations, you can track and analyze affiliate link performance without needing any extra plugins or third-party software. For those who prefer a more streamlined approach, LinkTracker provides an easy-to-use solution for tracking affiliate links across multiple platforms.