Link tracking with short links
Link tracking replaces the links in your message with short links on addr.au. Each recipient gets their own link, so a click can be matched back to the individual message rather than counted as an anonymous visit. The recipient taps the link and lands on your page as normal.
Turning it on
When you type or paste a link into a message on the Send Messages page, a Shorten and track links checkbox appears under the character counter. Tick it and the counter updates to the shortened length, with a line telling you what each link costs before and after. The setting is remembered for your next message.
Link tracking becomes available after your first credit purchase. Until then the checkbox appears but cannot be ticked.
What it does to your character count
Short links are a fixed length, so the count is predictable no matter how long your original link is.
- The first link becomes 22 characters, in the form
https://addr.au/XXXXXX - A second and third link become 23 characters each, in the form
https://addr.au/XXXXXX2andhttps://addr.au/XXXXXX3
Credits are charged on the shortened message, so a long link usually costs you fewer characters than writing it out in full. A very short link can cost you a few characters more.
You can shorten up to 3 different links in one message. A link that has a personalisation tag inside it, such as {first_name}, cannot be shortened, because it points somewhere different for every recipient.
How long the links last
Short links keep working for 90 days from the day the message is sent. After that they stop resolving and the recipient sees a page telling them the link is no longer available. Keep this in mind if you are sending something people may come back to months later.
Where the results appear
Click results show up on the Performance page.
- The Bulk Send History table gains a Clicks column, showing how many recipients clicked and what share of delivered messages that is. A send that went out without link tracking shows a dash.
- Opening a send adds a Click Rate card, with the number of recipients who clicked, the total number of clicks, and the number of automated clicks that were left out.
- The list of individual messages gains a Clicked column, so you can see exactly which recipients clicked and when.
- Export CSV on the send report downloads the whole recipient list with the click details included.
Link scanners built into carrier and inbox security products fetch links automatically as soon as a message is delivered. Those hits are identified and excluded from the click figures, so your click rate reflects people rather than software.
Using it through the API
The API has the same feature through the shorten_urls flag on /v1/messages and /v1/list-send, and click results can be read back with GET /v1/link-tracking. You can also set a default for your account so integrations that cannot send the flag still get tracked links. See the API documentation for the request and response details.
To set that account default, go to Settings > API and turn on Shorten links and track clicks on API sends under Link Tracking. It applies only when a request leaves the shorten_urls flag out, so a request that sends the flag always gets what it asked for.