This article covers a free link tracking service with link cloaking and UTM tags integration. Linkly is a click tracking service that lets you create shortened links and track their clicks. This service packs the benefits of click tracking and link shortening in a single package. You can simply paste your link to it and create shorten links with location and device targeting. It supports custom domain with re-targeting, tracking pixels, automatic link replacements, link cloaking, and UTM tags integration. Here, I’ll focus on the link cloaking and UTM tags integration features only.
Link cloaking is a method used to make a long affiliate URL into an unaffiliated short link. A cloaked link hides the original URL in the address bar and shows the short link only. It is pretty common in the sales and marketing sector.
UTM tags are used to track the traffic for an ad campaign. If you Google Analytics, you integrate your campaign UTM tags to the URL and track the traffic in Google Analytics.
With the free plan of Linkly, you can get a maximum of 2,000 clicks per months on your links along with all the link shortening and tracking features. You can extend the clicks limits by buying additional clicks starting at $29 per 25,000 clicks.
Also read: Free URL Shortening Services That Let You Change The Destination Link
Free Click Tracking Service with Link Cloaking, UTM Tags Integration
To use Linkly to create short click tracking links, you obviously have to sign up first. You can sign up with your Google account or create a new account with your email address.
The dashboard of this service has a navigation panel on the left from where you can jump to the list of your existing links, link traffic section, and settings. At the top, it has an option to create a new link. This option opens a page where you can enter your affiliated long URL along with an optional nickname.
Below that, you get a list of options covering all the feature of this service starting with targeting. In this option list, you can find the link cloaking and UTM tags integration feature at 4th and 5th position respectively.
The link cloaking option has a simple checkbox. If you want to cloak your link, all you have to do is mark that checkbox. And the UTM tags option expands a list of fields where you can enter your Google Analytics information for integration. The Source, Medium, and Campaign Name field are compulsory for UTM tags integration. After filling all the compulsory options, click the “Save Link” button to generate the link.
Here is a preview of the link cloaking. To demo link cloaking, I used an article link from our website. As you can see in the screenshot attached above, it hides the original link and kept the short link in the URL even after the page is fully loaded.
Cloak short links and integrate UTM tags here.
Wrap Up
Linkly is a comprehensive link shortening that packs all the link shortening, targeting, and tracking features in a single package. It provides analytics on all your links covering total clicks, country, destination, and platform data. And the UTM integration feature brings all the data directly to your Google Analytics.
