This article addresses some frequently asked questions about tracking clicks and links.

Frequently Asked Questions About Clicks

Why aren't my clicks showing up on the click map?

There are several common reasons why a click might not show up on the click map.

1. If the initial hyperlink was coded using an HTML block and has a title= attribute, it won't display on the click map. However, it will still be recorded in the list and tabs.
2. If the link was coded using an HTML block and doesn't have alt text, it won't display.
3. If the link has a similar link name, or if it has the same URL as another link in the mailing, the click map may show those link clicks on the first instance of that link in the mailing. This creates a "bulls-eye" or layered look with the click map circles.

How do I interpret the click data in a mailing's response?

There can be confusion around the difference between unique link clicks and unique mailing clicks found in a mailing's response data, so we’ll define them for you here. One thing that is important to keep in mind is that when you send a mailing as both HTML and plaintext, the links are reported for each separate instance of that URL in the response data.

Click-to-Open Rate

Also known as "unique clicks on a mailing", this refers to when a contact has opened a mailing and clicked on any link in that mailing. For example, if your mailing has three links and a recipient clicks once on all three links, that would count as one unique mailing click.

☑	Tip
	When you see data reporting on "unique clicks", it is referring to unique clicks on a mailing.

 

Unique Clicks on a Link

This refers to when a contact has clicked one particular link in the mailing. In the example above, if the contact clicks Link 1 once, Link 2 three times, and Link 3 seven times, that counts as three unique link clicks.

Total Clicks on a Link

This refers to the total number of times a contact has clicked on the links in the mailing. In the example above, the contact would show a total of one click for Link 1, three clicks for Link 2, and seven clicks for Link 3, for a grand total of eleven clicks.

My mailing has an unusually high number of clicks, what's going on?

You may be experiencing something called server sniffing. For more information about this subject, please refer to our article about server sniffing. For more information about identifying non-human interactions in your response data, please refer to our response data overview.

Why are there links labeled [Outlook button] in my Clicks tab?

The Clicks tab in a mailing's response, shows clicks on buttons separately when clicked by a contact in Outlook on a Windows device. This is caused by the way that Outlook on Windows responds to our link redirects, which is how we track clicks. Because of this, in the Clicks tab, you may see three entries for one button: one for the plaintext version, one for the HTML version, and one for Outlook buttons. These three entries are combined on the Overview page, but separated on the Clicks page to allow for more granular review.

✎	Note
	Don't forget to label your links and use alt text when building your campaign! This not only makes your campaign more accessible, it also makes it easier to tell links apart in the Clicks tab.

Frequently Asked Questions About Link Tracking

Are hyperlinks always trackable?

No, hyperlinks can only be tracked in certain circumstances. You can find more information about link tracking in our article about creating links in the drag and drop editor or in our article about creating links in the legacy* editor.

Hyperlinks in your Emma campaigns are trackable because the links are routed through our server on their way to their final destination, allowing us to record the click. The process happens very quickly and is virtually invisible to the person clicking the link. However, there are a few scenarios when links within Emma are not trackable, as explained in the next question.

When are links not trackable?

Links are not trackable these conditions:

• Regardless of formatting, certain personalization tags do not track at all, such as the tags that create the manage preferences link, opt-out link, signup link, and webview link.
• Personalized URLs (PURLs) that use bracket-percent personalization do not track at all (legacy* editor only)
  • Bracket-percent personalization looks like this: [% member:first_name default="" %]
  • If you want to create a trackable PURL, you must use double bracket tags instead, which looks like this: [[first_name]]
• When the linked text contains personalization tags. For this reason, buttons with personalization also will not track.
• If you are using an image map, links in that image map will not track.

Additional Resources

• How to Compare Mailings
• Mailing Response Data: Exports
• Mailing Response Data: Opens, Clicks, and More
• Mailing Response Data: Overview
• Response Tab: Overview
• Why Does my Email Have so Many Clicks?

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*In April 2022, Emma's legacy editor was replaced with a new drag and drop editor. Accounts that existed prior to this change still have access to the legacy editor through their previously saved templates and campaigns, however new, from-scratch campaigns can only be created in the new drag and drop editor. Accounts that were created after this change only have access to the new drag and drop editor. Please refer to our new editor FAQ article for more information.