Outbound / External Link Tracking with Google Tag Manager

Where do your Users drop off your page? Perhaps they clicked an outbound Link which led them to another Website, but also away from yours. Today I will teach you how to track this with the help of Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. We will install the tracking with GTM and the built-in gtm.linkClick Trigger. This is very comfortable because Google Tag Manager provides us with a built-in Auto-Event Tracking functionality which allows us to register the outbound Link Click without having to deploy any code onto our Web Page. Check it out and subscribe if you like :-)
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[@LorynThompson]

Your tactic of using the preview mode to figure out how you should set up the filters just answered my past 2.5 hours of research. Genius! Keep up the good work :)

[@samgerrans2382]

I find your tutorials exceptionally good. Clear. Logical. Professional. Many thanks.

[@MikeOnTheInterwebs]

Great tutorial. I've been trying to learn how to do this forever. This is the only video I've found that actually works. Great job.

[@yanakuneva1898]

I love you man!!!! After reading hundreds of guides, tutorials and watching videos I finally got it right. Thanks for this video.

[@evylpanda]

Hey Julian! Thank you so much for you amazing videos. They have saved me time and time again. Your GTM training content is absolutely the best!

[@MeasureSchool]

thanks. Please subscribe to our channel for more upcoming videos

[@JeremyRHammond]

Great tutorial! Thanks for the exceptional value. You're the best GTM instructor I've found.

[@MeasureSchool]

thanks

[@reviewsbyjenny1232]

your GTM video series is really, really well done. you explain what, why and how very clearly. thanks so much!

[@MeasureSchool]

thanks for the kind words.

[@chrisswere3956]

Your video's are very well done, thank you. You have saved me a lot of time trying to figure this out on my own.

[@CarolineHillDKC]

Really helpful thanks - the tag manager has a few changes since this video was produced but there was enough info in the video to still successfully set up

[@GregoireLandreau]

Hi Julian, You really make super great tutorials! thank you for that! is there any updated version of this tuto? cheers, Greg

[@MeasureSchool]

yes, I just called it different. Check out the LInk Tracking Tutorial

[@maxwaldburg4286]

Hi Julien, I have been following your videos slightly obsessively over the last few weeks. I tried following the steps in this video many times - doing the exact same thing over and over - finally it has worked but I don't know why it didn't work before - can you explain this. Its extremely frustrating and to be honest I am loosing a little bit of faith in the GTM tool altogether... I would really appreciate you shedding some light on this. Keep up the good work.

[@dotkumo]

Thanks Julian. This is a great tutorial and really helpful.

[@bholaprasad26]

Hi Julian, You totally rocks. I learned a lot from you about GTM. But one thing I can't able to understand. Why does the event category in your video is showing "Outbound Link Click" and also "Outbound Link"? you choose category as " Outbound link" but it also showing "Outbound Link clicks" in the category section of the event report. Where does it come from? It feels a little bit confusing. Hope you have a great day Julian.

[@MeasureSchool]

it might be something I've tested previously

[@wakusomawakusoma7150]

Yaappp!.. this is what i was looking for. Well explained tutorial... Thanks.

[@MeasureSchool]

glad you liked the video. Please subscribe to get more of these.

[@PeaceRallyOrg]

Things seem to have changed in the tag manager. I'm not seeing the same variable page. Do we still need to worry about this step?

[@MeasureSchool]

yes, but the just the interface changed, the buttons and functions are all still there

[@susancorgi]

Wow, the best tutorial. Now I know much more. Thanks

[@tuan9883]

can you explaine when you use All Element (Click) and when you use Just Link (Link Click) in Trigger. I realize that with tracking a same outbound link, I choose All Element (instead of Just Link), the tag fired and tag assistant is showing green for GA but I don't see any events in real time in GA (same as Marek P). I then switch to Just Link and do the same as you do => events are showed in real time. Any idea???

[@samueltolmanmills]

Anyone know why my tag would fire on "mailto" links but not simply links to other domains?

[@vladimircuk9488]

Hi Julian. Did you ever have problems, where on test version set up of outbound or social media buttons event tracking, working like a charm, but when brought it on the live version of the website, trigger fires abnormally?

[@MeasureSchool]

yes, but there is not one solution - you need to debug your installation

[@contumancia]

Many thanks man! Works great!

[@thefryingpan951]

what do i do when google tag manager says: Could not connect to the Tag Assistant window

[@MeasureSchool]

I clear my cache and try again

[@prashantrandadath1708]

Hi @measureshool How to get the clicked page's title? {{Click Title}} is not working.

[@MeasureSchool]

depends on your website

[@Firmanp95]

I love u so much, thx for the tutorial

[@celsiustan4144]

Awesome Vids Julian.

[@andersk.4212]

Hi Julian Thank you for a great video. I have a question. When I use preview and debug mode, when I click on a outbound link, it fires 2 times? How come it does that?

[@MeasureSchool]

the tag fires 2 times?

[@andersk.4212]

Yes. When i click one time, it fires twice.

[@markwillis1045]

I'm so stuck with making the event appear in Analytics. As far as I can see I've done it right, but it's not working. I cannot find an updated version of this anywhere. :-/ EDIT: I managed to sort it! There are a few changes to the GTM interface which got a little confusing, but it's all there. Really great video, I may make an updated version myself now! :-)

[@4rjohny5]

did u make an updated version, i'm confused by new interface haha

[@CesarTaveras]

Hi, If I am using a button in my website instead of a link (I believe the button is a php command) How can I set up this event in Google tag manager? I followed your tutorial but I don't think is working for my button event. Thanks,

[@MeasureSchool]

you could follow our button click tracking video and see if it works kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5Ktant-q7CYgpo

[@MarkWorden]

Have followed the instructions above but it's firing twice every time a link is clicked - what could be causing this? Thanks, Mark

[@MeasureSchool]

+Mark Worden do you have two triggers attached to the tag?

[@MarkWorden]

+GTM Training Hi, I've only got one tag and one trigger set up on the account? Everything else is working fine - only firing on external links - is just firing twice on all of those though - have followed the instructions through....? Any help much appreciated! :-)

[@MeasureSchool]

+Mark Worden do you have any google analytics code deployed on your page other than Google Tag Manager?

[@MarkWorden]

+GTM Training They did have a GA plugin running on wordpress but disabled that and still getting two triggers for each click?

[@MeasureSchool]

+Mark Worden if you trigger the event in the preview & debug mode do you see two events in the left side panel?

[@soumadipghosh838]

I configured outbound links tracking event in Google analytics through Google tag manager for one of my client's website to do data analysis. Last day suddenly I found some outbound traffic with the name of "JavaScript:void(0)" and "undefined" recorded in event section by Google analytics. What are these two terms means actually. Is that an error, shall I need to fix it? Or any thing else? please help me to understand that matter.

[@MeasureSchool]

probably clicks that trigger a JavaScript action and not a link that leads to another website. you could filter them out by adjusting your trigger.

[@patrikbindea2298]

Hi, this tutorial also applies to wordpress built sites, right?

[@MeasureSchool]

+Patrik Bindea correct, yes

[@yiannistsou]

Although the GTM interface has slightly changed since the time this video was published you can easily follow the instructions on this really great tutorial. I have an issue with character encoding, event label on Google Analytics report returns not encoded Greek characters such us /%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%81%CF%8E%CE%BD%CE%B7/ instead of /κορώνη/ which is the correct page path. When i preview my website with GTM i see the same, so i guess its not an issue with the tutorial but a GTM limitation with characters other than Greek, which could be kind of strange on the other hand... Does anyone else with non English characters on website's URL has the same problem?

[@MeasureSchool]

see if there is a javascript way to encode the words so it is sent to GA correctly

[@Caio-jn1st]

Great content

[@heywood0808]

Tag Manager has changed alot since this post. I can't seem to find a way to select "click url" in the "fire on" section. The only option is "element url" and a few others then "custom" when I click custom I still can't find the click url. Thoughts?

[@michaeldolphin7922]

Hey Chris I was stuck on this too, go to the "variables" section, click "configure" and tick all the variables you need, including click URL Then go back to your trigger and update it

[@RobTicho]

Thanks @michael!

[@mounabalghouthi5869]

The results in GA are always Aggregated, is there a way to track referrals on an Individual level like in affiliate marketing programs ? Does GA 360 include this ? Thank you.

[@MeasureSchool]

Yes, if you split it up by ClientID (you would need to send it as a custom dimension). GA 360 also doesn't show you that data by default (and cost $150k/year)

[@mounabalghouthi5869]

Yes it is expansive ... Thank you for the information !

[@Sumonhossain-qg1qk]

help me skype. joker adds mrdia

[@kalaganov5]

Спасибо, Разобрался!

[@attaphonhomchuen2676]

Hi

[@scottdorrofield3789]

Yes, this is outdated by now.

[@Princebhalani]

Hi, It's really great tutorial video series, I have one small query how to avoid tracking javascript from event action?? While I am placing External Link Tracking it's tracking everything I want to setup some URL which are external but don't want to track them. I want to track only selected external links. See screenshot: i68.tinypic.com/285tl1.jpg Waiting for your reply :) Thanks, Prince

[@MeasureSchool]

+Prince bhalani you can add a condition to your trigger {{URL}} does not contain javascript

[@Princebhalani]

I have setup goal using different way so instead of tracking as event, Now I am tracking as final goal and working smoothly. Thanks for your reply :)

[@RaffaelSchulz]

Again one of your great, great videos!

[@AidanChinSungLing]

Can I know how to find the event console (@4:42)? Thanks

[@Traders_Paradigm]

Easy to follow. Perfect information. No messing around. Great job Man!!!!!!

[@BernieDisantis]

Thank you very much! Best walk-through tutorial I have seen for setting up outbound link tracking! Even though the Google Tag Manager interface has changed, I was still able to accomplish this! Thank you again!!!

[@MeasureSchool]

great to hear

[@heywood0808]

Could you state the changes. I can't seem to find "click url" in the firing section

[@heavenisforeternity155]

You are the Smartest Dude around the block brethren. I am a newbie; but learning very fast. I just opened a wordpress website and the SEO rating was immediately 66 percent unpon publishing. I checked the Links and I saw I had an astonishing 17 Outbound link. But the Only Outbound link I am aware of is the Link to my facebook page. So I am wondering where the other 16 outbound links comes from. How can I find their location from the dashboard and delete them from my website to prevent been bound from Google. The website is just a week old. I have tried getting pluggins to prevent further outbound linking; but cannot figure out how to remove the outbound links. Thanks !

[@MeasureSchool]

+Heaven Is For Eternity sorry, can't help you here.

[@darc1n]

This is not the best solution, because if you have some outbound link like an ad, with some get parameters which must contain your URL, then this method fires. Better practice if you have such outbound links to change trigger's Click URL fire operator to "does not start with" and the value field to your full URL, e.g. "example.com". Just make sure you use either with or without "www.".

[@MeasureSchool]

+darc1n jup, another way to do it.

[@claudiacancelieri4402]

Hi, I would like to track a link, but this link is a system that is set up on the webpage. This system allows people to schedule classes. Can I even track it? I'm trying, but it's not working. Nothing has been fired...

[@MeasureSchool]

if the system is a website and you have full control over the code, then yes, you should be able to track it.

[@АлексейВоробьёв-щ8ф4ю]

Thank you! Your method works fine. Don't you know why the variable {{Page Hostname}} does not work instead of specifying custom domain directly in condition? It seems it contains the same value as the domain, but it did not work (

[@MrBirns8]

Thanks so much for these videos. oddly these events display on Events (Last 30 min) in Google Analytics but do not display in behavior. Can't quite seem to solve this for myself

[@somilagrawal4976]

Excellent tips helpful even for beginners like me who have no background of working with such tools!!

[@michellehogarth9270]

Thanks for this Julian! I'd been struggling to get this to work and your video just saved me :)

[@Dwavard]

Another brilliant Tag manager tutorial :-) Just followed this tutorial, it all works!

[@errorerror1337]

This video is absolutely priceless. Thank you so much for this walkthrough!

[@Realciderreviews]

Are you using chrome to see that debug tag manager? i cant see that in firefox

[@sambekub]

It show on tags fired on this event but not show on real time event.How to do it?

[@9868john]

Is there a way to track clicks on a specific page?

[@MeasureSchool]

yes, one trigger with two filters

[@sallysaid9459]

does this apply for banner ads?

[@MeasureSchool]

no

[@prasanthdhanu5145]

Hi sir, If we add outbound link tracking on GTM means how do we find the information on Google analytics i e. in google analytics where we can saw the gtm tracking results?

[@MeasureSchool]

in the behaviour > event report

[@prasanthdhanu5145]

hi sir I have followed all the instruction as you said but the outbound link trigger is not working remaining everything is excellent

[@prasanthdhanu5145]

not working means it is not firing

[@davidcourt3816]

Great video. Thank you

[@HeatherBroster]

Hi Julian, thanks for the video. While I managed to get outbound link tracking to work, GA displays about half of the Event Actions as "undefined". Do you know why this might be?

[@MeasureSchool]

it seems your Variables that you have set in your Event Action is undefined when the user clicks the link. Might be a wrongly chosen variable or a link that doesn't transport the information. Try to recreate and investigate the problem

[@HeatherBroster]

It looks like our cookie pop-up might be the culprit. Thanks for your help!

[@ChloeDing]

does this tracking help an external link opens up a new window? Since the link opens up a new window, technically the visitor hasn't left our website, right? Will this tracking still work in situation like that?

[@MeasureSchool]

yes, because the actual click is measured.

[@slidebirdwebstories8635]

hey nice tutorial... is it possible to import the tracking also in adwords like you did it in analytivs?

[@MeasureSchool]

Yes, you could turn that event into a Conversion point

[@slidebirdwebstories8635]

ok worked so far... tag and trigger does show up in the preview mode but all of my click variables are not showing up... so the trigger is not firing... but i dont know why... i set the trigger to "page path" and "contains" and "domainname"