Google Analytics 4 & Linkly

Linkly can fire Google Analytics 4 tracking tags when users click on a link.

Clicks are recorded as pageview events in Google Analytics. The URLs of the clicks will be present in GA as the slug of the link. So for example, for the link:

https://l.linklyhq.com/l/1puEb

you’ll see a pageview at /l/1puEb recorded in Google Analytics.

Firing Google Analytics 4 tags necessarily slows down redirects by 0.5 seconds, as we need to show a blank page momentarily in order to fire the tags.

If you’re already using Linkly with Google Tag Manager, its likely you’re already set up for tracking with GA4, and additional tags are not required.

Using Google Analytics 4 Tags with Linkly

Part 1 - Get your Google Measurement ID

If you already have this, skip to Part 2 below.

  1. Enter Google Analytics 4, and then click the ‘Admin’ cog in the bottom left hand corner.

  2. Under Property, select Data Streams.

  3. If you have a Data Stream, select it, or otherwise, create a new one.

  4. Inside the Data Stream, copy your measurement ID. We’ll need to paste this into Linkly for Part 2.

Select & copy your Google Measurement ID from Google Analytics 4

Part 2 - Use your Measurement ID with Linkly

  1. Create a New Link.

  2. Under Options, select Google Analytics.

  3. Paste your Measurement ID into the Google Tag ID (GA4) box.

  4. Save the link. Now, when users click on this link, the appropriate measurement tag will fire a pageview event.

Select Google Analytics from the options, and paste in your measurement ID.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use my own domain?

Yes, you can create branded shortlinks on your own domain with Linkly, and track the results in Google Analytics.

Why are the numbers in Google Analytics different to those presented in Linkly?

Filter for robots and unique clicks in your reports to get a number close to Google Analytics.

Linkly records significantly more data than Google Analytics, including non-human clicks.

Linkly can do this because of server-side tracking, unlike Google Analytics, which relies on the browser (and the user’s local privacy settings) to inform Google of a page view.

Why are my redirects slower?

Using Google Analytics necessarily slows down redirects while we fire the tracking tags. If you remove the Google Analytics Measurement ID, redirection will be instantaneous.