Adding tracked links in Woodpecker

Adding links in Woodpecker is pretty easy. When it comes to the tracked links, however, there are some useful rules to follow.

4 rules when adding links to your cold emails:

  • don’t add too many links,

  • don’t expect the link to sell for you,

  • make sure the link works,

  • add a link to your website in the signature.

How it works

When someone clicks on your link, a link-tracking software redirects your recipient to a custom URL, where the tracking takes place ⟶ From there, your prospects are redirected to the destination page, let’s say, YourWebsite.com.


How to add links for safe tracking?

When creating a tracked link make sure you add the link to a piece of text that is not an address itself. Instead of tracking the clicks on YourWebsite.com, track clicks on “Check our website.

Adding a link with Tracking on

1. In the Campaign Editor, place your text cursor or select the part of the text where you wish to put the link.

Highlightning fragment of text to hyperlink it in email editor

2. Click the “Insert/edit link icon.

Arrow pointing to

3. Paste the URL of the site you wish your receivers to get to. Add LINK TEXT to display.

URL with Tracking clicks box check-marked

Always use the ‘Insert/edit link’ button.

This needs to be repeated for every message in the sequence. Simply copying and pasting a tracked link from another message in the sequence or another campaign will result in a broken link.


4. Check the “Track links” checkbox, and click ADD to apply.

An active link in email editor

5. Save & send your campaign. Now you can observe your click rate in the campaign stats.

Click rate in the general stats of a campaign

Stay safe with Woodpecker

We added SSL to our link tracking mechanism in Woodpecker. Now our tracking pixel isn’t based on http:// but on https://. Why? Some email accounts block messages that contain links to a domain without SSL. Since we have SSL, you’re safe from getting blocked by those accounts. Other benefits:

  • you have a greater chance of staying safe while sending your email campaigns,

  • the chance of getting your email delivered has increased too.

From now on, every piece that’s tracked in Woodpecker, such as unsubscribe, email open or click is tracked with SSL.


Click-based condition

Add click tracking as a condition. Adjust your campaign sequence according to your prospect’s engagement level and send more personalized messages to those who clicked on a link to your offer. Learn how to use click tracking in If-campaigns.


Tips

Clearing the text formatting will reduce the HTML code in your message, make the contents cleaner and lighter, and have a positive impact on your deliverability.

If you need to copy-paste the message copy, please do so with:
a) Ctrl+Shift+V (Paste without formatting)
b) Copy-paste through a simple text editor (to clear message formatting with a simple text editor)

Remember to check why we do not recommend tracking links! More on our Blog.


Troubleshooting

Statistics
If you noticed a sudden drop in the click and open rates, we suggest checking the reputation of your domain and email. Here is our step-by-step guide on how to check if your emails don’t land in spam.

Not Displaying Clicks
When you see a dash “-” in the open or click stats it means that the tracking is disabled. To track link clicks, make sure the “Track clicks” is check-marked.