Introduction

Clicks are the starting point for all conversion events on Dub.

A click event can be triggered by:

• A user clicking on a Dub link
• A user scanning a Dub QR code

In Dub Analytics, you can filter between QR code scans and link clicks, giving you a full picture of how your various marketing channels are performing.

Clicks are tracked automatically for all Dub short links upon a redirect event – and you also have the flexibility to track clicks via query parameters using our Client-side SDK.

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Server-side click-tracking

Server-side click-tracking is enabled by default for all Dub links and come with the following attributes:

These events happen on the server-side and cannot be blocked by browser extensions or ad-blockers, which improves the accuracy of your analytics data.

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Client-side click-tracking

Alternatively, you can track clicks on the client-side using query parameters (e.g. ?via=john, ?ref=jane). This gives you the flexibility to track clicks directly on your website or app, without needing to rely on link redirects.

A few use cases include:

• You are migrating from an existing affiliate management platform that uses query parameters to track conversions and don’t want ask your affiliates to update all their links
• You need to use an unfurled URL for the platform you’re sharing the link on (no short links allowed)
• You have dynamically generated referral pages (e.g. Tesla) and want to track clicks using a track() function inside your application code.

With our Client-side SDK, you can do exactly that.

Here’s how you can enable client-side click-tracking for your links:

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Step 1: Add a unique identifier to your links

First, you need to add a unique identifier to your links. This identifier is unique across your workspace and will be used to identify the corresponding link when passed as the query parameter (e.g. ?via=jane).

There are two ways to add an identifier to your links:

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Step 2: Create a Publishable Key

Next, you’ll need to create a Publishable Key that you’ll use to initialize the Client-side SDK. The key has the following format:

dub_publishable_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

You can create a Publishable Key in the Tokens settings page in your Dub workspace.

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Step 3: Install the Client-side SDK

Lastly, you’ll need to install the Client-side SDK and initialize it with the Publishable Key you created in the previous step.

Here’s the full list of parameters you can pass to the <Analytics /> component:

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Step 4 (Optional, but recommended): Set up a reverse proxy

To avoid ad-blockers from blocking your click-tracking requests, we recommend setting up a reverse proxy.

Depending on which backend framework you’re using, there are a few different ways to do this:

Once you’ve set up your reverse proxy, don’t forget to update the apiHost parameter in the <Analytics /> component to point to your proxy URL.

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Step 5: Verify your setup

To verify that your click-tracking is working, run your website locally with the specific query parameter (e.g. ?via=jane) and check if the following is true:

1. The click tracked correctly in the Analytics tab of your Dub workspace.
2. There is a successful /track/click request in your browser’s Network tab (and no errors in the Console tab).
3. The dub_id cookie is being set in your browser upon a successful click-tracking request.