Free Branded URL Tracking

Here’s a way to use the LinkTrack service with all of its tracking features with your own domain name at no extra cost!

So, you love LinkTrack, and you think it’s awesome that you can make links and track them whenever you want, right?

2297864022_bea48ab12aBut what if you’re not a fan of the linktrack.info domain name and you don’t like sticking urls like http://linktrack.info/some_link all over the place?

You could go with a whitelabel, custom built, custom branded URL tracking service built under your own domain name, but that’s either going to cost a lot of time or money to setup.

Here’s how to do it on the cheap under your own domain name:

You’ll need a registered domain, hosted wherever you like and a server that uses url re-writing via an .htaccess file. With a little modification you can probably use your existing web site, but you’ll want to be a little careful with how you setup pattern matching in the .htaccess file.

Once you’ve got that going, use the following code to redirect incoming tracking links to the LinkTrack site:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  Options +FollowSymlinks
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteBase /
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
  RewriteRule ^(.*+)/(.*+)$ http://linktrack.info/$1/$2 [R=301,NC,L]
  RewriteRule ^(.*+)$ http://linktrack.info/$1 [R=301,NC,L]
</IfModule>

Update 3/9/10: I made some changes to the .htaccess code above to accommodate premium account holders using vanity links containing special characters and links with Plus+ tracking enabled.

Then, it’s just a matter of creating a tracking link and appending the redirect hash to your own domain!

For example:

  1. Go to LinkTrack.info and make a tracking link like http://linktrack.info/my_tracking_link
  2. Take the ‘my_tracking_link’ part off the end and append it to your domain name so it looks like http://mydomain.com/my_tracking_link
  3. If you’ve setup the .htaccess file correctly, users clicking on http://mydomain.com/my_tracking_link will be redirected seamlessly to the link’s final destination, and LinkTrack will record all of the tracking data in your account!

There it is! Custom branded url tracking at no extra cost. Your mileage may vary depending on your server setup, but if you’ve worked with .htaccess files before you can probably get this up and running without too much trouble.

6 thoughts on “Free Branded URL Tracking”

  1. Tom

    I have a domain name http://www.Hoims.com which I just set up in a hosting account.

    I called technical support and they said that the servers I have with this account support url re-writing via an.htaccess file.

    I am not a programmer but since the sole purpose of this domain is to use your linktrack system, I don’t mind tinkering.

    You say I have to set up pattern matching. I have gone on line and read some basics but not sure how to do that.

    Is the rewrite code you give in the “Free Branded URL Tracking” article to be added to the .htaccess file that I have?

    Do you have any sample files you already set up, to look at?

    (I found my current .htaccess file and downloaded a copy to look at.)

    If I give you my hosting account information what would you charge to set it up so that I can use your track with my url?

    Thanks for a great program.

  4. Tom

    Thanks for the valiant effort but for some reason the news .htaccess file gives an internal error code (500)

    I reinstalled the original one you gave as an example.

    For those who find the need to also use the original one, it is as follows:

    Options +FollowSymlinks
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9]+)$ http://linktrack.info/$1 [R=301,NC,L]

  5. John Klein

    What are the advantages of using Linktrack over Google Analytics?

    We are just getting everything setup for a new marketing program and would appreciate a quick reply. thansk

  6. admin Post author

    There are several reasons. While Google Analytics focuses on tracking pageviews, we track the number of times individual links are clicked. We offer additional features like email alerts anytime your link is clicked, shareable tracking reports you can show to your customers, custom domain names, and many more.

Comments are closed.