What are the best practices for email link cloaking and click tracking?

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that content-filtering is strongly affected by the hostname used for click-tracking, advising that shared hostnames will share reputation. He recommends ensuring only system-created links work to prevent bad actors from editing URLs, and suggests the ability to easily disable redirection for a whole mailing or customer to mitigate abuse. He also notes that some large ISPs prefer query parameter formatted URLs (e.g., click.foo.com/whatever?id=my_identifier) over path-based identifiers. Furthermore, he advises using HTTPS for new systems and logging redirect traffic including IP address, referer, and user-agent for effective abuse mitigation and troubleshooting.

Email marketer from Litmus explains that while click tracking is essential for analytics, it can negatively impact deliverability if not configured properly. They recommend using a custom tracking domain that matches your sending domain, as this helps email providers recognize the links as legitimate and associated with your brand, rather than a generic or suspicious third-party domain. This consistent branding reduces the likelihood of emails being flagged as spam.

Expert from Spam Resource explains that generic link shorteners can harm email deliverability because they are often used by spammers to hide malicious destinations, making ISPs view them with suspicion. Best practice suggests avoiding generic shorteners and instead using full, transparent links or branded tracking domains that clearly associate with the sender's established reputation.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that effective email click tracking relies on using consistent, branded tracking domains, typically subdomains of your main sending domain. This practice builds trust and a positive reputation for the tracking links. Conversely, using unbranded or generic tracking domains is a bad practice that can lead to deliverability issues due to their association with spam and suspicious activity.

Documentation from Mailchimp Documentation explains that click tracking replaces your original link with a unique tracking URL, which then redirects to your original URL. While common, it can sometimes trigger spam filters if not handled well, especially if the tracking domain is not aligned with your sending domain or has a poor reputation. Best practice involves using a custom tracking domain (CNAME) that matches your sending domain to improve deliverability and build trust.

Documentation from SendGrid Documentation explains that link tracking works by rewriting the URLs in your email to point to SendGrid's tracking servers first, which then redirect the user to the original destination. They emphasize that while convenient, it's crucial to set up a custom link tracking domain (branded link tracking) to maintain a consistent brand image and improve deliverability by avoiding generic tracking domains that spammers might abuse.