What are the best practices for email link cloaking and click tracking?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 2 Aug 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
7 min read
Email marketing relies heavily on understanding how recipients engage with your content. Two critical mechanisms for gathering this insight are email link cloaking and click tracking. While both offer significant advantages for marketers, they also come with a unique set of challenges, particularly concerning email deliverability and sender reputation.
Click tracking allows you to monitor exactly which links in your emails are being clicked, by whom, and when. This data is invaluable for optimizing campaigns, segmenting audiences, and proving return on investment. Link cloaking, on the other hand, involves masking the destination URL, often to present a cleaner, more professional link or to hide affiliate IDs.
However, improper implementation of either can lead to deliverability issues, including emails landing in spam folders or domains getting added to a blocklist (or blacklist). I'll outline the best practices for both email link cloaking and click tracking to help ensure your messages reach the inbox and your analytics remain accurate.
Understanding email link cloaking and click tracking
Email click tracking works by replacing the original destination URL with a unique, trackable URL. When a recipient clicks this rewritten link, they are first redirected through a tracking server, which records the click, and then immediately sent to the intended final destination. This process is usually imperceptible to the user due to its speed.
Most email service providers (ESPs) handle this automatically, transparently wrapping your links to gather data on engagement. The tracking URL often includes identifiers for the campaign, subscriber, and specific link. This detailed data helps you understand which content resonates most with your audience.
Link cloaking, sometimes called link masking, takes this a step further by hiding the original URL behind a more aesthetically pleasing or branded link. For instance, an affiliate link that's long and full of tracking parameters can be cloaked into a shorter, branded URL like `yourdomain.com/productname`. This improves the user experience and can increase trust, as recipients are more likely to click on a link that looks familiar and professional. While related, it's important to differentiate link cloaking from general link shortening services.
Benefits and risks of link tracking and cloaking
The primary benefit of click tracking is the rich data it provides. You can gain insights into content effectiveness, user engagement, and even identify your most active subscribers. This data is crucial for A/B testing, personalization, and refining your email strategy to improve email click rates. Link cloaking contributes to a better user experience, making your emails appear more trustworthy and professional, which can indirectly lead to higher click-through rates.
However, both practices introduce a layer of redirection that can raise red flags with spam filters if not managed correctly. ESPs and internet service providers (ISPs) scrutinize redirecting links, as they are commonly exploited in phishing and spam campaigns. The domain used for click tracking (the one the link redirects through) carries its own reputation, separate from your main sending domain. If this tracking domain is shared with other senders, its reputation can be negatively affected by their poor practices, impacting your own deliverability.
Benefits of tracking and cloaking
Enhanced analytics: Gain deep insights into subscriber engagement and content performance.
Improved branding: Present clean, branded URLs that build trust with recipients.
Streamlined management: Easily update destination URLs without resending emails.
Risks to deliverability and security
Shared reputation impact: Your deliverability can suffer if others on your shared tracking domain engage in poor sending practices.
Increased spam likelihood: Redirection can trigger spam filters if not implemented carefully.
Potential for abuse: Vulnerable tracking systems can be exploited by bad actors to redirect users.
Technical best practices for deliverability
To mitigate the risks and maximize the benefits, adhere to these best practices:
Use a custom tracking domain: This is perhaps the most crucial step. Instead of using your ESP's shared tracking domain (e.g., mailsuite.com/track/link), set up a dedicated subdomain for tracking, like `clicks.yourdomain.com` or `track.yourdomain.com`. This gives you full control over your tracking domain's reputation, isolating it from other senders and preventing their issues from affecting your deliverability. Learn more about using domains and subdomains for email click tracking.
Implement DMARC, SPF, and DKIM: Ensure your domain is properly authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These protocols verify sender identity and help prevent spoofing, which is critical for all email, including those with tracking links. Proper authentication signals to ISPs that your emails are legitimate, reducing the likelihood of them being flagged as spam. Understanding the basic concepts of DMARC, SPF, and DKIM is important.
Maintain a clean sending list: High bounce rates, spam complaints, and low engagement can severely damage your sender reputation, regardless of your tracking setup. Regularly clean your lists to remove invalid or unengaged addresses. This helps avoid spam traps and keeps your email reputation healthy, ensuring your tracking links are seen as trustworthy.
Ensuring the integrity and security of your tracking links is also paramount. You need to prevent bad actors from manipulating your tracking URLs to redirect users to malicious sites, which could lead to your domain being put on a blocklist or blacklist. Implement robust validation processes to ensure only system-generated links are functional.
Advanced considerations and security
Beyond the foundational deliverability practices, there are several advanced considerations for optimizing your email link cloaking and click tracking strategies.
HTTPS for all tracking links
Using HTTPS for your tracking links is becoming increasingly important. While it may not be a hard requirement everywhere today, many ISPs prefer secure connections, and it's rapidly becoming an industry standard. HTTPS encrypts the data exchanged, enhancing security and trust, which can positively influence how ISPs view your links. Deploying HTTPS everywhere will future-proof your tracking setup and align with modern security expectations. Ignoring this can lead to deliverability issues with HTTP tracking links.
When structuring your tracking URLs, consider using query parameters (e.g., `?id=my_identifier`) rather than path segments (e.g., `/my_identifier`). Some larger ISPs have indicated a preference for query parameters, as they can offer clearer identification and potentially better processing by content filters. This subtle difference can sometimes influence how your links are perceived and filtered.
It's also essential to log all redirect traffic comprehensively. This includes the click IP address, referrer, and user-agent. Having detailed logs will be invaluable for diagnosing deliverability issues, identifying suspicious activity, or troubleshooting any anomalies that arise. If something goes wrong, this data will help you quickly understand and mitigate the damage.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always use a custom, dedicated tracking domain for your email links.
Ensure all tracking links utilize HTTPS for enhanced security and trust signals.
Regularly audit your tracking setup to prevent URL manipulation by external parties.
Common pitfalls
Relying on shared tracking domains can lead to your reputation being negatively impacted by other senders.
Not validating tracking URLs can allow bad actors to redirect users to malicious sites.
Ignoring HTTP tracking links can result in deliverability issues.
Expert tips
Consider using query parameters in your tracking URLs over path segments, as some ISPs prefer this structure.
Implement robust security measures to ensure only your system generates functional tracking links.
Proactively monitor your tracking domain's reputation with various blocklist (or blacklist) services.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that content filtering is strongly affected by the hostname of the URL used for click-tracking. If all customers share the same hostname, they will also share the same reputation.
2019-08-20 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that systems should be designed so that only links created by the system itself will work, preventing bad actors from altering the URL to point elsewhere.
2019-08-20 - Email Geeks
Maintaining a healthy email program
Email link cloaking and click tracking are powerful tools for any email marketer, providing essential data and improving the user experience. However, their benefits come with the responsibility of careful implementation to protect your sender reputation and ensure consistent deliverability. Neglecting best practices can lead to your emails being filtered as spam or even your domains appearing on a blocklist.
By focusing on custom tracking domains, securing your links with HTTPS, and maintaining clean sending lists, you can leverage these techniques effectively without compromising your inbox placement. Regularly review your setup and monitor your deliverability metrics to proactively address any potential issues and keep your email program healthy.
