Measure Outbound Link Engagement
Track outbound link clicks in Hardal, inspect destination details, and use click events in engagement analysis.
Outbound links can be meaningful outcomes for publishers, directories, and partner campaigns. Hardal's web tracker records supported external-link activations as outbound_click when automatic tracking is enabled.
Confirm which links are external
The current site's domain and its subdomains are internal by default. Source-level Internal domains can also exclude other journey domains from outbound-click classification.
Review that setting before testing a checkout partner or another domain you operate. It controls outbound classification, not cross-domain session or visitor linking.
Verify a click
Confirm the tracker
Confirm that the web tracker is installed.
Activate an external link
On a normal visit, activate an external HTTP(S) link.
Find the click event
In Engagement → Events, find the outbound_click occurrence.
Inspect the destination
Open its details and inspect linkUrl, linkDomain, and the originating page.
Internal-link candidates can appear in collection requests but be excluded from stored outbound events. Check the stored occurrence rather than only the network payload. Links such as mailto: and tel: are outside this automatic event's scope.
Use the result in analysis
Use event totals and the Sessions report to understand outbound engagement within the selected period. Inspect event details for destination context. A parameter in an event payload does not automatically become a dashboard grouping option or a complete destination-ranking report.
If outbound activity should define engagement, review the shared Key Events selection. Avoid adding a second tag for the same automatic click.
An outbound click proves an activation was recorded, not that the destination loaded or a partner sale completed. A confirmed partner conversion requires a separately supported collection or reporting flow.