ClickMagick Review: My Honest Opinion After 6 Years of Using It

I originally signed up for Clickmagick (often spelled incorrectly as Clickmagic) solely to review it for my readers here at EntreResource.

I already had a link tracking service that I was reasonably happy with and had tested several others already, but I had heard too many good things about Clickmagick to not at least try it.

Admittedly, I was ready to take a metaphorical red pen and slash all over it. It seemed overly complicated, and the landing page didn't make it very clear what the software really did, just that it did a lot.

Quick Note: I know that I'm in the minority of people who think that link tracking is extremely exciting. The topic might bore some of you to tears, BUT I promise that if you master the practice of tracking your links and properly analyzing the insights services like Clickmagick provide, it will pay dividends for the rest of your marketing career. Learn the process now and reap the benefits forever.

Let's begin.

What Is Clickmagick: 10 Best Functions

ClickMagick is a web based software/app that allows users to do several things with any of the URLs that they share. According to their website, they have over "120 different features that help you make more money online."

Clickmagick is not for the faint of heart, and I wouldn't blame you if you experience some paralysis by analysis. I know it might feel like drinking from a fire hose. To make it a bit easier on you, I want to highlight what I feel are the 10 most important features of Clickmagick. These are the features that the average internet marketer will want to utilize most often.

#1 Link Cloaking

Whenever possible (and with Clickmagick, it's always possible) links should be "beautified" before you share them. Now, you don't need to jump out and buy Clickmagick if this is all you'll need it for, as there are cheaper alternatives if you just want to create simple redirects, but this feature is great and will make your links look more professional and less spammy.

If you do any sort of marketing that requires users to type your link in the search bar to find it (podcasts are the best example of this), this feature is a life saver. 

You can change long, ugly URLs into shorter, easier to type ones like yourdomain.com/anyproduct.

Please note though, your site may need to use a CNAME which would append a prefix to your URL like this: track.youdomain.com/anyproduct. Be careful and work with support when you link your custom domain, especially if it is a site with pre-existing content (like the EntreResouce.com blog was). 

#2 Track Sources of Traffic

Clickmagick allows you to create unique tracking IDs that will help you know exactly where your clicks are coming from.

EXAMPLE: Let's say that on your blog you link to an affiliate product and you always use the same link. You put the link all over the site in various ways like a sidebar ad, a pop up, within the text of your posts, etc. It's actually a little over the top how you're using them, and it looks spammy and is hurting the reader's experience. Each month you get 1,000 clicks to that URL, but you do not know where they are coming from, just that they came from the multiple different CTAs on the site. If you create unique links that identify where you are posting the link, you can see which are actually getting clicks and conversions. You can create a link for "sidebar" and a link for "pop up" etc. Using this data, you can make changes that will maximize conversions but will also make your site look less spammy. This is just one of countless examples of how you can use sub IDs.

#3 Track Authenticity and Quality of Traffic

If you're buying any sort of paid traffic to blog posts, products etc., you want to make sure that it isn't fake. Bot traffic is notorious in the solo ad industry, and ClickMagick will help you verify that your traffic is real. 

We can also see the IP addresses of the people who clicked on our links. 

Have you been paranoid that a competitor is clicking your ad links to get you to spend your daily budget more quickly? Well, you can see if the same IP is clicking your account AND the exact location that it is coming from. 

Suspect your competitor from Idaho is doing it? Confirm your suspicions by running IPs that have a suspicious number of clicks into a free web tool like What Is My IP and you can get down as far as the zip code!

If you're running Google ads like me, you can easily add IP exclusions that will ensure your ads aren't showing up where your competitor or troll can see them.

#4 Track Conversion Values, Conversion Rates, and Profitability

With Clickmagick, you can assign values for conversions and costs for traffic to any link. This allows you to get real time metrics showing you whether you're making money or not!

#5 Create Split Tests

Clickmagick gives you the ability to use one link but to send users to different pages.

These pages are typically only slightly different and aim to track one change at a time (headline, button, etc.). 

You can choose how to balance the traffic. You can send 50% of your clicks to one page and 50% to the other or any other combination, and Clickmagick will automatically alert you when there is a winner. 

Finding out which page converts best will allow you to feel more confident spending cash to send traffic to it. 

#6 Track Pages That You Don't Own

When I started affiliate marketing several years ago, I vividly remember googling "how to track affiliate conversions." The answer was pretty much: you really can't. 

This sucked because how was I supposed to know if my efforts were actually profitable? If I spent $100 on ads and made affiliate sales, I didn't know if the sales were from the ads or from some sort of organic source of traffic. I was spending blindly, and that wasn't a good feeling back when I had little to spend!

If only I knew about Clickmagick back then, I'd have made much more money and saved a lot of time and hassle.

Well, what happens if you're sending traffic to someone else's website, and you can't add your own pixel?

Clickmagick is the first software I have ever seen that has created a workaround for this.

They make it so you can send traffic to a 3rd party site, and if the user takes the desired action, they will be very quickly redirected to a blank page that includes your pixel and then instantly to the next page without them evening noticing. 

#7 Create and Add Custom Tracking and Retargeting Pixel to Any Links

You can add tracking pixels from any 3rd party (Facebook, Google etc) and retarget anyone who clicks your link. 

The possibilities here are endless. You're no longer limited to people just who land on your blog or click on your paid ads. You can pixel clicks from emails, social media, forums, and almost anywhere else you can think.

#8 Add Countdowns and Calls to Action to (Almost) Any Website (Retired Feature)

This is the most controversial feature of Clickmagick and as a content creator, I totally understand why some people hate what the feature can do. 

Here is a countdown timer that I added to to the website of one of a paid group I was an affiliate for. I had a special promo offer that was unique to me that had a deadline.

That countdown is only visible to people who click my unique link. Even though I don't own the site, I am able to add my own content over top of it. Pretty cool right?

The reason this software is controversial is because anyone can add things to someone else's site and take advantage of their content. They could also make it look like the site owner endorses whatever is added to the site.

#9 "Link Down" Monitoring

No matter where you're sending traffic, your pages will go offline from time to time. If you have a link created in Clickmagick, you will get an alert telling you the moment this happens. 

To most people, this might go unnoticed or register just a mild inconvenience, but to someone who is spending serious cash on paid traffic, it can be catastrophic.

If you run a lot of paid traffic, this feature can easily pay for your membership, like it did for Ralph Jordan.

#10 Import Export Data

The import feature allowed me to quickly upload all my links. This was a lifesaver because I had TONS of links I wanted to have in Clickmagick, and I had them all saved in a spreadsheet.

The export feature allows you to export any data to share with your team or clients. This is much easier than sending screenshots or trusting others with your user name and password like you have to do with other tools. 

Who Should Use ClickMagick?

Solo ad buyers and sellers swear by Clickmagick. If you aren't familiar with Solo ads, I've written an article about them and how I was scammed on my very first one.

If you use Clickmagick when buying solo ads, you can get a much better idea of whether your traffic is legitimate or bot traffic that isn't going to convert and could actually end up harming your business. You can avoid being scammed like I was.

Additional ClickMagick Benefits

Clickmagick isn't just feature rich; it's a very well run software and company. 

ClickMagick clearly understands that their software can confuse at first, so they do a word class job of providing support and training for their users. 

There are detailed help buttons on every page, and their customer support is lightning fast. They promise to reply to all support questions within an hour, and so far, that has been true for all the questions I've asked.  

How to Get the Most Out of ClickMagick

Are you sold on Clickmagick like I am? If so, here is how you should approach your new marketing toy.

#1 Read the 1 Hour Tracking Guide.

Clickmagick went above and beyond to set their users up for success by creating a comprehensive start up guide to link tracking.

It is well worth the hour it takes to cover.

#2 Use It or Lose It!

Don't be shy about tracking everything you can think of.

Affiliate marketers and content creators will have a lot of different things that they want to track and optimize.

Don't sacrifice quality for quantity. Whatever you set up, take the time to do it correctly. However, there is no harm in having too much data as long as it doesn't give you "paralysis by analysis."

Clickmagick is a powerful tool that gets more powerful the more you use it. As Peter Drucker says, "what gets measured gets managed." Once you start using Clickmagick, you will quickly realize that you have a lot of links that you could and probably should start tracking. In my case, I realized I had dozens of affiliate links, sales funnel URLs and paid traffic campaigns that needed configuring. 

I was so excited about the possibilities of tracking the data that it didn't bother me that it was going to take a tremendous amount of time to do all this 🙂  

#3 Watch the Helper Videos 

Every major feature inside Clickmagick comes with an in-depth explainer video. These are an amazing free resource that will help you get up to speed much more quickly.

#4 Don't Rush But Also Don't Worry about Perfection

I had HOURS of work to do when I started Clickmagick. I wanted to track everything as quickly as possible and immersed myself in the software. 

However, I knew that I needed to be patient and make sure I was doing things properly. I watched the videos and took serious advantage of the 1 hour customer support channel. 

Although I worked hard to do things right, I wasn't worried about things not being absolutely perfect. If I did, I wouldn't have gotten anything done. I'm ok with the fact that I will need to go back and fix/improve things. The practice of tracking links is never-ending, so don't feel you'll ever be "done."

Clickmagick Pricing and Alternatives

Clickmagick has several pricing tiers. You can get a discount between 28% and 32% if you purchase an annual plan.

I signed up for the standard plan and will cut it close

There are a number of Clickmagick alternatives but there are no options that I believe really stack up. 

Feature		Other Trackers
Link Cloaking
24/7 Link Uptime Monitoring
Automatic Bot Filtering
Click Fraud Monitoring & Traffic Quality Analysis
Custom Tracking Domains (Unlimited)		Limited
Advanced Geotargeting & Mobile Optimization		Limited
Effortless Conversion Tracking (Of ANY Action Or Sale)		Limited
A/B Split Testing w/ Automated Winner Alerts		Limited
Multi-Mode Link Rotators		Limited
Add 4 Types Of Pop Ups To ANY Link
Add Content & Notification Bars To ANY Link
Add A Countdown Timer To ANY Link Or Page
Add Retargeting Pixels To ANY Link
Dynamic Affiliate Links		Limited
Advanced Postback URL Tracking		Limited
Dynamic Ad Network Token & Sub-ID Passing		Limited
Facebook Sharing - Custom Title, Description & Image
True Real-Time Stats		Limited
Google Analytics Compatible
Lightning-Fast Link Redirects		Limited
Easy-To-Navigate Detailed In-Depth Stats		Limited
Public Stats Sharing
Import & Export Your Data & Stats		Limited
New Features Monthly Based On User Feedback
Growing Tutorial & Training Video Library		Limited
Fanatical US-Based Support Team		Limited

Here are other link tracking services you can check out. 

• Improveley
• Linktrackr
  
• Trck.me
• ClickMeter
• Voluum

Of course, I haven't been able to test each one of these. If you've had experience with any of them, leave a comment and let me know how you think they compare to Clickmagick.

I left out less sophisticated link shorteners like bit.ly and poplink.io because they don't come close to being alternatives to Clickmagick.

Why Clickmagick Didn't Get 5 Stars

Clickmagick is amazing and worth the price, but I couldn't give it a perfect 5 star score for one reason.

Some of the editing features are overly complicated and clunky.

I was a little disappointed in the ClickPop and ClickBar configuration. I was spoiled by the templates in Clikim and didn't like how much work and coding was required to create a pop up form in Clickmagick.

On the bright side, you can make things look pretty much anyway your heart desires, BUT you almost need to be an experienced coder (or hire one) to do anything fancy.

Many users will end up creating ugly looking ClickPops and ClickBars.

This is an example of "more being less," in my opinion.

It would be great if they made templates that allowed novice users to get things done more quickly and easily at the expense of some customization.  

This is far from a deal breaker. Like I said earlier, the clickpop feature is controversial, and many marketers swear against using it. I have a feeling that they will update this eventually to keep up with the competitors who do this part better. I've actually already emailed them about it 🙂 

Start a Free Trial 

Clickmagick has given me an extended trial. I could't get you a Clickmagick discount code, but this is the best offer you will find anywhere online!