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How to track file downloads, affiliates, outbound and external links with Google Analytics

SEOPress Free can send Google Analytics 4 events for external links, downloads, affiliate links and telephone links. These options measure a click; they do not confirm that a file finished downloading, a sale occurred or a call connected.

Enable the tracking options

  1. First configure your GA4 measurement ID using the Google Analytics setup guide.
  2. Go to SEO, Analytics, Google Analytics, Events.
  3. Enable External links tracking for links pointing outside your site.
  4. Enable Downloads tracking and enter the file extensions in Track downloads clicks, separated by a vertical bar: docx|pdf|doc|txt.
  5. Enable Affiliate/outbound links tracking and enter the path keywords to match. For an affiliate link such as https://example.com/aff/my-affiliate-link, enter aff. Separate multiple entries with |.
  6. Enable Track phone links to track links using tel:.
  7. Save changes and clear the page cache.

Events and parameters sent to GA4

SEOPress uses the event name click for these four tracking options. The parameters distinguish the action:

Action Event name event_category event_label
External link click external links Complete link URL
Download link click downloads Complete link URL
Affiliate link click outbound/affiliate Complete link URL
Telephone link click phone Link value without the tel: prefix

For example, clicking a PDF link produces a click event with event_category=downloads. These events are not named file_download. GA4 enhanced measurement may independently generate that event.

A link can match several enabled options, and another integration may track the same click. Review your GA4 enhanced measurement and Tag Manager configuration before interpreting all events as unique actions. Avoid putting personal information in tracked URLs or link values.

Verify the events in DebugView

  1. Use a visitor session that is not excluded by role. If you use the cookie bar, give analytics consent, then load the page containing the test links.
  2. Connect that browser session through Google Tag Assistant to enable debugging for your device.
  3. In the correct GA4 property, open Admin → Data display → DebugView.
  4. Click one link of each enabled type. Select the resulting click event and inspect event_category and event_label.
  5. Check for duplicate events and compare the exact label with the link clicked.

If no event appears, check the measurement ID, consent, role exclusions, browser blockers, matching extensions or keywords and JavaScript optimization. Reload after accepting consent when testing a newly loaded tracking script. See Google’s DebugView instructions.

Use the parameters in reports

In GA4, go to Admin, Data display, Custom definitions. Create event-scoped custom dimensions for event_category and event_label if you need them in reports. Use those exact parameter names; the display names can be your own.

After data is processed, create a free-form exploration. Add the two dimensions and Event name, use Event count as the metric, and filter Event name to click. Put the category and label in rows to distinguish downloads, affiliate links, external links and telephone clicks. Standard event reports may appear under Engagement depending on your report collection.

See Google’s custom dimension guide for permissions and processing times.