What Are Raw Clicks?
Raw clicks are the total count of clicks on an affiliate link with no provisioning for unique users who may have clicked the link multiple times. Each click on the link counts, be it one person clicking multiple times, several people clicking once, or anywhere in between. This metric furthers the understanding of affiliate links as it showcases the unrefined value of engagement associated with these links.
This measurement holds a lot of significance for affiliate marketing. With no filtering or accounting of how ‘valuable’ those clicks are, raw clicks surely give something descriptive or indicative to the marketer. Raw clicks is the very first step in the funnel of user attention. Even though this number provides no valuable insight to the engagement metrics, it clearly shows that some attention is at least being directed to the link provided.
Example in a sentence:
“Our landing page redesign doubled the raw clicks, which shows our new call-to-action is grabbing more eyeballs–even if not all of them are converting yet.”
Why Raw Clicks Matter
Raw clicks stand as the initial gauge of interest in your entire performance funnel. Without clicks, the concept of a conversion becomes futile. They’re simple metrics, but extremely important indicators of the number of users interested enough to engage, even for a fleeting moment, with your offer.
In addition, they form the basis of calculating essential KPIs such as Click Through Rate (CTR), Conversion Rate, Earnings Per Click (EPC), and others. To assess conversions or revenue, you first must establish the number of clicks registered. They also serve the purpose of verifying reach in a given campaign. An extremely low raw click count could signal problems concerning creativity, targeting, or even visibility of the ad.
On the other hand, an atypical surge could indicate a successful campaign or be an alarming indicator of possible click fraud. Regardless of the case, the need to investigate further is prompted by this metric.
Best Practices for Using Raw Clicks
Raw clicks stand as a fairly useful benchmark to assess the health of your campaigns. They measure a campaign’s prospective engagement and reach. If links in your emails or social media posts are not clicked, that is a clear indication that your message is not resonating.
Monitoring raw clicks can assist in guiding early-stage decisions before deeper metrics are available.
They’re great for A/B testing as well. You can quickly assess which versions are more attention-grabbing by comparing raw click counts across different creatives or platforms. Is one banner more clickable than another? Is one call-to-action in a blog post outperforming the rest? The first layer of insight that helps you determine what efforts to optimize or scale is provided through clicks, including raw clicks.
However, raw numbers should not be the endpoint. Blend these clicks with your wider funnel analysis. When a campaign receives 1,000 raw clicks and only a single conversion, something is broken. Consider raw clicks the spark, and your funnel the fire.
Common Mistakes
The assumption that every click denotes real interest is the primary misunderstanding here. Clicks in bulk can be a result of users tapping by mistake, bots, or users navigating from vague CTAs which are too bold for their own good, so without scrutiny to more important metrics for interaction, you stand to be misinformed.
Another angle of this is the disregard towards click fraud. Particularly in paid traffic campaigns, raw clicks can become the target of click farms and bots, which will exponentially increase numbers. Be careful for the malpractice of click farms, where an abnormal amount of activity from a single IP or concentration of clicks will originate from one source.
Ultimately, using raw clicks as the sole measure of success is dangerous. While large figures may look appealing on reports, if they do not result in qualified leads or sales, they are simply noise. To gain complete insight, always combine raw click data with conversion metrics.
Raw Clicks vs. Unique Clicks
The difference between raw clicks and unique clicks is simple: Raw clicks count every interaction, while unique clicks only register one click per user or device.
Let’s say a single user clicks your link 10 times. That’s 10 raw clicks. But in terms of unique clicks, it would only count once. Unique clicks are better for measuring how many individual people you reached. Raw clicks, on the other hand, are more useful for tracking overall interest, visibility, and total interaction volume.
Best Practices for Raw Click Optimization
To maximize the value of raw click data, work on your creatives first. Banners, buttons, and calls-to-action need to be textually clear and visually appealing. Emotional language, strong contrast, or urgent cues greatly increase click volume.
To improve further, ensure the message match between ads and landing pages. Users bounce instantly if an ad promises one thing but the destination delivers another. This disconnection can waste high click potential. Maintaining interest through consistency in messaging, visuals, and offers throughout your funnel creates skip engagement.
Last, be wise traffic sources. Prioritize sources that send engaged, relevant users. Not all clicks are equal. Qualified raw clicks always outperform thousands from unengaged visitors.
Explanation for Dummies
Imagine you’re handing out stickers every time someone knocks on your door, regardless of whether it’s the same person knocking 20 times in a row. That’s what a raw click is. You’re not asking who it is or what they want–you’re just counting knocks. Now, whether that person wants to buy something or is just bored and loves knocking–that’s a separate question.
