If you are an affiliate who recommend a lot of products on your blog, chances are you use a link shortener plugin to shorten your affiliate links. Most affiliates — we bet you too — use Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates to shorten long affiliate links.
But have you heard about ClickWhale?
It is a WordPress plugin that has the same functionality as Pretty Links and ThirstyAffiliates, but offers way better experience. Especially for its free version.
In this post, we will cover everything about the plugin and help you decide whether it deserve a try — or even a permanent use.
Shortcuts ⤵️
What is ClickWhale? A Short Intro
Let’s start with this part first: the introduction. Because you will never be able to make a decision over something if you don’t know it yet. Let alone love it.
So, what is ClickWhale?
As briefly mentioned earlier, ClickWhale is a link shortener plugin for WordPress. You can use it to turn a long, complex link into an easier-to-remember format. A more popular plugin that has the same functionality as ClickWhale is Pretty Links.
But ClickWhale is not just a link shortener plugin. It also comes with a feature to create a link in bio page. Much like Linktree, but it lives within your WordPress website.
To make it more usable for a professional use, the plugin also comes with built-in stattistics feature which allows you to monitor the performance of your links and pages.
ClickWhale is developed by the same developer company that develops AAWP — a popular plugin among Amazon affiliates.
ClickWhale Features
ClickWhale is released as a freemium product, with the free version is available on WordPress.org.
Even with the free version, you can do many things. Apart from shortening links, of course, you can also create a link in bio page with the free version.
You can even monitor the performance of your links as well as your pages although you can only view the click counts and page views without being able to view other metrics like you can do with the pro version.
Core Features
Core features are features that are accessible via both the free version and the pro version.
Here are the core features that ClickWhale offers.
Link Shortener
The main feature available on both the free version and pro version of ClickWhale is, you guess it, link shortener. This feature allows you to shorten long links into shorther format that is way easier to remember.
For instance, you can turn a long Amazon affiliate product link, which usually has a super complex string, into something like this:
- Before: https://www.amazon.com/Dotcom-Secrets-Underground-Playbook-Growing-ebook/dp/B085BSSHJ6?&linkCode=ll1&tag=technology0bf-20&linkId=29936383b2992970488fd22179accac9&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
- After: https://utilizewp.com/recommends/dotcom-secrets/
The two links above have the same destination. But, the second one is way easier to remember.
Also, using a plugin like ClickWhale will make your life a lot easier in a scenario where your affiliate product is temporarily out of stock or when the affiliate program you joined switch to another affiliate platform (will be covered shortly).
If you plan to shorten a lot of affiliate links (or any types of links), ClickWhale allows you to create categories to better organize them. Pretty similar to post categories in WordPress core.
When adding a new link in ClickWhale, you can have options to select the redirection type. Whether it is a permanent redirection or temporary.
Also, you can add some attributes to your links. And more importantly, ClickWhale allows you to set a prefix. This simple feature is quite important as it allows you to quickly identify whether a link is a regular link or a shortened link.
What you see on the screenshot above are the available options when you add a new link (or edit an existing one).
ClickWhale allows you to set default options for the parameters above so that you don’t need to make new settings every time you add a new link.
Data Migration
ClickWhale is a great plugin. It offers better a user experience than more popular plugins: no annoying elements on block editor, better link management, and more features on the free version.
With all the great things it offers, it is such a pity that ClickWhale doesn’t have decent metrics in term of usage. It is far behind other competitors.
If you want to migrate from your current link shortener plugin from ClickWhale, the plugin offers a feature to make the process a lot easier.
ClickWhale offers data migration feature to allow you to easily migrate from Pretty Links, Thirsty Affiliates, and Better Links. You can access the features from the Tools menu.
As you can see on the screenshot above, you can migrate links and the parameters belong to them (category in this case).
ClickWhale automatically detects a link shortener plugin installed on your WordPress website and offers migration after activation.
Link Click Counts
From the link management screen of ClickWhale, you can quickly learn how many clicks a shortened link has earned on the Clicks column.
With this feature, you can always monitor the performance of your links, which is quite important.
ClickWhale uses the web browser cookie of users to track the click counts, with the duration of 30 days per session.
What does that mean?
If a user visits your website and click one of the links shortened with ClickWhale, only the initial click will be counted. When he/she re-clicks the same link within the span of 30 days, it will not be counted as a new click.
This is great for accuracy.
You can use the feature above to track click counts when you want to run a certain campaign (e.g., paid ads on Facebook or Google).
To do so, you can simply place the link you want to track the click counts of (which you have shortened with ClickWhale) on any location. For instance, you can place the link on the CTA button on your landing page.
This is quite simpler than setting up a new tracker on Google Tag Manager or Meta Pixel, which takes time and more effort.
Link in Bio Builder
This is the feature that sets ClickWhale apart from other existing competitors. The feature allows you to create a dedicated page where you can place several links on it. Pretty similar to a Linktree page and the similar services.
Well, you can actually create this kind of page using a page builder plugin like Divi or Elementor. But ClickWhale makes the process way easier.
Also, you can monitor the performance of the page — as well as the contained links. ClickWhale offers a glance look of how many times your page has been viewed and how many times the contained links have been clicked.
To click a link in bio, you can go to ClickWhale -> Link Pages on your WordPress dashboard.
What about the editor?
The link in bio builder of ClickWhale comes with a drag and drop feature to make it easy for you to create and edit the page. You can easily add a new link by dragging it from the element panel on the right side and drop it to the content editor area on the right side.
To make your link more appealing, ClickWhale allows you to add a decorative element. Be it an image, icon, or emoji. You can only add one element per link.
There are several link types you can add to your link in bio page. From ClickWhale links (links that have been shortened with ClickWhale), blog post links, to custom post links.
In addition to links, you can also add text and divider to your page.
Here is an example of a link in bio page created with ClickWhale.
A little note if you want to use this particular ClickWhale feature.
Once done editing the page, make sure to test the page on the private mode (incognito) just in case the changes don’t take place. It can happen especially if you use a caching plugin or use a hosting service that has a built-in caching feature.
In our case, we use a website hosted on SiteGround and had to purge the cache for the changes to take place.
Tracking Code Inserter
It’s true that ClickWhale offers a built-in statistics feature, but the metric types are extremely basic (unless you upgrade to the pro version).
If you need to perform a more comprehensive analysis, Google Analytics is still the better option.
With ClickWhale, you can easily track the statistics of a specific page — which is great if you plan to run a paid campaign. ClickWhale allows you to insert a tracking code and set where the tracking should be applied.
There are two mecanisms you can choose from: include and exclude.
Excluse is great for a global tracking code. You can use this mecanism to add a global tracking code to your site and intruct your analytics platform to exclude specific pages.
Include, meanwhile, is great if you plan to run a certain campaign. You can select a specific page to be tracked by your analytics platform.
A little tip. If you want to use this feature to track a specific campaign, you can place the tracking code to the body area instead header or footer.
Why?
Because in most cases, header and footer are global elements of a site. If you place the tracking code to these areas, the stats you see on your analytics platform are the stats of your website as whole, not a specific page.
ClickWhale itself allows you to set a location where the tracking code to apply.
Pro Features
As mentioned, ClickWhale is available in two versions: free and pro. The core features mentioned above are accessible in both versions.
If you need to unlock more advanced features, you can upgrade to the pro version. Here are the features available in the pro version of ClickWhale:
Advanced Statistics
The first notable feature you will see after upgrading to ClickWhale Pro is statistics.
Doesn’t the free version have this feature too?
Yes. But the stats you see are the total numbers from the day the link/page were created to the day you check the stats.
You have no option to check the page views or link click counts on a specific period. Also, all you see are the raw/numerical format only.
On ClickWhale Pro, you can check the statistics of your pages and links in a visual way. More importantly, you can select a specific period where you want to check the performance of your pages and links on.
As you can see above, there are two areas you can take a look at to monitor your page and link stats. The left area is where you can check the link clicks overview.
While on the right area — the donut chart — you can get more detailed stats of which links get more links.
You can filter the period from the upper-right side. Custom period is available in case you want to check the performance of you links and pages on a certain period (e.g., the period you run a paid ad).
Live Preview and Advanced Styling Options for Link in Bio Builder
The link in bio feature of ClickWhale is accessible on both the free version and the pro version. But with the pro version, you have more styling options.
First. You can set the logo style (square, circle, or rounded). With the free version, you only have one logo style: square.
Second. The pro version supports multiple background types. Apart from solid color, which is the default background type, you can also select gradient background, pattern, or image.
In the free version, you only have one background type: the solid color one.
Surprisingly, you will also be able to enjoy much more enjoyable editing experience in the pro version thanks to its live preview.
As you make a new change on the Style tab of link in bio builder (background, link color, etc.), you can see how the change looks like on the live page.
You can see the change in real-time via virtual smartphone screen on the right side, as you can see on the GIF below.
Extra Blocks on Link in Bio Builder
Another feature you can access on ClickWhale link in bio builder after upgrading to the pro version is extra building blocks.
After upgrading, you will see two two blocks called Blog Posts Feed and Social Profiles.
As you can guess. You can use the Blog Posts Feed block to display your content on your page. While for Social Profiles block, you can use it to add social media icons to your page.
You will see a new tab called Social Profiles on the link in bio builder screen where you can add your social media links.
Ability to Remove ClickWhale Branding
The link in bio builder feature of ClickWhale is undoubtedly great. But there is an annoying thing you have to deal with if you stick with the free version: ClickWhale branding.
For a professional purpose, the branding attribute like the one above is absolutely not good. But there is nothing you can do about with it until you upgrade to the pro version.
You can actually disable the ClickWhale branding with a single click via the settings page. However, the option is only accessible after you upgrade.
In addition to the ability to remove the ClickWhale branding, the pro version also offers an ad-free user experience.
For your information, you will see a floating banner on the screens belong to ClickWhale inside your WordPress dashboard. The banner itself is not too annoying. Still, editing a page — or shortening a link — without seeing the banner is much more joyful.
ClickWhale Free vs Pro
We have elaborated the features available on the free version and the pro version of ClickWhale. To make it even easier for you to find the differences between the two versions, you can take a look at the following table.
| Features | ClickWhale Free | ClickWhale Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Link categories | ✅ | ✅ |
| Link prefix | ✅ | ✅ |
| Link attributes | ✅ | ✅ |
| Redirection type | ✅ | ✅ |
| Link migration | ✅ | ✅ |
| Click counts | ✅ | ✅ |
| Page views | ✅ | ✅ |
| Detailed statistics | ❌ | ✅ |
| Tracking code inserter | ❌ | ✅ |
| Remove branding | ❌ | ✅ |
| Social media icons | ❌ | ✅ |
| Live preview | ❌ | ✅ |
By the way, you can get the pro version of ClickWhale on its official website.
How much?
Depending on how many websites you want to install ClickWhale on. If you only want to install on a single site, then you only need to spend $69 per year (equal to $5.75 per month). For three sites, you need to spend $129 per year.
For 10 sites, you need to spend $249 per year.
If you really hate subscription-based model payment option, ClickWhale also offers a one-time purchase option for lifetime updates. Great to save yearly expense.
By the way, before you make the purchase of ClickWhale Pro, you can try it first. For free. Without entering your card info. You can do so by clicking the View Demo button on the ClickWhale website.
ClickWhale uses InstaWP to give you a temporary access of the pro version. The temporary access lasts for 8 hours.
ClickWhale Use Cases
We have discussed about ClickWhale at length so far. One question, does the plugin really helpful?
To find out whether ClickWhale is the plugin for you or not, we have two use cases below.
Affiliate Marketing
Let’s say you are an affiliate marketer that focus on recommending SaaS products. You have a product that you love so much. You have created multiple blog posts and mention the product on each of them to recommend it to your audience.
One day, unexpectedly, your favorite product developer — where you also joined the affiliate program of — makes a decision to switch to another affiliate platform (e.g., from PartnerStack to CellExpert) and you are asked to replace your affiliate link.
Now, imagine how long it takes to edit the posts where you mentioned the product on.
But that’s not the case if you use ClickWhale.
Instead of editing every single post only to replace your affiliate links, you only need to make the edit once. You only need to edit the destination/target link.
Thanks to the HTML redirection mechanism, you don’t need to replace the links you have added to your posts.
This is what we call working smartly.
To Track a Campaign
Above, we have covered about the advanced statistics feature of ClickWhale — which provides two metrics:
- Link click counts
- Page views
The feature allows you to check the statistics of those metrics during a specific period. This feature is useful when you are running a certain campaign (e.g. Facebook Ads).
You can make use of the feature to, for instance, track how many times a button click was clicked during the campaign period.
To do so, you can simply filter the report to show the statistics only during the campaign period.
Conclusion — Is ClickWhale Really That Good?
ClickWhale is a great plugin for affiliate marketers looking to shorten their affiliate links. It is also a useful plugin for social media influencers who are looking for a Linktree alternative.
Not only you can use the plugin to shorten long links and create a link in bio, but you can also use it to monitor your campaigns thanks to its built-in statistics feature, which makes the plugin to be a more usable solution for marketing campaign needs.
What is ClickWhale offering is not really new, actually.
In the same plugin category, you already have plugins like Pretty Links and ThirstyAffiliates. But sometimes, we need a better solution over a popular tool already exists in the market. Because usability matters more than popularity.
If ClickWhale is intended to be an alternative to the two mentioned plugins, then it has been doing a great job. The plugin offers a better experience. All of the features are on-point. Its free version is great.
More importantly, it doesn’t add unnecessary elements to the native WordPress feature — like what Pretty Links and ThirstyAffiliates with block editor — that ruin the original editing experience.
ClickWhale Pros and Cons
No product is perfect, however.
While ClickWhale is overall is great plugin, some downsides exist, still. One of which is the migration feature.
When we tested this feature to import links from ThirstyAffiliates, it didn’t include the link prefix, leaving the links didn’t work when we deactivated the ThirstyAffiliates plugin.
Also, there is no option to open a link in a new tab.
Here are the pros and cons of ClickWhale.
ClickWhale Pros:
- Free version is not required when use the pro version
- Great link management feature
- On-point features
- Superb link in bio builder
- Better user experience
ClickWhale Cons:
- Migration feature needs improvement
- No option to open link in a new tab
- A little compatibility issue with caching plugins
Once again. If you want to try the pro version of ClickWhale, you can click the View Demo button on its official website. Or you can simply click here.
