Understanding Clicks & Generating Clean Reports

Not every recorded click is a real person — some come from bots, link-preview crawlers, or your own testing. URL Shortify separates total from unique clicks and flags bot traffic with an is_robot marker so you can tell genuine engagement from noise. This page explains how clicks are counted, what the free version records, and which cleanup tools (Filter Robots, Excluded IPs, custom date ranges and CSV export) require PRO.

Total clicks vs. unique clicks

URL Shortify records two counts for every link so you can answer two different questions.

Metric	What it counts	Best for
Total Clicks	Every time the link was opened, including repeat visits from the same person	Overall engagement, return visits, traffic volume
Unique Clicks	Distinct visitors, de-duplicated by IP address (repeat visits from the same IP count once)	Reach and campaign awareness — how many individual people you reached

If the same visitor clicks a link 5 times, that is 5 total clicks but 1 unique click. Neither metric is "wrong" — they answer different questions. For most marketing reports, unique clicks give a clearer picture of how many real people you reached.

How URL Shortify handles bots and crawlers

URL Shortify inspects each visitor's user agent and, when it recognises an automated client — search-engine crawlers (Googlebot, Bingbot), link-preview fetchers (Slack, Facebook, iMessage), uptime monitors and similar scripts — it stores the click with an is_robot flag set to Yes.

User-agent detection catches the large majority of automated traffic, but highly sophisticated bots that mimic real browsers can occasionally slip through — a limitation shared by all web analytics tools.

Excluding bots and test clicks (PRO)

Two PRO settings stop unwanted clicks from being recorded in the first place. Both live under URL Shortify → Settings → Reports → Reporting Options.

Setting	Location	Default	What it does
Filter Robots	Settings → Reports → Reporting Options	Off	When enabled, clicks flagged as bots are not recorded, so they never reach your stats
Excluded IP Addresses	Settings → Reports → Reporting Options	(empty)	Clicks from the IP addresses you list — such as your office or your own testing machine — are not recorded

For step-by-step setup, see Filter Out Robot Clicks and Exclude Specific IP Addresses.

Anonymise clicks data (free)

If your concern is privacy rather than accuracy, Anonymise Clicks Data is available in the free version under URL Shortify → Settings → General → Settings. Choose IP to drop the visitor's IP address or All to strip personal identifiers, while still counting the click.

Time filters and history

URL Shortify offers built-in time filters on the stats pages. The free version keeps a rolling 7-day click history; full history and custom ranges are part of PRO.

Filter	What it shows	Availability
Last 7 Days	Rolling 7-day window	Free
All Time	Every click since the link was created	PRO
Custom range	Any start and end date you choose	PRO

To exclude a testing window precisely (for example, the first two days after you created a link), use the Custom date filter on the Link Stats or Group Stats page and set the start date to when real traffic began.

Exporting click data as CSV (PRO)

PRO lets you export a link's or group's click data as a CSV file for spreadsheets, presentations, or sharing with clients. Each row is one click event and includes:

• Date & Time — when the click occurred
• Short URL — the link that was clicked
• Destination URL — where the visitor was sent
• Device, Browser, OS — the visitor's technology
• Country — based on IP geolocation
• Referrer — where the visitor came from
• Robot — whether the click was flagged as bot traffic (1 = bot)

To export:

1. Open the Stats page for a link or group.
2. Go to Clicks Details and click Export CSV.
3. The file downloads automatically, reflecting whatever time filter is currently applied.

Because the Robot column is included, you can filter the spreadsheet by Robot = 0 to produce a client-ready report with zero bot noise — even if Filter Robots wasn't enabled when the clicks were recorded.

Reading your dashboard metrics

The dashboard gives you a snapshot across all links.

Metric	What it means
Total Links	Number of short links you've created
Total Clicks	All clicks across your links (bots included unless Filter Robots (PRO) is on)
Unique Clicks	Distinct visitors, one count per IP per link
Activity Graph	Click volume over time — hover for daily totals (see the activity heatmap)

The Link Stats page breaks this down per link. In PRO, it adds device, browser, OS, country and referrer breakdowns so you can see exactly where your traffic comes from.

Quick tips for clean reporting

1. Wait 24–48 hours after creating a link before reviewing stats — early social-platform previews (Slack, WhatsApp, Twitter) generate bot clicks that inflate initial numbers.
2. Use unique clicks for reach reports — "we reached X unique visitors" is more meaningful to clients than raw click volume.
3. Enable Filter Robots (PRO) so crawler hits never enter your stats.
4. Exclude your own IPs (PRO) so testing doesn't distort the data.
5. Compare total vs. unique — a large gap means your audience is returning repeatedly, a positive engagement signal.

Conclusion

Understanding the difference between total and unique clicks, and knowing that the free version flags but still counts bots, is the key to trustworthy reports. Use the free Anonymise Clicks Data setting for privacy, and reach for PRO's Filter Robots, Excluded IP Addresses, custom date ranges and CSV export when you need production-clean numbers. To compare several links, groups or tags in one report, see Compare Links, Groups or Tags Side by Side.

FAQs

What's the difference between total and unique clicks?

Total clicks counts every time a link is opened, including repeat visits from the same person. Unique clicks counts distinct visitors, de-duplicated by IP address, so five visits from one person count as one unique click. Use unique clicks to measure reach and total clicks to measure overall engagement.

Does URL Shortify remove bot clicks automatically?

Not in the free version. Bot and crawler clicks are detected and flagged with an is_robot marker, but they are still recorded and counted in your totals. To stop bot clicks being counted, enable the Filter Robots setting, which is a PRO feature under Settings → Reports.

How do I stop my own test clicks from being counted?

Add your IP address to the Excluded IP Addresses field under URL Shortify → Settings → Reports (a PRO feature). Listed IPs are never recorded. Alternatively, if you only need to exclude a past testing window, use a Custom date range (PRO) on the stats page and start it from when real traffic began.

Can I export my click data to a spreadsheet?

Yes, with URL Shortify PRO. Open the Stats page for a link or group, go to Clicks Details, and click Export CSV. Each row is one click with date, device, browser, OS, country, referrer and a Robot flag. Filter by Robot = 0 in your spreadsheet for a bot-free report.

How far back can I see clicks in the free version?

The free version keeps a rolling 7-day click history on the stats pages. Full history, including All Time and Custom date ranges, is available in URL Shortify PRO. The dashboard activity heatmap, however, is free and shows a year of daily click intensity.

Does anonymising clicks data reduce my counts?

No. Anonymise Clicks Data (a free setting under Settings → General) still records and counts the click — it only drops the visitor's IP address or other personal identifiers. Your total and unique click counts remain intact; you simply store less personal data.