How to replace your button link with the WhatsClicks link

Why replace the button link?

Right now your WhatsApp button probably points straight to an address like wa.me or api.whatsapp.com. When someone clicks, they go directly to WhatsApp and you have no record of what happened along the way.

When you replace that address with the WhatsClicks link, the click passes through the counter first. It records the click and takes the person straight to the WhatsApp chat with your number. For the person clicking, the experience stays the same. For you, a count is born that shows up on the Summary tab of the dashboard.

The swap does not require installing any program and does not depend on a plugin. In essence, you only change an address in a field. That is why the same method works for sites built by an agency, by page builders and by online stores, and you can undo it whenever you like.

What you need on hand before starting

The swap is simple, but it goes more smoothly with everything ready. Gather these items before opening your website editor.

• A WhatsClicks account with at least one link created, on the Links tab.
• The address of your link, shaped like https://whatsclicks.com/w/code, copied from the list of links.
• Access to your website editor, whether it was built with WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Elementor or another builder.
• A list of where WhatsApp buttons exist: top of the page, footer, floating button, contact page, product pages.

Have not created your link yet? Do that first, following the article on how to create your account and first link.

How do you replace the button link, step by step?

Each platform has different screens, and the menu names may vary depending on the version. So the steps below are a general rule for any editor.

1. Log in to your website's editing panel and open the page that has the WhatsApp button.
2. Select the button. It usually opens an options panel on the side or a settings window.
3. Look for the button's link, address or URL field. It is the field that currently holds the WhatsApp address.
4. Delete the old address and paste the WhatsClicks link in its place. Check that no piece of the old address is left at the end.
5. Save or update the page. In some editors you also need to publish for the change to go live.
6. Repeat the process for every WhatsApp button on the site.

Save the old address in a notepad before deleting it. If something goes wrong, you can simply paste it back.

How do you test that the swap worked?

After publishing, test as a visitor would. Open your site page in a new tab, preferably on a phone, and click the button.

At the end of this test you should see two things. The first is the WhatsApp chat opening with your number and the first message you chose. The second shows up in the dashboard: open the Summary tab, look at the Today card and check that there is at least one click.

If the chat opened but the click did not appear, wait a few moments and refresh the dashboard. If it still does not show, go back to the editor and check that the button really has the WhatsClicks link. Sometimes the site shows a cached version, and the old page keeps appearing until it refreshes.

• The owner's own click counts. Your test will show up in the count.
• Search engine crawlers and known bots are not counted.

How do you know which button and page the click came from?

If your site has several buttons, it is worth telling them apart. To do that, add optional tags at the end of the link: ?p=/page says which page, and &src=top names the button. Under each link in the dashboard there is an address builder that creates this for you.

An example: the top button on the pricing page can use the link with ?p=/pricing&src=top, and the footer button on the same page can use &src=footer. On the Summary tab, the By page and By button tables start showing this split.

What if the button is somewhere else, like social media?

The same link works anywhere you share your WhatsApp, such as a social media bio, an email signature or an ad. Just paste the WhatsClicks address into the website or link field.

If you want to know where clicks came from, create a separate link for each place, with a clear name. The Where clicks came from table shows the domain of the site where the button was, and the By link table shows the total for each one.

If you delete a link in the dashboard, it stops working. Replace the address on your site before deleting. If you only want to stop counting, pause the link: it still takes people to WhatsApp but stops counting.