# Click Analysis in AcelleMail: Links Tab + Geographic Click Map

> AcelleMail has two views for click analysis: the Links tab (per-link breakdown — which CTA worked) and the Map tab (geographic distribution). This walkthrough shows both and tells you which to read for what question.

- Canonical URL: https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/click-map-analysis-optimize-your-email-layout
- Author: Ryan Walsh, Audience & Analytics Editor
- Category: Analytics & Reporting — Open rates, click maps, campaign performance, device reports, exports
- Content type: guide · Difficulty: intermediate
- Tags: Acellemail
- Published: 2026-01-27 · Last updated: 2026-08-15
- Reading time: 7 min
- Publisher: AcelleMail Knowledge Base, https://acellesend.com/kb

---

## What this is for

"Click analysis" in AcelleMail is split across two tabs of the campaign report. **Most other ESPs call this a Click Map** and conflate them; AcelleMail keeps them honest:

| Tab | What it shows | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| **Links** | Per-URL click breakdown — which link in the email was clicked, how often | *"Which CTA worked best?"* |
| **Map** | Geographic distribution — where in the world the clicks happened | *"What's our reach?"* |

There is **no in-email layout heatmap** (a visual overlay showing "people clicked here on the email image") in AcelleMail. The Links tab is the substitute: it groups clicks by URL, and since your email links to different URLs from different blocks, you can infer layout effectiveness from URL data.

This article walks through both tabs.

## The Links tab — which CTA actually worked

Open any sent campaign → **Links** tab. URL pattern: `/campaigns/{uid}/links`.

![Links tab for "Holiday Edition 35" with subtitle "Click tracking and link performance analysis". 4 stat cards across the top: LINKS TRACKED 1 unique URLs · TOTAL CLICKS 146 · CLICK RATE 3.80% (146 unique clickers) · TOP LINK 100% of all clicks. Below: Click distribution donut chart (100% on the single link) on the left, Clicks per link horizontal bar chart on the right showing https://acelle-demo.com/... with 146 clicks. Below those: "All tracked links" section header with a "View click log" link.](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/analytics/06-links-report.png)

The 4 cards at the top:

| Card | What it means | Healthy range |
|---|---|---|
| **LINKS TRACKED** | How many unique URLs your email contained | 1-5 (more dilutes attention) |
| **TOTAL CLICKS** | Sum of all clicks across all links | Use as denominator only |
| **CLICK RATE** | Unique clickers / delivered | 2-5% is healthy |
| **TOP LINK** | % of total clicks captured by your best-performing link | 60%+ = focused message; <30% = scattered |

**TOP LINK is the most diagnostic.** If 100% of your clicks go to one link, your email had one job and did it. If clicks are split across many links (TOP LINK at 25%), the message was too scattered.

### The two charts side-by-side

- **Click distribution (donut)** — visual share of clicks per URL. Hover to see counts.
- **Clicks per link (bar chart)** — ranks URLs by absolute click count. Top bar = best-performing CTA.

### The "All tracked links" table

Scroll below the charts to see the raw table:

| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| URL | Full destination URL |
| Clicks (unique) | Different subscribers who clicked this URL |
| Clicks (total) | All clicks including duplicates (one person clicking twice) |
| CTR | Clicks as % of delivered |
| First clicked / Last clicked | Time of first and most recent click |

**Hard insight:** if Clicks (total) is significantly higher than Clicks (unique), some subscribers clicked the same link multiple times — strong signal of high interest in that destination.

## Pattern: deliberately track multiple URLs

A campaign with only 1 URL tells you nothing about WHICH part of your email worked. Build campaigns with 2-3 distinct URLs to learn:

| Block | URL | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Headline image | `yoursite.com/?utm_content=hero` | Top-of-email engagement |
| Body CTA button | `yoursite.com/?utm_content=cta` | The primary action |
| Footer text link | `yoursite.com/?utm_content=footer` | Bottom-scrollers |

After the campaign, the Links tab tells you which of the three got the most clicks. Iterate by:

1. **Hero pulled more clicks than CTA** → image is your real CTA; make it more obviously clickable
2. **Footer link pulled significant clicks** → some readers skip to the bottom; put your offer there too
3. **CTA pulled most clicks** → your email did its job; replicate the layout

Use UTM parameters on the URLs so you can also trace this in your site analytics. See [Setting Up UTM Parameters](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/setting-up-utm-parameters-for-email-campaign-tracking).

## The Map tab — geographic click distribution

Switch to the **Map** tab. URL: `/campaigns/{uid}/click-map`.

![Map tab for "Holiday Edition 35" subtitle "Geographic distribution of clicks worldwide". 3 stat cards: LOCATIONS 146 unique click points · COUNTRIES 10 reached worldwide · TOTAL CLICKS 146 recorded. Below: "Click locations worldwide" section with "146 markers · Click to see details" hint, then a world map with green dots clustered in North America, Europe, and Asia showing where each click originated.](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/analytics/02-click-map.png)

The Map tab tells you 3 things:

| Card | Use |
|---|---|
| **LOCATIONS** | Number of unique click points — same as TOTAL CLICKS in most cases unless multiple clicks from the same IP |
| **COUNTRIES** | Geographic reach. 10 countries means your audience is global; 1 country means localised. |
| **TOTAL CLICKS** | Same number as on Links tab — cross-reference |

The world map plots each click as a green dot at the click's IP-geolocation. **Click any dot** for details (subscriber email, time, URL clicked).

**What to learn from the map:**

- **Single-country audience?** Schedule campaigns for that country's prime time (see [Campaign Scheduling](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/campaign-scheduling-and-timezone-optimization)).
- **Two-continent split?** Build segments by region and send separate campaigns timed to each.
- **Unexpected geographic cluster** (a tiny country with disproportionate clicks)? Investigate — could be a viral share, an unsubscribed-then-resubscribed cluster, or a bot.

> **Geographic data isn't perfectly accurate.** IP geolocation is approximate, and Apple MPP routing makes Apple Mail subscribers' "locations" all show as Apple's data centers (mostly US). For most campaigns, treat country-level data as accurate, city-level as a rough guide.

## Combining Links + Map for diagnostic reads

The two tabs together answer specific questions:

| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Which CTA worked? | **Links** — TOP LINK + Clicks per link chart |
| Did the audience match our targeting? | **Map** — COUNTRIES + dot distribution |
| Why did the campaign underperform? | **Links** — if all clicks went to footer, your hero didn't hook them |
| Should we localise? | **Map** — if 90% of clicks are in 1 country, yes |
| Is there click fraud / bot activity? | **Map** — clicks all from one obscure location, OR all clicks within 30 seconds of send |

## Layout optimisation — without an in-email heatmap

Since AcelleMail doesn't render a visual layout heatmap, you reconstruct it from URL data + your knowledge of where each URL appears in the email.

**Practical workflow per campaign:**

1. **Plan link placement before send.** Note in a spreadsheet which URL appears in which block:
   ```
   URL 1 — yoursite.com/?utm_content=hero       → headline image (top)
   URL 2 — yoursite.com/?utm_content=primary    → primary CTA button (mid)
   URL 3 — yoursite.com/?utm_content=secondary  → secondary text link (lower)
   URL 4 — yoursite.com/?utm_content=footer     → footer
   ```
2. **After send**, compare click counts. Higher click count = better-performing block.
3. **Iterate**: if footer URL got 30% of clicks despite being last, move that messaging higher in the next campaign.

After 5-10 campaigns of this pattern, you have a "layout heatmap" specific to your audience — derived from data, not assumed.

## Common issues

| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| LINKS TRACKED says 1 but my email had 5 links | The 4 missing links probably weren't tracked because click-tracking was off when you sent. Check the campaign Setup step → Tracking section. |
| CLICK RATE on Links tab differs from Overview tab | Different denominators. Overview "Clicked" stat = unique clickers / delivered. Some derived metrics use total clicks / unique opens. Read the percentage label. |
| Map shows all clicks in 1 location | Either small list / local audience (expected), OR your tracking is being filtered by a proxy. Check the Apple MPP article for proxy IP patterns. |
| TOP LINK is 100% but you had multiple CTAs | All other links got 0 clicks. Bad sign — your other CTAs didn't even register. Make them visually distinct + offer different value. |
| Sudden spike in clicks from one country you don't sell to | Possible click bot. Audit the open log for IP patterns; consider blocking that IP range if it persists. |
| "View click log" returns sparse data | Click log only shows actual click events. A campaign with 5 clicks shows 5 rows; sparse means low engagement, not a bug. |

## What NOT to do

- **Don't put 10 links in one email** to "spread the bet." High link count dilutes attention. 1-3 distinct destinations max.
- **Don't read absolute click counts.** A campaign to 1,000 with 50 clicks is excellent (5% CTR); a campaign to 100,000 with 200 clicks is poor (0.2% CTR).
- **Don't optimise location-targeting from a single campaign's Map data.** Geographic patterns need 3-5 campaigns to be reliable.
- **Don't ignore the Time of first-clicked.** A 0-second first-click is bot-suspicious; legitimate clicks usually arrive minutes-to-hours after send.

## Related articles

- [Read the Campaign Report: AcelleMail Analytics Tour](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/understanding-email-analytics-and-key-metrics)
- [Open Rates + Apple MPP](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/understanding-email-open-rates-in-the-age-of-apple-mpp)
- [Setting Up UTM Parameters for Campaign Tracking](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/setting-up-utm-parameters-for-email-campaign-tracking)
- [Comparative Campaign Analysis: A/B Test Results Deep Dive](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/comparative-campaign-analysis-ab-test-results-deep-dive)

---

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