Tracking offsite links

[wingnut101]

What options are there for tracking clicks on links that go offsite? I am currently using www.bingr.com to get these reports, which is good, except ideally I would prefer to link directly to the 3rd party site rather than through a redirect if possible. My log analysis program (WebLog Expert) does not give me any data on offsite links, probably because those clicks are not recorded by the server.

[bellybuttonlint]

i personally use something called: stuffed tracker

google it, read about it.

[kostis]

Bingr - Interesting tip - thanks

[ronburk]

• Redirect. Have the link go to a server whose logs you can examine, and have the server redirect the request to the ultimate destination. Pretty much works with any client.
  
• JavaScript. Have the "onClick" event do a GET to some associated URL on your server, in addition to doing a "real" GET to the ultimate destination. Only works with clients that have JavaScript enabled.
  

Hmmm. Can't seem to think of any other real usable solution.

[wingnut101]

ronburk, will the javascript option count every click, or can I somehow identify unique visitor clicks? The reason I ask is because for some pay per click links, I only get paid if it is a unique IP, and this is what I would like to track. With Bingr, i get this data, but I have to use a redirect.

As for the redirect option, that's the part I would ideally like to get away from - i'd preferably want it to look like a normal link to the visitor. If I'm going to use a redirect, then I might as well use the bingr link.

Stuffed Tracker looks pretty sweet, I might inquire about whether I can install that on the server I am on.