What’s the risk of link tracking in cold outreach?

Link tracking creates deliverability risks specific to cold email contexts.

How link tracking adds risk:

URL rewriting: Original links become tracking redirects

Third-party domains: Tracking domains may have poor reputation

Pattern recognition: Filters identify common tracking structures

Redirect chains: Multiple hops raise suspicion

Shared domain problems:

Many users share the same tracking domain

One bad actor affects everyone's deliverability

Accumulated poor behavior damages shared reputation

No control over others' sending practices

Risk mitigation:

Custom tracking domain: Use your own domain for tracking

Limit tracked links: Track only essential links

Monitor tracking domain: Check reputation regularly

Consider disabling: Skip click tracking for maximum deliverability

When tracking may be worth it:

High-volume testing where data drives optimization

Established sender reputation that can absorb some risk

Click data critical to business decisions

For most cold email, reply tracking provides sufficient insight without the deliverability cost of link tracking.