Tracking Freebies on Dropbox for Free

Hey Bloggers and Instagramers! Do you use Dropbox to share downloadable Freebies with readers when the Freebie is small or you don't want to make thumbnails and write descriptions for TPT? And have you been frustrated because the free version of Dropbox does not let you track how many times the Freebie has been shared? Well, today, for my Monday Made It, I am going to show you how you can track it for FREE!

A Free Tracking Hack

Upload the downloadable item you want to share on Dropbox, like you already do.

Click the blue SHARE button for the link that you usually embed on your blog so people get your item when they click. But this time, don't embed THAT link!

Go to Google URL Shortener to get a simplified link– most people already do this for IG.

Enter the Dropbox link so that Google simplifies it. You are not doing this just to get a shortened link, but to know how many times that link is clicked because Google URL Shortener lets you track that link for FREE.

Embed the shortened link on your blog or IG profile so it is what people click to download your freebie.

Now when you go back to Google URL Shortener, you'll see your item link and how many times it has been clicked on by readers. Ta-da!

It is true that when someone clicks on the link it does not necessarily mean they downloaded the item. They were interested enough, though, to take a closer look. Knowing the number of clicks tells me if the Freebie was generally desirable. And although my number of followers is one indicator of readers reached, knowing how many are interested in what I'm giving away is another indicator of how many people are interested in what I share.

This is one bloggy trick I didn't read about anywhere. I just stumbled upon Google URL Shortener when needing to simplify a link, and then realized that they track it for you. That got me thinking about how that info can be applied, and voila. I wish I had known about it earlier, so I share it with you now. I bet you can think of other ways to use this tip, too. Happy tracking! PIN so you remember!

Scoot on back to Monday Made It at Fourth Grade Frolics and find more good stuff! Thanks, Tara!

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