How to check solo ad traffic quality
You paid for 500 clicks.
How many
were people?
To check solo ad or bought traffic, send it through a tracking link you control, one link per order, rather than trusting the seller’s report. Then read four numbers: clicks recorded against clicks promised, how many were unique, how many came from proxies, VPNs or data centres, and how many visitors opted in. Divide what you paid by the clicks that held up and by the leads you got: that cost, compared between sources, tells you where to spend next time. Below: why bought clicks need checking, how to set up the link, what each signal means, a calculator that compares two sources, and a section for OLSP Academy students sending traffic to their Megalink.
By the Builderify team
Why a “delivered” click
isn’t always a visitor.
Google defines invalid traffic as “traffic that doesn’t represent genuine interest in your business”, from automated software mimicking people to clicks made only to run up a bill. Every source of bought clicks carries some, whoever sells it and however honest they are, because email clients, link scanners and bots open links too.
So the question isn’t whether a source has some, it is how much, and whether what is left turns into leads at a price that works for you. A seller’s report can’t answer that; a link only you control can.
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01
Repeat clicks
The same person, or the same machine, clicking several times. Counted once each would look like more traffic than you got.
Shows up as a gap between total and unique clicks.
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02
Machines, not people
Link scanners in email systems, servers in data centres and automated software, often from addresses that belong to hosting companies.
Shows up as hosting or data-centre flags.
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03
Hidden origins
Clicks routed through proxies and VPNs. Some are real people protecting their privacy; a lot of them from one order is worth a question.
Shows up as proxy or VPN flags.
How to track solo ad clicks
with a link you control.
The rule is one tracking link per order. Give the seller that link instead of your page’s own address, and everything that arrives through it is that order’s traffic, counted by you.
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1
Make a short link per order
Point it at your squeeze page or offer page. Name the ending after the order, such as /s/vendor-a-oct, so the report reads itself months later.
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2
Give the seller the short link
Send the order to the short link, not to your page. If you run two orders at once, two links keep them apart.
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3
Count your opt-ins for the same window
From your squeeze page, autoresponder or the platform your page is on, for the days the order ran.
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4
Read the report after the order finishes
Total, unique, flagged, country and device, for the order’s dates. Then put the numbers in the calculator below.
A link on a domain you own, such as go.yourname.com, also keeps working if you ever change tool, which matters once it is in someone else’s emails. The Bitly free plan guide covers why, and has a free UTM builder: put UTM tags on the destination address if you also use Google Analytics.
Five signs of real or
low-quality solo ad traffic.
No single number proves traffic is fake. Read them together, and above all compare sources with each other: the same page, the same week, two sellers.
| Signal | Read it as | But remember |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded vs promised | Fewer than promised is a delivery shortfall. Far more than promised, quickly, deserves a closer look at the rest. | Some sellers add a bonus on purpose; check what they said. |
| Unique share | Unique clicks over total. A low share means the same addresses kept clicking. | People on one office or mobile network can share an address. |
| Proxy and VPN flags | Clicks whose address looks like a proxy, VPN or relay. | Privacy-minded people use VPNs. A few is normal; a large share from one order is not. |
| Data-centre flags | Clicks from addresses owned by hosting companies, where servers and bots live. | Some business networks route through cloud providers. |
| Leads per real click | The one that pays the bills: opt-ins divided by clicks that weren’t flagged. | Your page and offer matter as much as the traffic; compare sources on the same page. |
Countries and devices are the sixth check: if you ordered clicks from one country, the country list on your link shows whether that is what arrived.
Which traffic source
actually cost less?
Type in two orders from your link reports. The calculator works out what each real click and each lead cost, and marks the better source on every line. The example numbers are made up; replace them with yours.
| From your reports | ||
|---|---|---|
| Delivered vs promised | 102% | 108% |
| Unique share | 84% | 65% |
| Flagged share | 8% | 25% |
| Real clicks (unique, not flagged) | 388 | 217 |
| Cost per real click | $0.52 | $0.92 |
| Opt-in rate on real clicks | 15.7% | 8.8% |
| Cost per lead | $3.28 | $10.53 |
| Commissions minus cost | −$60 | −$200 |
Vendor A brought leads at $3.28 each against $10.53 from Vendor B. Put the next order there, and track it the same way.
Real clicks subtract both flags from unique clicks. A click can carry both flags, so this errs on the cautious side. A flag is a signal from the visitor’s address, not proof; use it to compare sources, not to accuse a seller.
Checking the traffic you send
to your OLSP Megalink.
If you learn affiliate marketing with OLSP Academy, your Megalink and squeeze page come with OLSP’s own tracking for clicks, leads and sales. That tells you how your link is doing overall. What it can’t tell you is which of the places you sent traffic from earned its keep.
Put a separate short link in front of your Megalink for each source: one per solo ad order, one for each traffic package, one for your Facebook posts. Each link sends visitors on to the same Megalink, so OLSP still counts every lead, and your short-link reports show which source sent unique, unflagged clicks.
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01
Copy your Megalink
From your OLSP dashboard, the link you would normally share.
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02
Make one short link per source
Same destination, different ending: /s/solo-oct, /s/fb-group, /s/reels.
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03
Share the short links, not the Megalink
Give each seller or post its own link.
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04
Line the reports up after a week
Unique and flagged clicks from your short links next to the leads OLSP shows for the same days. Then use the calculator above.
Short links work without a website of your own. Leads from several sources arrive together in OLSP, so compare sources over different days, or ask each seller for their order dates.
A free click tracker
that flags the doubtful ones.
Builderify Short Links records every click on a link and sends the visitor straight on, with no notice page. Each click is checked against its address: one link’s report shows unique clicks, how many look like a proxy or VPN, how many come from a data centre, and countries, regions, cities, devices, browsers and referrers, for the last day, week, month or 90 days.
Short links have no charge of their own: no per-link or per-click fee, on 250 free credits a month, with one-time packs from $9 if you use the rest of the platform. Links use Builderify’s shared short domain until you connect your own.
What it records
- Every click, and unique clicks: the first from each address in 24 hours
- Proxy or VPN, and data-centre flags, from the visitor’s address
- Country, region and city; device, browser and system; referrer
- Click detail kept for 400 days, so you can compare this order with last season’s
- Your own ending for each link, and its destination changeable at any time
Know this first
- Flagged clicks still count in the total; the report shows them alongside it
- Flags come from an address lookup after the click; some clicks get no answer
- It counts clicks, not opt-ins or sales: take those from your page or OLSP
- No chart by hour, and no automatic refund claims
- Links are made one at a time; there is no import or API
Sending traffic to a page you own instead? User Journey follows each visitor through the site, and the conversion tracking guide shows how to count sign-ups by page.
Checking bought traffic, before you ask.
Send each order through a tracking link you control instead of your page's own address, then compare four numbers: clicks recorded against clicks promised, unique clicks, clicks flagged as proxy, VPN or data centre, and opt-ins. Divide what you paid by the clicks that held up and by the leads, and compare sources on the same page.
A click from an address that has not clicked the same link recently. In Builderify Short Links a click is unique when it is the first from that address in 24 hours, so repeat clicks from one person or one machine are counted once.
No. Privacy-minded people use VPNs, and some business networks route through cloud providers. A flag is a signal from the visitor's address, not proof. A few in an order is normal; a large share from one source, alongside few opt-ins, is worth raising with the seller.
Make a separate short link for each traffic source, all pointing at your Megalink, and share those instead of the Megalink itself. OLSP Academy still counts your leads, and each short link's report shows the unique and flagged clicks that source sent.
Builderify Short Links records every click with unique clicks, proxy or VPN and data-centre flags, country, device, browser and referrer, with no per-link or per-click charge on 250 free credits a month. Flagged clicks still count in the total and are shown alongside it.
Stop losing the visitors
you already paid for.
More leads from the traffic you already have, and follow-up that sends itself. Free to start. No card, no monthly fee.