Channel · WhatsApp
The link opens the chat. Not the tally.
Building a link that opens a WhatsApp conversation takes a minute, and the platform's own help gives the exact format. Knowing how many people clicked it — and which ones bought — is written nowhere: that is the second half of this page.
How a click-to-WhatsApp link is written
Six points, as they read in the official help. The examples are its own, numbers and all.
| What you want | What the help says |
|---|---|
| Open a conversation | "Use https://wa.me/<number> where <number> is a full phone number in international format" |
| Write the number | "Don't include any zeroes, brackets, or hyphens" — the example to follow: https://wa.me/1XXXXXXXXXX, and the one to avoid: https://wa.me/+001-(XXX)XXXXXXX |
| Pre-fill the message | https://wa.me/whatsappphonenumber?text=urlencodedtext, where the text is "the pre-filled message encoded in URL format" |
| A message without a recipient | "To create a link with only a pre-filled message, use https://wa.me/?text=urlencodedtext" — the person then chooses who to send it to |
| Where it works | "Click-to-WhatsApp links work on phones and WhatsApp Web," and without having the number "saved in the address book" |
| The brand button | It exists, it must not be modified ("use the button as-is"), and the same page notes: "for now, the Chat on WhatsApp button is only available on Android in Brazil" |
What this help page does not do — and that is what the rest of this page is about: it counts nothing. No statistics, no dashboard, no usage data — we have not recorded any and we will not invent any.
Checked on September 12, 2026 in WhatsApp help, « Comment utiliser les liens clic vers WhatsApp » — the original page. Platforms change their rules: if what you see no longer matches, the source wins.
The full chain
Subtraq
The link you share
The conversation that opens
One link to share, and it is yours. It counts the click, then sends to the wa.me address you pasted as the destination — preset message and all, exactly as the WhatsApp help writes it.
Why this one, more than the others
A click that leaves no trace
On other channels, an analytics tool sometimes guesses the origin of a visit because the click comes from a web page. Here, it comes from a conversation: there is no source page to declare. That is not a WhatsApp rule — it is the mechanics of a URL opened from an app. And that is why the most personal channel is also the most blind.
A tracked link reverses the situation: the origin is no longer guessed, it is decided when you create the link. One link for your message signature, one for the site button, one for the shop poster — three rows at the end of the day, and you know which of the three did the work.
We will not describe what WhatsApp does with the URL after that — in-app view or the device browser, we have not looked into it. It changes nothing about the measurement: a link is a URL, and it is counted the moment it is opened.
Channel: WhatsApp
When you create the link, you choose its channel — “where you’ll publish it.” WhatsApp becomes a row in the overview, with its clicks, prospects, and sales; and each place you’ve shared the link, a row beneath it.
The method
Three steps, one minute
Measurement starts at the first click — it cannot backfill yesterday's shares.
Write the wa.me address
The number in international format, no leading zero, no brackets, no hyphens — that is the rule from the WhatsApp help. Add "?text=" followed by your encoded message if you want it to appear pre-filled.
Create the tracked link pointing to it
Channel: WhatsApp. Paste the full wa.me address as the destination. One link per place you share it, if you want to know which one brings in conversations.
Open it once from your phone
That is the one step we cannot do for you, and it takes ten seconds: check that the chat opens and that the pre-filled message appears exactly as you wrote it.
The three objections
"Why not just use the wa.me address directly?"
"Will my pre-filled message survive the redirect?"
"An unknown link in a conversation — no one clicks it."
Frequently asked questions
How do I create a link to a WhatsApp conversation?
By writing https://wa.me/ followed by the number. The WhatsApp help, recorded on September 12, 2026, gives the rule: "a full phone number in international format," and "do not include any zeroes, brackets, or hyphens." The example to follow is https://wa.me/1XXXXXXXXXX; the one to avoid is https://wa.me/+001-(XXX)XXXXXXX.
Can you count clicks on a WhatsApp link?
Not with a wa.me address alone — we have found no statistics in the documentation for those links. By routing the click through a link of your own, yes — and not just clicks: the prospect and the sale that follow, tied to where you shared the link.
How do I shorten it without breaking the pre-filled message?
By pasting the full wa.me address, "?text=" included, as the tracked link's destination — and never touching the address by hand afterward. One thing to know, measured in our code: the redirect appends the click ID to the destination URL and rewrites its query string, where "%20" becomes "+". Open the link once from your phone before publishing it.
Do you have to pay to create a WhatsApp link?
No: the wa.me format is public and documented by WhatsApp, it costs nothing and needs no tool. What Subtraq adds is the measurement — and the free plan includes a domain of your own, no credit card required.
Do you need to save the number in your contacts?
No. That is actually the point of these links: the help explains that they let you "start a chat with a person without having their phone number saved in the address book." The WhatsApp account does need to be active, though.
What about a WhatsApp Business account?
The link format we recorded does not distinguish between account types, and we will not describe the Business app's screens — we have not looked into them. On the measurement side, nothing changes: the tracked link points to the address, whatever account is at the other end.
I manage a client's WhatsApp: where does the data go?
Into their workspace, separate from the others — their links, their clicks, their sales, their report. You see everything; they only see theirs.
Your WhatsApp link, measured.
Create the link, paste the wa.me address as the destination, share it. Every conversation opened will have a row, and every sale its source.
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