How do WhatsApp click-to-chat links (wa.me) work?
A click-to-chat link opens a WhatsApp conversation with your number without the person having to save it as a contact. The format is https://wa.me/<number>, where the number is in full international form with no plus sign, spaces, brackets or dashes. Adding ?text= pre-fills a message they can edit before sending.
The number format is where these break
Digits only, including the country code, with nothing else: no leading plus, no zeros stripped from or added to the national number, no spaces or dashes.
A UK number written 07700 900123 becomes 447700900123. The leading zero is national notation and is dropped when the country code is present.
Most broken wa.me links are broken for this reason alone.
Pre-filled messages
Appending ?text= puts words in the box ready to send. They are editable — this is a suggestion, not a hidden payload.
The text has to be URL-encoded, so spaces become %20 and punctuation needs escaping.
A pre-filled message is genuinely useful for routing: "I am asking about the Tuesday class" tells you what the enquiry is before anyone types.
What they do NOT do
They do not create an opt-in. Somebody clicking a link and messaging you has started a conversation; they have not agreed to receive marketing.
They do not work with a number that is not on WhatsApp — the link opens and fails, which is a confusing experience worth testing before publishing.
They carry no tracking of their own. If you need to know which link someone came from, use a different pre-filled text per placement.
Where they belong
An Instagram bio, an email signature, a printed menu, a website button. Anywhere the alternative is asking someone to save a number first.
The friction they remove is real: saving a contact before messaging is a step most people will not take for a question.
A wa.me link points at your number, so the conversation lands wherever that number is answered — including a PingPlug shared inbox, where the whole team sees it instead of one phone. Different pre-filled text per placement is the simplest way to see which channel is producing enquiries.