diff --git a/src/plugins/links/kibana.jsonc b/src/plugins/links/kibana.jsonc
index a1e59cff9dc3..a058db8a03ce 100644
--- a/src/plugins/links/kibana.jsonc
+++ b/src/plugins/links/kibana.jsonc
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
       "uiActionsEnhanced",
       "visualizations"
     ],
-    "optionalPlugins": ["triggersActionsUi"],
+    "optionalPlugins": ["triggersActionsUi", "usageCollection"],
     "requiredBundles": ["savedObjects"]
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/links/public/components/dashboard_link/dashboard_link_component.tsx b/src/plugins/links/public/components/dashboard_link/dashboard_link_component.tsx
index 4ad4608080b5..30977b593238 100644
--- a/src/plugins/links/public/components/dashboard_link/dashboard_link_component.tsx
+++ b/src/plugins/links/public/components/dashboard_link/dashboard_link_component.tsx
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import useAsync from 'react-use/lib/useAsync';
 import useObservable from 'react-use/lib/useObservable';
 
 import { EuiButtonEmpty, EuiListGroupItem } from '@elastic/eui';
+import { METRIC_TYPE } from '@kbn/analytics';
 import {
   DashboardLocatorParams,
   getDashboardLocatorParamsFromEmbeddable,
@@ -22,7 +23,13 @@ import {
   DEFAULT_DASHBOARD_DRILLDOWN_OPTIONS,
 } from '@kbn/presentation-util-plugin/public';
 
-import { Link, LinksLayoutType, LINKS_VERTICAL_LAYOUT } from '../../../common/content_management';
+import {
+  DASHBOARD_LINK_TYPE,
+  Link,
+  LinksLayoutType,
+  LINKS_VERTICAL_LAYOUT,
+} from '../../../common/content_management';
+import { trackUiMetric } from '../../services/kibana_services';
 import { useLinks } from '../links_hooks';
 import { DashboardLinkStrings } from './dashboard_link_strings';
 import { fetchDashboard } from './dashboard_link_tools';
@@ -97,9 +104,9 @@ export const DashboardLinkComponent = ({
   /**
    * Dashboard-to-dashboard navigation
    */
-  const { loading: loadingOnClickProps, value: onClickProps } = useAsync(async () => {
+  const onClickProps = useMemo(() => {
     /** If the link points to the current dashboard, then there should be no `onClick` or `href` prop */
-    if (link.destination === parentDashboardId) return;
+    if (!link.destination || link.destination === parentDashboardId) return;
 
     const linkOptions = {
       ...DEFAULT_DASHBOARD_DRILLDOWN_OPTIONS,
@@ -118,6 +125,8 @@ export const DashboardLinkComponent = ({
     return {
       href,
       onClick: async (event: React.MouseEvent) => {
+        trackUiMetric?.(METRIC_TYPE.CLICK, `${DASHBOARD_LINK_TYPE}:click`);
+
         /**
          * If the link is being opened via a modified click, then we should use the default `href` navigation behaviour
          * by passing all the dashboard state via the URL - this will keep behaviour consistent across all browsers.
@@ -132,26 +141,19 @@ export const DashboardLinkComponent = ({
         if (linkOptions.openInNewTab) {
           window.open(href, '_blank');
         } else {
-          locator.navigate(params);
+          await locator.navigate(params);
         }
       },
     };
-  }, [link]);
+  }, [link, dashboardContainer.locator, linksEmbeddable, parentDashboardId]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (loadingDestinationDashboard || loadingOnClickProps) {
+    if (loadingDestinationDashboard) {
       onLoading();
     } else {
       onRender();
     }
-  }, [
-    link,
-    linksEmbeddable,
-    loadingDestinationDashboard,
-    loadingOnClickProps,
-    onLoading,
-    onRender,
-  ]);
+  }, [link, linksEmbeddable, loadingDestinationDashboard, onLoading, onRender]);
 
   const id = `dashboardLink--${link.id}`;
 
@@ -178,7 +180,7 @@ export const DashboardLinkComponent = ({
       }}
       iconType={error ? 'warning' : undefined}
       iconProps={{ className: 'dashboardLinkIcon' }}
-      isDisabled={Boolean(error) || loadingOnClickProps}
+      isDisabled={Boolean(error)}
       className={classNames('linksPanelLink', {
         linkCurrent: link.destination === parentDashboardId,
         dashboardLinkError: Boolean(error),
diff --git a/src/plugins/links/public/components/external_link/external_link_component.tsx b/src/plugins/links/public/components/external_link/external_link_component.tsx
index ac409cfbac4c..4af95c83cc32 100644
--- a/src/plugins/links/public/components/external_link/external_link_component.tsx
+++ b/src/plugins/links/public/components/external_link/external_link_component.tsx
@@ -9,15 +9,21 @@
 import React, { useMemo, useState } from 'react';
 import useMount from 'react-use/lib/useMount';
 
+import { EuiListGroupItem } from '@elastic/eui';
+import { METRIC_TYPE } from '@kbn/analytics';
 import {
-  UrlDrilldownOptions,
   DEFAULT_URL_DRILLDOWN_OPTIONS,
+  UrlDrilldownOptions,
 } from '@kbn/ui-actions-enhanced-plugin/public';
-import { EuiListGroupItem } from '@elastic/eui';
 
+import {
+  EXTERNAL_LINK_TYPE,
+  Link,
+  LinksLayoutType,
+  LINKS_VERTICAL_LAYOUT,
+} from '../../../common/content_management';
+import { coreServices, trackUiMetric } from '../../services/kibana_services';
 import { validateUrl } from './external_link_tools';
-import { coreServices } from '../../services/kibana_services';
-import { Link, LinksLayoutType, LINKS_VERTICAL_LAYOUT } from '../../../common/content_management';
 
 export const ExternalLinkComponent = ({
   link,
@@ -78,6 +84,8 @@ export const ExternalLinkComponent = ({
       onClick={async (event) => {
         if (!destination) return;
 
+        trackUiMetric?.(METRIC_TYPE.CLICK, `${EXTERNAL_LINK_TYPE}:click`);
+
         /** Only use `navigateToUrl` if we **aren't** opening in a new window/tab; otherwise, just use default href handling */
         const modifiedClick = event.ctrlKey || event.metaKey || event.shiftKey;
         if (!modifiedClick) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/links/public/plugin.ts b/src/plugins/links/public/plugin.ts
index 6569f6d76780..f72f45d4c6a2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/links/public/plugin.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/links/public/plugin.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { DashboardStart } from '@kbn/dashboard-plugin/public';
 import { DashboardContainer } from '@kbn/dashboard-plugin/public/dashboard_container';
 import { EmbeddableSetup, EmbeddableStart } from '@kbn/embeddable-plugin/public';
 import { PresentationUtilPluginStart } from '@kbn/presentation-util-plugin/public';
+import { UsageCollectionStart } from '@kbn/usage-collection-plugin/public';
 import { VisualizationsSetup } from '@kbn/visualizations-plugin/public';
 
 import { APP_ICON, APP_NAME, CONTENT_ID, LATEST_VERSION } from '../common';
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ export interface LinksStartDependencies {
   dashboard: DashboardStart;
   presentationUtil: PresentationUtilPluginStart;
   contentManagement: ContentManagementPublicStart;
+  usageCollection?: UsageCollectionStart;
 }
 
 export class LinksPlugin
diff --git a/src/plugins/links/public/services/kibana_services.ts b/src/plugins/links/public/services/kibana_services.ts
index 76acd242f757..7536c1226279 100644
--- a/src/plugins/links/public/services/kibana_services.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/links/public/services/kibana_services.ts
@@ -8,12 +8,13 @@
 
 import { BehaviorSubject } from 'rxjs';
 
+import { ContentManagementPublicStart } from '@kbn/content-management-plugin/public';
 import { CoreStart } from '@kbn/core/public';
 import { DashboardStart } from '@kbn/dashboard-plugin/public';
 import { EmbeddableStart } from '@kbn/embeddable-plugin/public';
 import { PresentationUtilPluginStart } from '@kbn/presentation-util-plugin/public';
-import { ContentManagementPublicStart } from '@kbn/content-management-plugin/public';
 
+import { CONTENT_ID } from '../../common';
 import { LinksStartDependencies } from '../plugin';
 
 export let coreServices: CoreStart;
@@ -21,6 +22,11 @@ export let dashboardServices: DashboardStart;
 export let embeddableService: EmbeddableStart;
 export let presentationUtil: PresentationUtilPluginStart;
 export let contentManagement: ContentManagementPublicStart;
+export let trackUiMetric: (
+  type: string,
+  eventNames: string | string[],
+  count?: number
+) => void | undefined;
 
 const servicesReady$ = new BehaviorSubject(false);
 
@@ -42,6 +48,8 @@ export const setKibanaServices = (kibanaCore: CoreStart, deps: LinksStartDepende
   embeddableService = deps.embeddable;
   presentationUtil = deps.presentationUtil;
   contentManagement = deps.contentManagement;
+  if (deps.usageCollection)
+    trackUiMetric = deps.usageCollection.reportUiCounter.bind(deps.usageCollection, CONTENT_ID);
 
   servicesReady$.next(true);
 };
diff --git a/src/plugins/links/tsconfig.json b/src/plugins/links/tsconfig.json
index be7692c7fa43..f839243325d0 100644
--- a/src/plugins/links/tsconfig.json
+++ b/src/plugins/links/tsconfig.json
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
     "@kbn/core-plugins-server",
     "@kbn/react-kibana-mount",
     "@kbn/react-kibana-context-theme",
+    "@kbn/analytics",
+    "@kbn/usage-collection-plugin",
     "@kbn/visualizations-plugin",
     "@kbn/core-mount-utils-browser"
   ],