Custom short links are a great way to promote your brand, enhance your marketing campaigns, and build trust with your audience. By using branded domains and custom slugs, your short links not only look more professional but also help improve brand visibility and recall. In this article, we’ll show you how to create custom short links on URLShortly to boost your branding efforts.
Why Custom Short Links Matter
Custom short links offer several advantages over generic links:
Brand Recognition: Using your own domain name makes your links easily recognizable and trustworthy.
Enhanced Credibility: Branded links appear more professional, which can increase your audience's confidence in clicking the link.
Better User Experience: Custom slugs make the link more descriptive, giving users a better idea of what the link leads to.
Tracking and Analytics: Custom short links can still be tracked in URLShortly’s analytics dashboard, so you can measure their performance.
Step 1: Set Up a Custom Domain for Your Short Links
The first step in creating custom short links is setting up a custom domain. Here’s how to do it:
Purchase a Domain: If you don’t already have a domain for your brand, purchase one from a domain provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap).
Access Your URLShortly Account: Log in to your URLShortly account and go to the Settings section.
Custom Domain Setup: In the settings menu, find the Custom Domain option. Click on it to enter the domain setup page.
Verify Domain Ownership: You will be asked to verify that you own the domain by adding a DNS record. This ensures that the domain is correctly linked to your URLShortly account.
Add DNS Records: Follow the instructions provided by URLShortly to add the necessary DNS records to your domain’s settings.
Once your domain is verified, it will be linked to your URLShortly account, and you can start using it to create custom short links.
Step 2: Create a Custom Short Link
Now that your custom domain is set up, it’s time to create a custom short link. Follow these steps:
Log in to Your URLShortly Account: Go to your URLShortly dashboard.
Click on ‘Create Link’: This will allow you to create a new short link.
Enter the Long URL: Paste the original URL that you want to shorten.
Choose Your Custom Domain: You’ll see an option to select your custom domain from the list of available domains. Choose the custom domain you set up earlier.
Create a Custom Slug: The slug is the part of the short link that comes after the domain name. You can customize it to make it more descriptive and relevant to the content. For example, instead of a generic slug like
abcd1234, you could usenew-product-launchorsummer-sale.Click ‘Create’: Once you’ve entered the long URL and custom slug, click on the Create Link button to generate your custom short link.
Step 3: Manage Your Custom Short Links
After creating custom short links, you can manage and track their performance. Here’s how:
View Analytics: On the Analytics page, you can see the click data for all your custom short links, including the number of clicks, geographical location of users, and device type.
Edit Slug: If you want to update or change the custom slug for a short link, simply go to the link management page and edit it.
Delete Links: If you no longer need a custom short link, you can delete it from the dashboard.
Step 4: Best Practices for Creating Custom Short Links
To make your custom short links as effective as possible, follow these best practices:
Keep It Short and Simple: Choose short, easy-to-remember slugs that clearly describe the content of the link. Avoid using unnecessary characters or numbers.
Use Keywords: Include relevant keywords in the slug to make it more SEO-friendly and recognizable to your audience.
Use Branding: If possible, use your brand name or a related term in the slug to increase brand visibility.
Be Consistent: Maintain consistency in the format of your custom slugs. This helps build brand recognition over time.
Avoid Overuse of Custom Links: Use custom short links strategically, as overuse might make your links look spammy.
Step 5: Use Custom Short Links in Your Marketing Campaigns
Custom short links are great for use in a variety of marketing channels. Here are some ways to incorporate them into your campaigns:
Social Media: Share custom short links on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to make your posts look more professional and encourage clicks.
Email Marketing: Use branded links in your email newsletters to increase the trustworthiness of your emails.
SMS and Messaging: If you’re sending short links via text message or messaging apps, branded short links will make your messages appear more legitimate.
Paid Ads: Use custom short links in your paid advertising campaigns (Google Ads, Facebook Ads) to improve the user experience and maintain brand consistency.
Conclusion
Creating custom short links on URLShortly is an excellent way to enhance your brand’s online presence and improve the credibility of your links. With the ability to use your own domain and create custom slugs, you can create branded, easy-to-recognize links that help you track and analyze your marketing efforts. Whether you’re sharing links on social media, email, or through paid campaigns, custom short links will help build trust and encourage higher engagement with your audience.
Start creating custom short links today and elevate your branding with URLShortly!