Customizing your short links not only makes them more recognizable but also adds a professional touch to your marketing campaigns. URLShortly allows you to personalize your links by choosing custom slugs, adding tracking parameters, and even branding them with your domain. This article will walk you through the process of customizing your short links and explain the benefits of doing so.
Why Customize Your Short Links?
Customizing your links offers a range of advantages, such as:
Branding: Customized links allow you to incorporate your brand name or keywords, which increases recognition and trust.
Improved Engagement: Branded and meaningful links are more likely to be clicked, as they look more professional and reliable.
Better Tracking: With custom slugs and tracking parameters, you can monitor the performance of your links with greater precision.
SEO Benefits: Adding relevant keywords to your short links can provide SEO advantages, especially if you’re sharing content on search engines or social media.
Step 1: Create a Custom Slug
A slug is the part of the URL that comes after the domain name. URLShortly gives you the option to choose a custom slug for your short link, which can be anything from a keyword, product name, or a memorable phrase.
Here’s how to create a custom slug:
Log in to your URLShortly account.
Go to the Shorten URL section.
Enter the long URL that you want to shorten.
In the Custom Slug field, type the desired slug (e.g., spring-sale or my-product-name).
Click Shorten.
Your link will now look something like this:https://urlshortly.com/spring-sale
This custom URL is easy to share and remember, making it more effective in your campaigns.
Step 2: Use Your Custom Domain
For a more branded experience, you can also set up a custom domain for your short links. Instead of using the default urlshortly.com domain, you can use your own branded domain (e.g., yourbrand.link).
To set up a custom domain:
Go to your URLShortly dashboard.
Navigate to the Settings or Domain Settings section.
Enter your custom domain name.
Follow the instructions to verify your domain and connect it to URLShortly.
Once connected, all your future short links will use your custom domain, like this:
https://yourbrand.link/spring-sale
Custom domains help build brand recognition and trust with your audience.
Step 3: Add UTM Parameters for Tracking
If you’re running multiple marketing campaigns, adding UTM parameters to your short links can help you track the effectiveness of each campaign. UTM parameters are simple tags added to your URLs to identify the source, medium, campaign, and other details.
For example:
By adding UTM parameters to your short links, you can see detailed analytics on where your clicks are coming from. This information can be valuable in optimizing your campaigns.
Step 4: Customize Link Expiration and Limits
Sometimes, you may want your short links to be time-sensitive or have limited use. URLShortly offers the ability to set link expiration dates and click limits for each short link.
To customize expiration or limits:
Create a short link as usual.
In the settings, choose whether you want the link to expire after a certain date or after a specific number of clicks.
Once the limit or expiration date is reached, the link will no longer work.
This is perfect for promotions, limited-time offers, or event-related links.
Step 5: Add Password Protection to Your Links
For added security, URLShortly allows you to password-protect your short links. This feature is ideal when sharing sensitive information or for exclusive offers.
To add password protection:
When creating a short link, look for the Password Protection option.
Set a password for the link.
Share the password with your audience so they can access the content.
Only people with the password will be able to access the content behind the link, adding a layer of security.
Step 6: Monitor Your Custom Links
Once your custom links are live, you can track their performance in the Analytics section of your URLShortly dashboard. You can view metrics like total clicks, unique clicks, geographic location, and device usage for each customized link.
This data helps you understand how well your customized links are performing and make adjustments if needed.
Conclusion
Customizing your short links with URLShortly is an easy and effective way to enhance your branding, increase engagement, and improve the tracking of your campaigns. Whether you’re using custom slugs, your branded domain, or adding UTM parameters, URLShortly gives you all the tools you need to make your links work harder for you.
Ready to start creating customized short links? Sign in to your URLShortly account and take full advantage of the customization features today!