Supercharge Your Online Presence: Top 7 Link-Shortening Hacks for Marketers

Created on 14 January, 2025 • 181 views • 10 minutes read

Learn 7 powerful link-shortening hacks to boost engagement, track performance, and enhance your marketing impact

In today's digital world, managing your online presence is crucial for marketers. One simple yet effective tool to enhance your marketing efforts is the link shortener. By transforming long, unwieldy URLs into concise, branded links, you can improve user engagement and track campaign performance more efficiently.

Why Link Shorteners?

Link shorteners are tools that condense lengthy URLs into shorter, more manageable links. But today, they offer many other features like customization and analytics, making them valuable assets in a marketer's toolkit.

Top 7 Link-Shortening Hacks for Marketers

1.     Customize Short URLs for Branding

A Branded Short URL is a shortened URL customized to include your brand name or an abbreviation, making it easily recognizable. Creating branded short links enhances trust and reinforces brand identity. For example, Pepsi uses pep.si as their shortened domain, and YouTube employs youtu.be

Why Use Them: Branded URLs enhance brand recognition and trust. They make your links look professional and increase the likelihood of clicks.

For instance, a link like amzn.to is instantly associated with Amazon, while bit.ly/companyname can be tailored to represent corporate links.

These URLs help maintain brand consistency, increase consumer trust, and drive better engagement. For instance, nyti.ms reflects content from The New York Times, building trust and credibility.

Branded short URLs transform plain, generic links into powerful marketing tools that can do wonders for your brand recognition and success.

Use a link-shortening service that allows custom domains to create personalized short URLs reflecting your brand.

Services like SuperLinkTree and bit.ly offer free, high-quality link-shortening with customization options.

2.     Short Link Analytics - Track Link Performance with Analytics

Tracking short link analytics can provide valuable insights into audience behavior and the performance of your marketing campaigns.

Short Link Analytics offers insights into link performance by tracking metrics like engagement totals, geographic data, referring channels, device types, and time of access.

Why Track Them: These analytics help marketers understand which links get the most clicks, identify content that resonates with the audience, decode audience behavior, and optimize marketing spend.

For example, understanding geographic and demographic data can aid in crafting personalized messages for specific markets. For instance, a restaurant chain might notice that links sent in email campaigns to New York receive more clicks, prompting them to focus marketing efforts on that region.

Using a URL-shortening service like SuperLinkTree, you can turn long URLs into short, manageable links. Superlinktree's analytics provide detailed insights into each shortened URL's performance, including clicks, scans, referrer data, and more.

For example, a sports brand like Nike could use SuperLinkTree to track the performance of a specific campaign link such as superlinktree/nikepromo to see how well it does across different social media platforms.

Performance parameters include key Metrics such as:

·      Total clicks and scans: For example, if superlinktree/summersale received 1,000 clicks, it reflects its popularity.

·      Clicks and scans by referrer: Analyzing if most clicks for superlinktree /newblog come from Twitter, Facebook, or emails helps in understanding which channel is most effective.

·      Top performing links by clicks and scans: For instance, if out of all the links, superlinktree /wintercollection gets the highest engagement, it indicates high interest in that particular content.

·      Geographic and device data: For example, you might learn that superlinktree /techlaunch has a higher click rate in the US and on mobile devices.

SuperLinkTree offers built-in analytics to help you monitor your links effectively.

Here's a step-by-step guide on shortening the links and using analytics using the free services of SuperLinkTree:

Step 1: Sign in to SuperLinkTree or create an account for free. You can also sign in with your Google account.

Step 2: Select "Shortened links" under the main "dashboard" and then click Shortened URL

Step 3: Paste the URL to shorten in the "Long URL" section and input a name in the "Short URL" section or leave it empty for a randomly generated one. Click Shorten URL at the bottom of the section. On the next page, Your Link is created.

Step 4:  To access your newly created URL, select "Shortened links" under the main "dashboard" and then click Shortened URL (here seen as "Metaverse").

Step 5: Right-click "Your Link is-----" and copy the link address, and you're done. 

Step 6: Log in to your superlinktree account, select "Shortened links" under the main "dashboard," and then click Shortened URL.

Step 10: Click the three dots on the extreme right of the link and select the "Statistics" tab. You will see a dashboard with various metrics, such as Countries, Cities, Devices, and UTMs for the clicks.

Short-link analytics transform data into actionable insights, helping marketers refine their strategies and improve campaign outcomes. By leveraging these analytics, you can better understand and engage your audience, ultimately enhancing your marketing effectiveness.

3.     Implement UTM Parameters for Campaign Tracking

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are tags added to the end of URLs to track the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns across traffic sources. There are five parameters: Campaign, source, medium, term, and content.

Adding UTM parameters to a URL using a 100% free link shortener such as SuperLinkTree helps you track the performance of your marketing campaigns. They help you understand where your traffic is coming from and how users interact with your content.

This practice ensures that when users click on your shortened link, the UTM parameters are passed along, allowing for accurate tracking in analytics platforms.

Below are five UTM parameters:

utm_source: Trtacks the traffic source- Google, FB, or X, etc.

utm_medium: Tracks the traffic medium- Paid search, Organic search, or social media.

utm_campaign: Tracks the specific campaign name- Product launch or a Seasonal sale.

utm_term: Tracks the search terms used if the traffic came from a search engine.

utm_content: Tracks the specific promoted content- e.g., a product or a blog post.

Here's a step-by-step guide on adding UTM parameters along with shortening the links using the free services of superlinktree:

Step 1: Sign in to SuperLinkTree or create an account for free. You can also sign in with your Google account.

Step 2: Select "Shortened links" under the main "dashboard" and then click Shortened URL

Step 3: Paste the URL to shorten in the "Long URL" section and input a name in the "Short URL" section or leave it empty for a randomly generated one. Click Shorten URL at the bottom of the section. On the next page, Your Link is created.

Step 4: Click the "UTM Parameters" tab. 

Step 5: Fill in the required UTM parameters and click the "Update" tab at the bottom.

Step 6: A shortened version of your URL, along with UTM parameters, will be created, and a "Successfully updated" message will appear.

Step 7: To access your newly created URL, select "Shortened links" under the main "dashboard" and then click Shortened URL (here seen as "Metaverse").

Step 8: Right-click "Your Link is-----" and copy the link address, and you're done.

How are Superlinktree's UTM analytics measured?

Here's how you can use Superlinktree's UTM analytics to measure your campaigns:

• Create a SuperLinkTree account and shorten your link with the desired UTM parameters added to the URL.
• Share your shortened link on your desired marketing channels, such as social media, campaigns, email, etc.
• Log in to your superlinktree account, select "Shortened links" under the main "dashboard," and then click Shortened URL.
• Click the three dots on the extreme right of the link and select the "Statistics" tab. You will see a dashboard with various metrics, such as Countries, Cities, Devices, and UTMs for the clicks.
• Filter the analytics by UTM parameters to see how each campaign is performing.

• Filter the analytics by UTM parameters to see how each campaign is performing.

4.    Integrate Shortened Links into Social Media Strategies

Short links look aesthetically pleasing and are easier to share on platforms with character limits like X, Instagram, etc. They make posts cleaner, more memorable, and more professional.

Incorporate branded short URLs in your social media posts to promote content, products, or events. This approach not only saves space but also boosts brand recognition.

Link shorteners help increase your CTR (Click Through Rate) by making your link tidy and well-structured rather than a long and messy one.

In fact, as per the studies, shortened links may increase CTR by as much as 34%.

Link shorteners provide analytics to track performance across social platforms and help analyze engagement. Regular testing and optimization of links allow for improved engagement and results.

5.     Enhance Email Marketing with Shortened Links

Long URLs can appear unprofessional and may be flagged as spam in emails. Incorporating short links into email campaigns can significantly improve their effectiveness by enhancing readability and engagement and providing valuable insights.

What makes short links so valuable for email marketing campaigns?

Shortened URLs offer several advantages:

• Reduce Visual Clutter: Enhances email readability and makes it look more professional.
• Mobile Compatibility: As per a study, 50-60% of emails are opened on mobile devices. Shortened links not only fit better on limited mobile screen space but also boost engagement and email conversions.
• Appealing CTAs: Shortened Links, due to their low character count, increase the likelihood of users taking desired actions.
• Reinforce Branding: Customizable links with branding elements enhance professionalism and brand awareness, encouraging future engagement.
• Analytics and Insights: Shortened links can provide tracking data for A/B testing, helping refine content, CTAs, and digital marketing strategies.

Use short, branded URLs in your email campaigns to make them look cleaner and more trustworthy. Ensure the links are relevant and lead to valuable content for your audience.

6.     Utilize QR Codes for Offline Marketing

Link shorteners can generate QR codes that direct users to your online content, bridging offline and online marketing efforts.

Use the free services of SuperLinkTree to create QR codes linked to shortened URLs for use in brochures, posters, or business cards. This strategy makes it easy for potential customers to access your digital platforms.

Here's a step-by-step guide on creating a QR code for shortened links using the 100% free services of SuperLinkTree:

Step 1: Sign in to SuperLinkTree or create a free account. You can also sign in with your Google account.

Step 2: Select "QR Codes" under the main "dashboard" and then click "Create QR".

Step 3: Select the "URL" tab and paste the shortened URL in the "URL" section. Fill in the other details like "Name" as per your choice. Select if You want a Dynamic QR Code or let it be unchecked for a static one.  Then, you can choose several options, such as Style, Colors, Frame, Branding, and Options, and then hit the "Create" tab.

Step 4: As You select the options, the resulting QR code is visible in the side panel, and you can make the desired changes on a real-time basis.

Step 5: Once you are satisfied with the result, click the "Create" tab at the bottom. A message confirming the successful creation of the QR code appears on the next screen.

Step 6: Click the "Download" button and choose the format for download- SVG, PNG, JPG, or WEBP- and your QR code will be downloaded in the desired format.

Step 7: Before using it in production, test out the QR code with a scanner.

To access your newly created QR code, select "QR Codes" under the main "dashboard,," and your generated QR code will be visible.

7.     A/B Test Different URLs to Optimize Performance

Testing different versions of your links can reveal which ones perform better, allowing you to optimize engagement.

Use A/B testing to compare the performance of various short URLs leading to the same content. Analyze the results to determine the most effective link structures and apply these insights to future campaigns.

By implementing these link-shortening hacks, you can enhance your online presence, improve user engagement, and gain valuable insights into your marketing efforts.

Start optimizing your links today with SuperLinkTree's free, high-quality link-shortening services.

Read: 9 Reasons Why Using QR Codes is Beneficial for Your Business [+ How to use QR Codes]