Designing Short URLs for Long-Term Campaigns
Learn how to design short URLs that stay trustworthy and measurable for months or years—naming, redirects, analytics, governance, and safe migrations.
Short URL Foundations
Learn how shortened URLs are built, why custom domains matter, and the operational details behind redirects. These guides reflect production experience building and managing short links.
What you will get here: clear explanations, practical trade-offs, and mistakes to avoid when shortening and tracking links.
What You’ll Learn
Domains & Branding
How to choose a domain that is memorable, safe, and SEO-friendly for long-term use.
Redirect Behaviour
How 301/302 and page redirects affect analytics accuracy, caching, and user experience.
Tracking Integrity
How UTMs, referrers, and privacy constraints can change what you measure and what you miss.
These guides stay practical: when a pattern is risky or outdated, it is explained along with safer alternatives.
Guides in This Category
Each guide is written to help you apply concepts directly to real campaigns and production systems.
Short Links and Spam Filters: Why Some URLs Get Blocked
Short links often fail due to spam filters. Learn why URLs get blocked, how reputation works, and how to design short links users and filters trust.
Short URLs and Trust: Why Users Hesitate to Click
Short links often trigger doubt. Learn why users hesitate to click short URLs, how trust is formed, and how branded domains and redirects change behavior.
Redirect Chains and Performance: How Many Is Too Many?
Redirect chains slow down pages, break analytics, and hurt SEO. Learn how many redirects are too many, why chains form, and how to fix them.
Short Link Expiration & Lifecycle Management
Learn how to manage the full lifecycle of short links. Discover when links should expire, how redirects age, and how to avoid broken trust, SEO loss, and tracking failures.
Choosing the Perfect Custom Domain for Your Short Links
A practical guide to choosing a memorable domain, with branding, deliverability, and long-term SEO considerations.
How HTTP Redirects Work Under the Hood
An in-depth explanation of 301 vs 302, caching behaviour, and what can break attribution in real traffic.
Redirects, Analytics, and Attribution: What Breaks Your Tracking
Redirects can silently destroy your analytics. This guide explains how redirects affect attribution, UTM parameters, and conversion tracking — and how to fix it.
New articles are added over time. If you have a question or request, visit the Contact page.
Why We Created This Category
There are many “what is a short URL” articles, but fewer from people who have built and operated short-link systems. This category shares first-hand lessons, including mistakes, so you can avoid common pitfalls and build something that lasts. Learn more about the site.
Editorial note: The focus is practical accuracy and real-world constraints. Platform- or policy-dependent guidance is called out explicitly.