Short Links
Short links let you turn any long URL into a clean, trackable link you can share anywhere — in emails, social posts, SMS messages, QR codes, or paid ads. Beyond
Short Links
Short links let you turn any long URL into a clean, trackable link you can share anywhere — in emails, social posts, SMS messages, QR codes, or paid ads. Beyond just shortening URLs, Linkzly gives you full control over how your links behave: who they redirect, when they expire, what analytics they collect, and how they appear when shared on social media.
Creating a Short Link
- In the left sidebar, click Short URLs.
- Click the Create Short URL button in the top-right corner.
- The link creation form opens. Fill in the Basic Configuration fields at the top, then configure options across the four tabs — Routing Rules, Security, Tracking, and Social Media — as needed.
- Click Create to save your link.
Basic Configuration
The Basic Configuration section appears as a card above the tabs and contains the core settings for your short link.
| Field | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Destination URL | The full URL you want to shorten. Must begin with http:// or https://. Maximum 2,048 characters. |
Required |
| Title | An internal label to help you identify this link in your dashboard. Not visible to visitors. Maximum 255 characters. | Optional |
| Custom Domain | Select one of your verified custom domains from the dropdown. If you leave this unset, your link will use the default linkz.ly domain. |
Optional |
| Description | Internal notes about this link — for example, which campaign it belongs to or what it promotes. Maximum 500 characters. | Optional |
Below the Basic Configuration card, you can also set:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Custom Alias / Short Code | Set a memorable path for your link — for example, linkz.ly/summer-sale. If left blank, a short code is generated automatically. Must be 3–50 characters; only letters, numbers, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) are allowed. |
| Tags | Add one or more tags (up to 10, max 50 characters each) to organize and filter your links in the dashboard. |
Tips for the Destination URL: Paste the full link exactly as it should open in a browser. Query parameters, anchors (#section), and subpaths are all preserved.
Tips for the Custom Alias: Choose something short and descriptive. Once a short code is claimed, it cannot be used by another link in your workspace. If your chosen code is already taken, you'll be prompted to pick a different one.
Tab 1: Routing Rules
The Routing Rules tab lets you route different visitors to different destinations based on their context — without creating multiple separate links. A single link can send iOS users to the App Store, Android users to Google Play, German-speaking visitors to a localized page, and everyone else to your main website.
Rules are evaluated in priority order from highest to lowest. As soon as a visitor matches a rule, they are routed according to that rule's action and no further rules are checked. You can reorder rules by dragging and dropping them — the rule at the top of the list is evaluated first.
Rule Types
| Rule Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Platform | Target specific platforms or browsers. Route visitors by operating system (iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux) or browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge). |
| Geographic | Target users by country or region. Route visitors based on their detected country using standard country codes. |
| Time-based | Schedule link behavior by time. Route visitors based on the day of the week, the time of day, or both. Set a timezone so the schedule respects your audience's local time. |
| Device | Target specific device types. Route visitors based on whether they are on a mobile, desktop, tablet, TV, or console device. |
| Referrer | Target based on traffic source. Route visitors based on the domain that referred them — by exact match or by partial match. |
| A/B Test | Split traffic for testing. Distribute visitors across two or more destination URLs using percentage weights. Weights must add up to 100%. |
Example use cases:
- Platform: Send iOS users to the Apple App Store and Android users to Google Play, while all other visitors land on your web page.
- Geographic: Send visitors from Germany to a German-language version of your page; all other countries see the English version.
- Time-based: During business hours (Monday–Friday, 9 AM–6 PM), route visitors to a live chat landing page. Outside those hours, send them to a contact form.
- Device: Send mobile visitors to a mobile-optimized landing page and desktop visitors to your full website.
- Referrer: Visitors arriving from your email newsletter go to a newsletter-exclusive offer page; everyone else sees the standard product page.
- A/B Test: Send 50% of visitors to landing page version A and 50% to version B to test which converts better.
Rule Actions
Each rule ends with an action that determines what happens when a visitor matches it:
| Action | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Redirect to URL | The visitor is immediately sent to a different destination URL you specify. |
| Block Access | The visitor sees a blocked-access page and is not redirected anywhere. |
| Track Only | The visitor is allowed through to the default destination, but the rule match is logged in your analytics. |
| Delay Redirect | An interstitial page is shown to the visitor for a set amount of time before they are redirected. |
Tip: If no rule matches a visitor, they are sent to the default destination URL you set in the Basic Configuration section.
Tab 2: Security
The Security tab lets you restrict access to your link or limit how long it remains active.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Password Protection | Require visitors to enter a password before being redirected. Visitors who enter an incorrect password are shown an error and cannot proceed. |
| Expiration Date | Set a future date and time after which the link stops redirecting. Visitors who click an expired link will see an expiration notice. |
| Maximum Clicks | Deactivate the link automatically after it has been clicked a set number of times. Must be a positive whole number. Once the limit is reached, the link shows a "limit reached" notice to new visitors. |
| Public Short URL | When enabled, makes this link publicly discoverable. When disabled (the default), the link is accessible only to those who have the URL. |
You can combine these settings — for example, a password-protected link that also expires after 7 days.
Tab 3: Tracking
The Tracking tab controls what data Linkzly collects when someone clicks your link, and lets you set UTM parameters to pass to your analytics platform.
Click Tracking Settings
| Setting | Default | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Click Tracking | On | Records every click on this link, including timestamp and referring URL. Turn this off only if you need a purely anonymous redirect. |
| Bot Filtering | On | Automatically excludes known bot and crawler traffic from your click counts and analytics. This keeps your data accurate by removing automated requests. |
| Detailed Analytics | Off | When enabled, collects extended visitor data: geographic location, device type, browser, and operating system. Enabling this gives you richer reports but collects more visitor information — review your privacy policy before enabling. |
UTM Parameters
UTM parameters are tags you append to a URL so that analytics platforms (such as Google Analytics) can identify exactly where your traffic came from. When you fill in these fields, Linkzly automatically appends the correct parameters to your destination URL — you don't need to manually edit the link.
Use UTM parameters any time you're running a campaign and want to measure performance by source, channel, or creative.
| Field | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| UTM Source | Identifies which platform or publisher sent the traffic. | google, newsletter, instagram |
| UTM Medium | Identifies the marketing channel. | cpc, email, social, banner |
| UTM Campaign | The name of the specific campaign. | spring_sale, product_launch |
| UTM Term | The paid search keyword that triggered the ad. Primarily used for paid search campaigns. | buy_running_shoes |
| UTM Content | Differentiates between multiple links or ads that point to the same URL — useful for A/B testing creatives. | hero_banner, sidebar_cta |
Note: If your destination URL already contains UTM parameters, the values you enter here will override them.
Tab 4: Social Media
When your short link is shared on social platforms such as Twitter/X, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Slack, those platforms read the destination page to generate a preview card. The Social Media tab lets you override that preview with your own custom content — which is especially useful when the destination page doesn't have its own social tags, or when you want different messaging for different campaigns.
| Field | Description | Max Length |
|---|---|---|
| Open Graph Title | The headline shown on the social preview card. | 255 characters |
| Open Graph Image URL | A direct URL to the image displayed in the preview card. Use a publicly accessible image; recommended size is 1200 × 630 pixels. | 500 characters |
| Open Graph Description | The supporting text shown below the title in the preview. | 500 characters |
If you leave these fields empty, social platforms will pull preview content directly from the destination URL.
Managing Short Links
The Links List View
The Short URLs page displays all of your links in a table with the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Short URL Details | A combined column showing the link's title, a preview of the destination URL, and any assigned tags. |
| Short URL | The shortened link itself — the actual URL your visitors click. |
| Analytics | The total recorded click count for this link, with a button to view detailed analytics. |
| Status | The current state of the link (see status badges below), with a toggle to quickly enable or disable the link. |
| Created | The date and time the link was created. |
| Actions | The ⋮ menu for per-link actions. |
Status badges:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active (green) | The link is live and redirecting visitors normally. |
| Inactive (red) | The link has been manually disabled. |
| Expired (gray) | The link's expiration date has passed. |
| Limit Reached (gray) | The link's maximum click count has been hit. |
Search and Filters
- Search: Type in the search bar to filter links by title, short code, or destination URL.
- Status filter: Use the status dropdown to show All, Active Only, or Inactive Only links.
- Sort: Sort the list by Date Created or Click Count, in ascending or descending order.
Per-Link Actions
Click the ⋮ menu on any link to access the following actions:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Open Link | Opens the short link in a new browser tab so you can test it. |
| Edit | Opens the link editor. All fields are editable after creation. |
| QR Code | Opens the QR code generator for this link, where you can download a QR code to use in print or digital materials. |
| Analytics | Opens the per-link analytics page for this link. |
| Delete | Permanently deletes the link. This action cannot be undone and requires confirmation. |
Bulk Actions
Select multiple links using their checkboxes, then use the bulk action toolbar that appears to apply changes to all selected links at once:
- Enable — Mark selected links as active.
- Disable — Mark selected links as inactive.
- Archive — Archive all selected links, removing them from your main view without deleting them.
- Unarchive — Restore previously archived links back to your main list.
- Add Tags — Add one or more tags to all selected links in one step.
- Remove Tags — Remove one or more tags from all selected links in one step.
- Delete — Permanently delete all selected links (confirmation required).
Up to 100 links can be included in a single bulk operation.
Archive vs. Delete
Archive is a reversible soft-removal. Archived links no longer appear in your main list but can be found and restored from the archive view at any time. Use archive when you want to tidy up your workspace without losing a link permanently.
Delete is permanent. Once a link is deleted, all associated data — including its short code, settings, and click history — is gone and cannot be recovered. A confirmation prompt is shown before deletion completes.
Editing a Short Link
To edit a link, click the ⋮ menu and select Edit, or click directly on the link's row to open it.
- Every field — including the destination URL, title, routing rules, UTM parameters, security settings, and social media metadata — can be changed after the link is created.
- Your analytics history is preserved when you edit a link. Existing click data is not affected.
- You can change the custom alias / short code at any time, as long as the new code is not already in use by another link in your workspace.
Viewing Link Analytics
Click Analytics from the ⋮ menu on any link, or click the analytics button in the Analytics column, to open that link's dedicated analytics page.
The per-link analytics page shows:
- Total clicks and unique visitors over the selected time period
- Time-series chart displaying clicks over time (hourly, daily, or weekly views)
- Geographic breakdown by country and region
- Device types — Mobile, Desktop, Tablet breakdown
- Browser breakdown — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and others
- Operating system breakdown
- Top referrers — the domains that sent the most traffic
- UTM breakdown — click distribution by UTM source, medium, and campaign (only available when UTM parameters are set on the link)
For workspace-level analytics across all your links — including aggregate trends, top-performing links, and cross-link comparisons — see the Analytics & Reporting section of this documentation.
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