How to Shrink URL Links – A Comprehensive Guide, Tips, FAQs & More   

In this post, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide on how to shrink URL links with Pixelfy.

We’ll also discuss:

• Link tracking
• Link retargeting
• Link rotation

These are all features of URL shorteners that can help push your brand forward. 

It’s important to note that even with other URL shorteners, the shortening process is more or less the same.

How to Shrink URL Links with Pixelfy? (A Step-by-Step Guide) 

If you’d like to shorten a link with Pixelfy quickly, it takes little to no time at all. 

Firstly, you must go to the Pixelfy website and register an account. Once that’s done, go ahead and log in. 

Then, just follow the rules provided below to use our Fast Shortener tool. You’ll get your shortened link in seconds:

Step 1: Once you log in, you’ll be at the dashboard page for Pixelfy. From here, you have access to all of the features Pixelfy has to offer in the left-hand side toolbar. 

If you look to the top of the dashboard page, you’ll see an input bar that says “Fast shortener”. 

Step 2: Copy and paste your long URL that you want to shrink into the Fast shortener box. Once you paste it into the box, you should be directed to the next page. If you are not automatically redirected to the next page, click the “Shorten” button.

Step 3: You’ll receive the shortened link on the next page that you can copy and then, use wherever you want. 

Please note that Pixelfy also generates a QR code for the shrunken link that you can also download on this page. 

When to Use Custom URL Shorteners?

The more observant of you may have noticed that the shortened URL you receive through the Fast Shortener tool contains Pixelfy branding. This is because the Fast Shortener tool is only used to create generic shortened URLs. 

However, there are situations where such generic shortened URLs don’t get the job done properly. In these cases, you need custom or branded URLs. 

Pixelfy can also create branded URLs and we’ll explain how you can do so in the next section. However, for now, you must figure out when to use generic URLs and when to use custom ones. 

If you’re a brand or a person that’s trying to promote their personal brand, it’s always preferable to use branded links instead of generic ones. 

Generic shortened URLs ruin brand cohesion. 

It’s paramount that when you advertise your brand to somebody your identity is at the forefront of all of your content. This includes the links that you share as well. 

Custom URLs do a lot for brand cohesion and are also much easier to remember. They promote sharing and as we discussed, put your brand at the forefront of your content. Thus, your brand is able to stick in the minds of consumers much more effectively. 

How to Create a Custom URL with Pixelfy?

As mentioned earlier, you can create custom URLs with Pixelfy. 

For that, you have to utilize the Any URL Shortener from the Pixelfy dashboard. 

Please note that before you connect a custom domain to Pixelfy, you must first have that domain registered with a domain name registrar. You must also have it live through a web hosting service for the branded URLs you generate to be functional.

Connect a Custom Domain to Pixelfy

To connect a custom domain to Pixelfy, follow these steps: 

Step 1: On the dashboard page for Pixelfy, select “Custom domains” from the left-hand side toolbar.

Step 2: After a brief introduction to the Custom domains feature, you’ll be asked to input the name of the custom domain that you wish to connect.

Enter the name of the custom domain that you have chosen for your brand.

Step 4: Once you enter it, you’ll receive a prompt that asks whether or not there’s any content present on the custom domain already or not. 

Step 5: If you have not published anything yet, select “No” and click on “Next”.

Step 6: Now, click on “Add domain”. Your custom domain will be added to your Pixelfy account and you can now use it to generate branded URLs.

Step 7: If you do already have content published within the domain, then you’ll receive a warning message.

It’ll state that you cannot use the domain to shorten URLs since you already have content published on it. In this case, you’ll have to opt for a subdomain.

Step 8: Click on “Use subdomain”. Another page will appear where you’ll be asked to input your subdomain. Enter your subdomain and then click on “Next”.

Now, you’ll have a subdomain that you can use to create branded URLs. 

In both of these cases, you are now set to create custom URLs to use within branded content on social media platforms, email newsletters, blogs, and more.

Create a Branded URL with Pixelfy

To create a branded URL with Pixelfy, follow the steps provided below: 

Step 1: Click on “All tools” in the left-hand side toolbar of your dashboard page.

Step 2: Choose the Any URL Shortener. 

If you want quicker and easier access to the tool in the future, you can check the “Show this tool” option so that it always shows in the left-hand side toolbar.

Step 3: When you get to the Any URL Shortener, you’ll be asked to input the original URL and a title for the shortened link. 

The title will help you distinguish it from other shortened links that you have made in the past and the ones you’ll make in the future. 

Apart from the title, you can also use link tags to distinguish particular shortened links from others. These come in very handy when you need to figure out which links belong to which marketing campaign, etc.

Step 4: To utilize your custom domain or subdomain that you connected previously, you must click on “Advanced options”.

Step 5: From the drop-down list, the domain or subdomain that you connected to your Pixelfy account should be available for you to use. Go ahead and choose it.

Step 6: After it is selected, the first part of your shortened URL will be that domain or subdomain. The second part is free for you to edit.

Typically, brands use the second part to signify what the web page is about such as a product, an offer, an online store, etc.

Step 7: Take a look at all the settings and ensure that everything is according to your needs. Then, once you’re satisfied, click on “Generate” to create your branded link.

The Features and Benefits of URL Shorteners 

We’ve already discussed at length how custom URL shorteners are used by brands to advertise themselves to the masses. Let’s discuss in further detail why custom URL shorteners are so essential to brands worldwide.

We’ll also discuss some other features that many URL shorteners have and how they can benefit you.

Let’s get started:

Customization 

We’ve discussed in detail above what custom URL shorteners are and how they can help you create a custom shortened URL. 

As a brand that’s looking to cement its name within the consumer’s mind, it’s very important that every part of your marketing content bears your identity. This includes your color scheme, your text, and the pictures or videos you choose to share. 

The links you share are not exempt from this. 

That means that any links you share within your social media posts, email newsletters, blog, etc. should mention your brand. This can easily be achieved through the use of custom URL shorteners. 

Not only do custom URL shorteners help increase brand awareness and recognition, but they also increase trust in the consumer. This is because a generic URL could lead anywhere whereas, with a branded link, a consumer can tell who it’s from and where it leads to. 

Custom URLs are known to have up to 34% higher click-through rates than generic shortened URLs.

Thus, they are definitely a great tool that you’re missing out on if you’re not using them.

Tracking and Reporting 

For any brand, it’s super important to monitor statistics and trends. This doesn’t just include trends of your specific niche market but also the trend of your own company. 

Whenever you launch a new product or run a new marketing campaign, you share and disseminate information about your brand. It’s imperative that you are able to monitor your progress and determine how well your campaign is doing. 

You need to gauge performance in order to improve. 

If you have no access to any statistics or metrics from past campaigns, that means you don’t know what worked well and what didn’t. As a result, you won’t know whether you should change something for future campaigns or not. 

Thus, it’s important to have some sort of system in place that can track link performance by monitoring its impressions, shares, and clicks. Luckily, many URL shorteners do just that. 

Most paid URL shorteners these days come with advanced tracking features that track the visitors that go to your web page by clicking your shortened links. 

The information tracked can be used in a couple of ways.

Firstly, this information can be used to judge your current marketing campaign. If you notice that the metrics are doing well, then you can choose to continue the campaign as usual. If they’re not satisfactory, then you can choose to modify your campaign on the fly. 

This often leads to much more successful and effective campaigns. 

Secondly, you can use user information such as geographical location, age, etc., to build customer personas for future campaigns. You can also conduct all sorts of data analyses to figure out what types of approaches work well with what types of demographics. 

All of these deductions can help you be much better prepared for future campaigns.

Retargeting 

Link retargeting is the practice of adding a piece of code or a tracking pixel into a shortened URL. 

Then, when a user clicks on the URL, they are tagged for some amount of time. This tag can then be used to serve ads to them at a later time.

Link retargeting is a less obvious approach which is why it’s so effective. 

It reinforces your brand image in the consumer’s mind and furthermore, reminds them of it. If they were on the fence about your product(s), a well-timed ad like that could end up with them making a purchase from you. 

Many URL shortener tools allow you to add a retargeting pixel to your shortened URL so that you can serve retargeted ads to your site’s visitors. 

Rotation 

Link rotation refers to when the same URL leads to different versions of a web page. The percentage of people that can see one web page or the other will depend on you and what type of settings you set. 

Oftentimes, brand owners and digital marketers like to use the link rotation feature of URL shorteners to run A/B testing. This refers to when different types of techniques are used to determine which one works better. 

Link rotation can be insanely useful for research and testing such as these. This is something that many brands use all the time. 

It’s a feature that some URL shorteners have and others don’t. However, it’d be best if you find one that can do this for you, as your brand can benefit heavily from it. 

Conclusion

There are many URL shorteners that you can utilize to shrink URLs.

However, if you intend to use a URL shortener for long-term purposes, it’s important that you assess why you want one in the first place. No one wants to buy a URL shortener that doesn’t fulfill all their requirements. 

Hence, account for all of your needs first and then browse the market to find a URL shortener that has all the features you want. 

Do tell us about your experience in the comments below.