10. Link Shortener Setup

Connect to your preferred link shortening tool in seconds. 

1. Navigate to Integrations>Link Shorteners to set up your preferred link-shortening tool.

2. Please note that your default selection will likely be “No Link Shortener” unless you connect to an external platform or choose our home-grown shortener, ctrly.io as your default.

Our FREE Ctrly.io Shortener

Your account comes pre-set with our homegrown shortener, Ctrly.io – it also gives you the option to use Lytl.io, our alternative short domain. There are a lot of advantages to using our shortener, including costs and some advanced targeting features.

Watch this video to see your advanced options with Ctrly.io

How It Works with Ctrly.Io

Connection is automated and comes pre-activated with your account

Connecting to our shortener is automatic. When you create your account with us, select Ctrly.io as your default shortener – that’s all!

No more set up, no multiple accounts, no extra passwords to remember.

Need a Custom Domain? No problem. How it Works:

• Please go to the Shorteners’ page, available to you from our Integrations menu.
• You will see two icons available under the Ctrly.io shortener, select the domain-related one as shown in the image:
• Click it to go to the Domain Setup Page

• Next, enter your domain. You do not have to enter redirect or 404 unless this has been set up as pages.
• Once you add your domain, it will show in the Domain Names list as “pending
• You are ready to provide your IT team with the IP address described in step 3 below:

• That’s all – the minute you confirm the domain has been pointed to the IP address above, we will activate your SSL and you can start using it! Easy-peasy!

Advanced Link Editing Features You Need

Our shortener offers advanced geo-targeting options, password options, link expiration options, as well as ability to have vanity/alias links. All of these options are available for free and accessible via our link editing panel.

To access the panel you need to tag and shorten your link, then click on the edit button next to your short link:

Geo-targeting, Device-targeting, Password Protection, Link Expiration

Once inside the link editing panel, use the available options to protect your link with a password, create a vanity short link, customize your links based on device or geo-region, and more. Don’t forget to use our advanced reporting function to complement your GA insights.

•  Custom alias (replace the unfriendly combo of characters after the domain with a meaningful word)

• Password – password-protect your shortened link if the content you are sharing is sensitive.
• Expiration date – assign an expiration date after which the link will no longer be accessible to anyone who has it – if you have short-lived campaigns or times informational asset you have shared
• Geo-targeting – assign aliases/links that are the SAME as long links, but as short link allow you to report for each geo area separately
• Device targeting – change your aliases based on whether you are targeting users on mobile versus desktop for a higher level of granularity.

Ctrly.io Reports – Also in Your Export .CSV Files

Our Shortener account level stats are available from the Report menus. The campaign-level stats are available via the Ctrly.io reports tab on your campaign page:

Reports show you picture of your page, as well as link-level clicks

Requesting a Vanity (Branded) Domain for Your Ctrly Short Links

In addition to adding customized aliases to the ctrly.io link, you can also use our lytl.io domain to add aliases. This means that the main url will always stay the same (ctrly.io or lytl.io), but what comes AFTER the “/” can be made to look more meaningful and friendly.

For those customers who would like to have further customization by using their own vanity domain (i.e. their own branded short domain instead of ctly.io or lytl.io), the process works as follows:

– Send us an email at support @campaigntrackly.com with the following information:

•  email/name of CampaignTrackly account owner/superadmin
• email us your domain exactly as you have purchased it + the IP address of the domain

Shortener Alternatives

You Can Use Bitly, Short, and Rebrandly

You need to have an active account with Bitly to be able to connect with it. No code is required to setup the connection. All you need to do is click on the green button “Add Bitly account”, and you will be guided through a friendly and secure authentication method that takes seconds. Only you have access to your own account. We have no access to your passwords.

Short is Another Shortener Gaining Popularity

Short.io is a great alternative to Bitly. We like that they provide FREE custom domains and their reports are really nice.

How to add Short.io to CampaignTrackly

• You need to have an active account with Short. Once you create a free account, decide on your domain.

• Retrieve Your Secret Code from the API tab in Short.io

• Copy the Code

• Go to Campaigntrackly’s Settings. Paste it into CampaignTrackly and add your new custom domain.

• You are connected and ready to start using Short.io

• Enjoy the Nice Reports that Short.io offers as well.

Rebrandly

Connecting to Rebrandly follows a similar fashion. If you already have an account with them, make sure you generate an API key.

Then, login to your CampaignTrackly account, head over to Settings, and provide your preferred custom domain, as well as your API key.

Let us know if you have any comments or questions. Happy tracking. This concludes our Link shortener tutorial. Please proceed to the next section to continue your onboarding process.