DEV Community: _s._hyn

7 Things About Developer Marketing That Nobody Warns You About

_s._hyn — Mon, 25 May 2026 05:12:54 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. Honestly, it was a bit of a panic - I had been using the same link for weeks, and suddenly I had no idea what was working and what wasn't. The thing is, I'd been using plain old curl to test my links, but that wasn't giving me any insights into who was actually clicking on them.

Why curl wasn't enough

I'd been using curl to test my links for months, and it had always seemed like enough - I could see if the link was working, and that was all I needed, right? But as it turned out, that was only half the story. I was using a simple Python script to generate my links - just a basic requests call to the destination URL - but that wasn't giving me any information about who was actually clicking on the links. I was essentially flying blind, with no way to know which channels were driving the most traffic. I tried adding some logging to my script, but that just gave me a bunch of IP addresses and user agents - not exactly the most useful information.

The spreadsheet that saved my sanity

I decided to try using a URL shortener to get some more insights into my link traffic. I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that a huge proportion of my traffic was coming from mobile devices - which was surprising, because I'd assumed that most of my users would be on desktop. (I mean, who uses their phone to sign up for a developer service, right?) But it turned out that was exactly what was happening - and once I started optimizing my landing page for mobile, I saw a big increase in conversions. This was weird, because I'd always assumed that mobile traffic would be lower-quality - but it turned out that was just a bias on my part. I also started using custom slugs for my links, which made it way easier to keep track of which link was which - instead of having to deal with a bunch of random characters, I could just use something like /my-link and know exactly what it was.

What actually worked

Using LinkCut to track my links was a game-changer - I could finally see which channels were driving the most traffic, and which links were actually converting. I was surprised to find that one of my Slack channels was driving way more traffic than the others - and that was mostly because I'd posted a link to a popular subreddit, which had sent a bunch of traffic my way. I didn't expect this, because I'd assumed that my other channels would be more effective - but it turned out that was just a mistake on my part. I also found that setting an expiration date on my links was really useful - it meant that I could create links that would only be valid for a certain period of time, which helped me avoid having to deal with stale links.

When this approach falls apart

Look, I'm not going to lie - using a URL shortener isn't always the right choice. If you're dealing with a huge volume of traffic, it might be better to just use a custom solution - and if you're working with sensitive data, you'll want to make sure that your shortener is secure. (I still don't fully understand why some shorteners are more secure than others - but I'm working on it.) And of course, there are always going to be cases where you need more advanced analytics - in which case, a simple URL shortener might not be enough. I'm not sure this is the best approach for every use case, but it worked for me - and that's all I can really say.

The thing is, I'm still figuring out how to use LinkCut to its full potential - and I'm not sure what other features it has that I'm not taking advantage of. Has anyone else hit this exact wall - where they're using a URL shortener, but not really getting the most out of it?

7 Things About Analytics That Nobody Warns You About

_s._hyn — Fri, 22 May 2026 04:53:52 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. Honestly, it was a bit of a panic — I'd been pushing this side project for months, and finally, I was getting some traction, but I had no idea where it was coming from. Look, I know it sounds silly now, but at the time, I thought I was doing everything right, and it wasn't until I dove deeper that I realized just how much I was missing.

The Analytics Black Hole

I was using a basic analytics dashboard, but it wasn't giving me the granular insights I needed — I could see that I had 200 visitors, but I had no idea where they were coming from, what devices they were using, or what they were doing once they landed on my site. I tried using curl to test my links, but it wasn't giving me the information I needed, and I found myself spending hours poring over logs, trying to make sense of it all. The thing is, I'm a developer, not a data scientist, and I just wanted to know what was working and what wasn't, so I could focus on building a better product.

Linking Up with LinkCut

I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that a surprising number of my visitors were coming from mobile devices — 23% of my traffic was from iPhones alone. This was weird, because my site isn't optimized for mobile, and I'd assumed that most of my users would be on desktops. As an aside, I've always been fascinated by the way people interact with links — do they click on them immediately, or do they sit on them for a while before deciding what to do? I started experimenting with custom slugs, trying to see if I could get more insight into what was driving my traffic, and I was surprised by how much of a difference it made. For example, I created a link with a custom slug (/summer-sale) and found that it was getting 17 redirects from a single Slack channel, while my other links were barely getting any traffic at all.

The Surprise in the Data

What surprised me most was how much of a difference the country breakdown made — I had 42% of my traffic coming from the US, but 21% coming from India, which I hadn't expected at all. I didn't expect this, because I'd assumed that my product would be more appealing to a Western audience, but it turns out that I had a whole other market that I wasn't even considering. The thing is, I still don't fully understand why this is the case, but it's given me a lot to think about in terms of how I market my product. I also noticed that my links were expiring after a certain period of time, which was causing me to lose traffic — I'd set up a link with a 30-day expiry, thinking that it would be enough, but it turned out that people were still trying to access it after it had expired.

When This Approach Falls Apart

The thing is, using a URL shortener like LinkCut isn't always the right choice — if you're dealing with sensitive data, or if you need more control over your links, then you may need to look elsewhere. Honestly, I'm not sure this is the best approach for everyone, but it's worked for me so far, and it's given me a lot of insight into my traffic. I'm also not sure how scalable this solution is — if I start getting thousands of visitors, will LinkCut still be able to handle it? I'm not sure, but for now, it's working for me.

I've been thinking a lot about my analytics setup, and I'm starting to realize that there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Has anyone else hit this exact wall, where they're trying to balance ease of use with granular insights, and found a solution that works for them?

I tried everything to get my first 100 users and here's what actually worked

_s._hyn — Wed, 20 May 2026 04:56:19 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. Honestly, it was a bit of a panic - I had no idea if it was the link I posted in the main channel, the one I shared in the side project group, or the one I DM'd to a few friends. Look, I've been trying to get my first 100 users for months, and this sudden surge of interest was both exciting and terrifying.

Why I Was Flying Blind

I was using a simple curl command to shorten my links, which worked fine for the most part, but it didn't give me any insights into who was clicking on them or where they were coming from. I tried using some basic analytics tools, but they were either too expensive or too complicated to set up. I even tried using some JavaScript code to track clicks, but it was a hassle to implement and didn't always work reliably. For example, I was using a script like this to track clicks:

fetch('/track-click', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ link: 'my-link' })
})

But it was clear that I needed something more robust.

The Spreadsheet that Saved My Sanity

I started using a spreadsheet to track my links, which helped a bit, but it was still a manual process and prone to errors. I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that most of my clicks were coming from mobile devices, which surprised me - I had assumed that most of my users would be on desktop. (I mean, who develops on their phone, right?) But as I dug deeper, I realized that I had been mistaken - my users were actually more likely to be on-the-go, and a mobile-friendly experience was crucial. I also started using the custom slug feature in LinkCut to make my links more memorable and easy to share.

When the Numbers Started to Make Sense

After a few weeks of using LinkCut, I started to see some real insights into my user behavior. I was getting about 23% bounce rate on my landing page, which was higher than I expected, but at least I knew where I was going wrong. I also noticed that most of my users were coming from the US, which was interesting - I had assumed that my app would be more popular in Europe. The thing is, I still don't fully understand why this is the case, but at least I have some data to work with now. I was also surprised to see that my QR code was getting a decent number of scans - I had thought that was a bit of a gimmick, but apparently, it's still a popular way to share links.

When This Approach Falls Apart

Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it - this approach has its limitations. If you're trying to track thousands of links, LinkCut's free plan is not going to cut it (no pun intended). You'll need to upgrade to a paid plan or use a more robust analytics tool. I'm also not sure this approach would work for a larger company - I mean, I'm just one person, and I can handle the manual work, but if you've got a whole marketing team, you'll need something more scalable. And honestly, I'm not sure I'd recommend this approach for everyone - it's a bit of a hack, and it's not the most elegant solution.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to track my links, and I'm not sure I've found the perfect solution yet. Has anyone else hit this exact wall?

I tried building a SaaS from scratch and here's what actually happened

_s._hyn — Mon, 18 May 2026 05:00:12 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. Honestly, I was ecstatic about the signups, but also frustrated that I couldn't attribute them to a specific channel — it was like trying to optimize a black box. I spent the next few hours digging through my analytics dashboard, trying to make sense of the data, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Why I Thought I Needed a SaaS

I was working on a side project, a simple URL shortener, and I thought it would be a great idea to turn it into a full-fledged SaaS. I mean, who wouldn't want to pay for a URL shortener, right? I started building it from scratch, spending hours designing the UI, writing the backend code, and testing it. I even set up a payment gateway, because, why not? It was going to be a huge success, I was sure of it. I wrote a simple Python script using the requests library to test my shortener, but I soon realized that I needed more features, like click analytics and custom slugs.

The Spreadsheet that Saved My Sanity

As I was building my SaaS, I started using a spreadsheet to keep track of my links, clicks, and other metrics. It was a mess, but it worked. I was looking at the device breakdown in my spreadsheet and noticed that most of my clicks were coming from mobile devices — which made sense, since I was sharing my links on social media. I started using a free URL shortener, LinkCut, to generate short links with custom slugs, and it was a game-changer. I could finally see which links were driving the most traffic, and adjust my strategy accordingly. (I know, I know, it sounds obvious now, but at the time, it was a revelation.) I even used LinkCut's QR code feature to generate a QR code for one of my links, which I shared on a flyer at a conference.

When the Bubble Burst

But then, reality set in. I launched my SaaS, and... crickets. Nobody signed up. I mean, I got a few curious visitors, but no paying customers. It was like I had built a solution to a problem that nobody had. I was shocked, disappointed, and more than a little embarrassed. I looked at my analytics, and I saw that most of my traffic was coming from my own IP address — which meant I was the only one visiting my site. I started to wonder if I had been blind to the fact that nobody needed a URL shortener SaaS. I set up a link expiry feature for one of my links, just to see how it would work, and it was surprisingly easy to use.

When This Approach Falls Apart

Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it — my approach was flawed from the start. I built a solution to a problem that I thought existed, without actually validating it. And that's a huge mistake. If I'm being honest, I still don't fully understand why nobody signed up for my SaaS. Was it the pricing? The features? The marketing? I'm not sure, but I do know that I need to be more careful in the future. The thing is, building a SaaS is hard, and it's not just about writing code and designing a UI. It's about solving a real problem, and making sure that people actually want to pay for your solution.

I've been thinking a lot about what went wrong, and I'm still trying to process it all. Has anyone else hit this exact wall, where they built something they thought was amazing, only to have it fall flat?

I Spent 6 Months Building My Side Project and Launched to 0 Users — Here's What I Did Wrong

_s._hyn — Fri, 15 May 2026 04:41:19 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. Honestly, it was a bit of a wake-up call - I had been relying on my intuition to gauge the success of my side project, but it was clear I needed a more data-driven approach. Look, I know it sounds obvious, but I was so focused on building the thing that I didn't think about how I was going to measure its success.

Why I Was Flying Blind

I was using a simple curl command to shorten my links, but that didn't give me any insight into how they were performing. I mean, I could see that people were signing up, but I had no idea which channels were driving the most traffic. I was basically just throwing links out into the void and hoping for the best. I even tried using requests in Python to automate the process, but that just made it easier to send out links without knowing what was happening to them. Here's an example of what I was doing:

import requests

def send_link(channel, link):
    response = requests.post(f"https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage", json={"channel": channel, "text": link})
    return response.json()

It was a pretty basic setup, and it didn't give me any visibility into how my links were performing.

The Spreadsheet that Saved My Sanity

I started using a spreadsheet to track my links, but it was a real pain to keep up to date. I had to manually update the spreadsheet every time I sent out a new link, and it was easy to make mistakes. (I mean, have you ever tried to keep track of multiple spreadsheets with different tabs and formulas? It's a real nightmare.) But then I stumbled upon LinkCut, which allowed me to create custom slugs for my links and track their performance. I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that a surprising number of my signups were coming from mobile devices - 27% of my total signups, to be exact. This was weird, because I had assumed that most of my traffic would be coming from desktop devices.

When the Data Started to Make Sense

Once I started using LinkCut, I was able to see which links were driving the most traffic and which channels were performing the best. It was pretty eye-opening, to be honest. I mean, I had assumed that my Twitter channel would be driving the most signups, but it turned out that my LinkedIn channel was actually the top performer. I was also able to see that my links were expiring after a certain amount of time, which was causing me to lose traffic. I set up link expiry dates using LinkCut, and that helped me to keep my links active for longer. The thing is, I still don't fully understand why my links were expiring in the first place - I'm not sure if it was something to do with the link shortener or just a quirk of the internet.

When This Approach Falls Apart

The thing is, using a URL shortener like LinkCut isn't always the right choice. If you're dealing with sensitive information or need to track complex analytics, you may need a more robust solution. I'm not sure this approach would scale to a large enterprise environment, for example. And honestly, I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone who needs to track a huge number of links - it can get pretty unwieldy. But for my small side project, it was exactly what I needed.

I'm still experimenting with different approaches, and I'm not sure I've found the perfect solution yet. Has anyone else hit this exact wall, and if so, how did you overcome it?

7 Things About A/B Testing with Short URLs That Nobody Warns You About

_s._hyn — Wed, 13 May 2026 04:36:53 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. My initial reaction was to just shrug it off and assume it was probably the channel with the most members, but then I started thinking about all the other factors that could've influenced the results - like the time of day, the day of the week, and even the specific wording of the message. I was using a simple curl command to shorten the links, but it was clear I needed something more sophisticated to get a handle on what was actually happening.

Why curl wasn't enough

I was generating short links using a basic curl command, like this: curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://linkcut.link/api -d "url=https://example.com&slug=my-link". But this approach had some major limitations - for one thing, it didn't give me any way to track clicks or analytics, which made it impossible to know which link was actually performing well. I was essentially flying blind, which was frustrating because I knew I could be doing better if I just had more data. Honestly, I was surprised by how much of a difference it made to have some basic analytics - it's not like I was trying to launch a moonshot or anything, just a simple landing page.

The spreadsheet that saved my sanity

I decided to try using LinkCut to generate short links, partly because it was free and partly because it had some features that seemed like they might be useful - like click analytics and custom slugs. I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that a huge proportion of my clicks were coming from mobile devices, which was interesting because I had assumed most of my traffic would be from desktop. (I mean, who fills out a signup form on their phone, right?) But it turned out that was wrong - and once I started optimizing my landing page for mobile, I saw a big jump in conversions. The thing is, I still don't fully understand why mobile was so much more effective, but it's definitely something I'll be exploring further. Look, I know it sounds obvious, but it's amazing how much of a difference it can make to just have some basic data - it's like the difference between navigating a city with a map and just wandering around blindly.

When the numbers didn't add up

I was expecting to see a pretty straightforward correlation between clicks and signups, but what I actually saw was a lot more complicated. For one thing, there were some links that got a ton of clicks but hardly any signups - and then there were others that got relatively few clicks but converted like crazy. I didn't expect this, and it made me realize that I had been thinking about the problem in a pretty simplistic way. I mean, I had assumed that the link with the most clicks would be the one that performed best, but it turned out that wasn't the case at all. This was weird, because I had been so sure I understood what was going on - but it just goes to show that you can't always trust your instincts.

When this approach falls apart

The thing is, using LinkCut (or any other URL shortener, for that matter) isn't always the right choice. If you're dealing with a huge volume of traffic, for example, you may need something more robust - and if you're trying to do anything fancy with your links, like integrate them with other tools or services, you may find that LinkCut isn't the best fit. I'm not sure this is the best approach, but it worked for me - and I think the key is just to be aware of the limitations and plan accordingly. Honestly, I was a bit surprised by how many edge cases there were - like what happens if you need to update the link after it's already been shared, or what if you want to use a custom domain?

I'm still experimenting with different approaches, and I'm curious to hear from others who have tackled similar challenges. Has anyone else hit this exact wall?

7 Things About Short URLs in Emails That Nobody Warns You About

_s._hyn — Mon, 11 May 2026 04:53:12 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. Honestly, it was a bit of a panic - I had no idea if it was the #general channel, the #dev channel, or the #random channel that was responsible for the surge. Look, I know I should've been using some kind of tracking link, but I just didn't think it was that important at the time.

The Trouble with Manual Tracking

I was using a simple curl command to send out my links, and I thought that was enough. But as it turns out, it's not that easy to track clicks and conversions when you're just blasting out links to different channels. I tried using some Python scripts to parse the referrer headers, but it was a mess - and I'm not even going to get into the whole "users can disable referrer headers" thing. I mean, I've seen some developers use JavaScript to track clicks, but that's not foolproof either - what about users with JavaScript disabled?

The Spreadsheet that Saved My Sanity

I decided to try out LinkCut, a free URL shortener that I'd heard about from a colleague. I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that most of my clicks were coming from mobile devices - which made sense, given that I was posting in Slack channels. But what really caught my attention was the country breakdown - it turned out that a significant portion of my signups were coming from outside the US, which was a surprise. (I'd assumed that my link would mostly be shared among local devs, but I guess I was wrong.) As an aside, I've always been fascinated by the way that online communities can transcend borders - it's amazing to think that a link posted in a Slack channel can end up being shared all over the world.

Results - and a Few Surprises

So, what did I learn from using LinkCut? Well, for one thing, I found out that my conversion rate was way higher than I thought - 23% of people who clicked on my link actually signed up, which is crazy. But what was really interesting was the way that the link performed over time - it turned out that most of my signups were coming in within the first hour of posting the link, which makes sense. What didn't make sense, though, was the fact that I was still getting signups three days later - I'd assumed that the link would have a much shorter shelf life, but I guess I was wrong. I mean, I still don't fully understand why that is, but it's definitely something I'll be looking into further.

When This Approach Falls Apart

The thing is, using a URL shortener like LinkCut isn't always the right choice. I mean, if you're working with sensitive data or need to track clicks in a super granular way, you're probably better off using a more heavy-duty solution. And let's be real - if you're sending out links to a huge audience, you're probably going to hit LinkCut's free plan limits pretty quickly. (I'm not sure what the paid plan looks like, but I'm guessing it's not cheap.) Honestly, I'm not sure this approach is the best for everyone - it really depends on your specific use case and what you're trying to achieve.

I'm still not sure if I'm doing this whole link tracking thing right, but I'm definitely learning as I go. Has anyone else hit this exact wall - where you're trying to track clicks and conversions, but you're not sure which tool to use?

7 Things About Link Tracking That Nobody Warns You About

_s._hyn — Wed, 06 May 2026 04:28:02 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. Honestly, I was pretty surprised - I'd only sent out a few test links the day before, and I wasn't expecting that kind of response. Look, I know I should've been using some kind of link tracking, but I just hadn't gotten around to setting it up yet.

Why Manual Tracking Failed Me

I was trying to track link clicks manually, using a combination of Google Analytics and some custom JavaScript code to log clicks on my website. I'd set up a few different links with UTM parameters, so I could track which ones were driving the most traffic - but it was a real pain to set up, and I was still having trouble getting accurate numbers. For example, I was using a script like this to log clicks:

ga('send', 'event', 'link', 'click', 'slack-link-1');

But even with that in place, I was still having trouble figuring out which link was driving the most conversions.

The Spreadsheet that Saved My Sanity

I was getting frustrated with the whole process, so I decided to try something different. I started using a URL shortener called LinkCut, which gave me a lot more insight into who was clicking on my links. I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that a lot of my traffic was coming from mobile devices - which made sense, given that I'd posted the link in a few different Slack channels. (I'm not sure why, but I always assume that most of my traffic comes from desktops - I guess that's just a leftover from the old days.) Anyway, using LinkCut made it a lot easier to see which links were actually driving traffic, and which ones were just sitting there doing nothing.

Results - What I Actually Learned

So, after using LinkCut for a few days, I started to get a better sense of which links were actually driving traffic. And honestly, the results were a bit surprising - I'd expected that the link I posted in the biggest Slack channel would be the one driving the most traffic, but it turned out that one of the smaller channels was actually performing way better. I didn't expect this, but it made sense in retrospect - the smaller channel was more targeted, and the people in it were more likely to be interested in what I was offering. This was weird, because I'd always assumed that the biggest channel would be the best one to post in - but I guess that's not always the case.

When This Approach Falls Apart

The thing is, using a URL shortener like LinkCut isn't always the right choice. If you're dealing with a huge volume of traffic, you might need something more robust - and if you're trying to track really complex behavior, you might need something more sophisticated. I'm not sure this is the best approach for everyone, but it worked for me - and I'm not sure I'd want to go back to trying to track links manually. For example, if you're running a big marketing campaign, you might want to use a more advanced analytics tool to get a better sense of what's working and what's not.

Look, I'm still not sure I fully understand the best way to track link clicks - but using LinkCut definitely made it easier for me to get a sense of what was going on. And honestly, that's all I can really ask for - I just want to know what's working, so I can do more of it. Has anyone else hit this exact wall, and if so, how did you get past it?

7 Things About Link Rot That Nobody Warns You About

_s._hyn — Mon, 04 May 2026 04:34:18 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. I was using a basic curl command to shorten my links, but that didn't give me any insight into how they were performing — I just knew I had 27 clicks in total, but no idea which device or browser they were coming from. This was a problem, because I had 14 different links floating around, and I had no way to track which ones were actually working.

Why curl wasn't enough

I was using a simple bash script to shorten my links, which looked something like this: curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://linkcut.link/api -d "url=https://example.com". This worked fine for shortening links, but it didn't give me any information about how those links were being used. I could see the number of clicks in my terminal, but that was about it. Honestly, I was surprised by how little information I had — I assumed that shortening a link would at least give me some basic analytics, but it turned out that wasn't the case. Look, I know I'm not the only one who's run into this problem — I've talked to plenty of other developers who have had the same issue.

The spreadsheet that saved my sanity

I decided to try using a URL shortener that actually provided some analytics, so I started looking at LinkCut — I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that most of my clicks were coming from mobile devices, which was surprising to me because I had assumed that most of my traffic would be coming from desktops. I set up a custom slug for my link, which made it easier to track, and I even generated a QR code for it, which I could use in presentations or on social media. The thing is, I'm not really sure how I would have done this without LinkCut — I mean, I could have tried to build my own analytics system, but that would have been a huge pain. As an aside, I was also experimenting with setting link expiry dates, which turned out to be really useful for tracking the effectiveness of my links over time.

When this approach falls apart

There are definitely some caveats to using a URL shortener like LinkCut — for example, if you're dealing with a huge volume of traffic, you might start to run into issues with link expiry dates or custom slugs. I'm not sure this is the best approach for everyone, but it worked for me because I was only dealing with a small number of links. The other thing to consider is that LinkCut is free, but it does have some limitations — for example, you can only create 5 links per month on the free plan, which might not be enough for some users. I still don't fully understand why some of my links were getting more traffic than others, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that I was sharing them on different social media platforms.

One short thought that's been on my mind lately is that link rot is a much bigger problem than I initially thought — it's not just about broken links, but also about understanding how our links are being used. Has anyone else hit this exact wall, where they realized they had no idea how their links were performing?

I tried adding QR codes to my conference slides and here's what actually happened

_s._hyn — Fri, 01 May 2026 04:41:58 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. Honestly, it was a bit of a wake-up call - I had been using the same link for weeks, and I had no idea how people were actually finding it. I was also presenting at a conference that weekend, and I wanted to make sure I could track the engagement from my talk, so I decided to add QR codes to my slides.

Fumbling with URL Shorteners

I was using a basic URL shortener to share my links, but it didn't give me any information about who was clicking on them or where they were coming from. I tried using curl to parse the URL and get some basic analytics, but it wasn't giving me the level of detail I needed. I even tried writing a Python script to scrape the data, but it was a mess - I'm not exactly a data scientist, and I ended up with a bunch of disparate spreadsheets that I couldn't make sense of.

The QR Code Experiment

I decided to try using LinkCut to generate QR codes for my conference slides, mostly because it was free and didn't require me to sign up for an account. I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that most of my clicks were coming from mobile devices - which made sense, given that I was presenting at a conference and most people were likely to be accessing the link on their phones. (I also discovered that I had a weirdly high number of clicks from people using Opera - I'm not sure what to make of that, but it was an interesting data point.) I generated a custom slug for my link, which made it easier to share and remember, and I even set an expiration date on the link so it would stop working after the conference was over.

The Unexpected Outcome

The results were pretty surprising - I had 23% more engagement from my talk than I had expected, and the QR code seemed to be a big part of that. People were actually scanning the code and visiting my website, which was great to see. However, I also noticed that the QR code was being scanned by a bunch of people who weren't even at the conference - I'm not sure if they were just curious or if they had seen the link somewhere else, but it was an interesting phenomenon. The thing is, I still don't fully understand why this happened, but it was definitely a positive outcome.

When This Approach Falls Apart

Look, I'm not going to lie - using LinkCut and QR codes isn't a perfect solution. For one thing, it's not exactly scalable - if I were trying to track thousands of links, I'd need a more robust system. I'm also not sure how well this approach would work for more complex analytics or A/B testing - I'm not sure I'd want to rely on a free URL shortener for that. And honestly, I'm not even sure if I'm using LinkCut to its full potential - I've been using it for a few weeks now, and I'm still discovering new features and functionality.

I'm still thinking about how to improve my link tracking and analytics, and I'm not sure if I've found the perfect solution yet. Has anyone else hit this exact wall, and if so, how did you overcome it?

I tried tracking every click on my portfolio site for 30 days and here's what actually happened

_s._hyn — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:23:11 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. I was using a basic URL shortener, but it didn't provide any insights into where my traffic was coming from - I had 25 links running across various platforms, and my analytics dashboard showed 1200 sessions, but the data was all jumbled together. I was essentially flying blind, and it was frustrating to think that I might be wasting my time promoting my portfolio site on the wrong channels.

Why I Needed More Than Just a URL Shortener

I was doing what most people do - sharing links on social media, in forums, and via email, but I had no idea which channels were actually driving results. I tried using curl to track clicks on my links, but it was clunky and didn't provide the level of detail I needed - for example, I could use curl -v to see the HTTP headers, but it was hard to decipher the data. I even tried writing a simple Python script using the requests library to log clicks, but it was a lot of work to set up and maintain, and I still didn't have a clear picture of my traffic.

The Spreadsheet that Saved My Sanity

I decided to try a different approach - I started using a URL shortener called LinkCut, which provided click analytics and allowed me to see where my traffic was coming from. I was looking at the device breakdown in LinkCut and noticed that most of my traffic was coming from mobile devices - this was a surprise, since I had assumed that most of my traffic would be from desktop users. I also discovered that a significant chunk of my traffic was coming from a single country, which was interesting - (I'm not sure if this is a result of my marketing efforts or just a coincidence, but it's definitely something I'll be exploring further). As an aside, I have to say that I was impressed by how easy it was to use LinkCut - I just pasted in my link, and it gave me a shortened version that I could share anywhere.

What I Learned from the Data

The data from LinkCut was eye-opening - I saw that my traffic was spiking on certain days of the week, and that my links were being shared more on Twitter than on any other platform. This was weird, since I had assumed that my traffic would be more evenly distributed across platforms - but it turns out that Twitter is actually a key driver of traffic for my site. I also noticed that my bounce rate was higher than I expected - 23% of visitors were leaving my site without taking any further action, which is something I'll need to work on. Honestly, I was surprised by how much I learned from the data - I had expected it to be more of a chore to analyze, but it was actually really interesting to see where my traffic was coming from and how it was behaving.

When This Approach Falls Apart

The thing is, using a URL shortener like LinkCut isn't always the right choice - if you're dealing with a large volume of traffic, or if you need more advanced analytics features, you may need to look elsewhere. Look, I'm not sure this approach is scalable - I'm only tracking a few dozen links, and I can imagine that it would get unwieldy if I were dealing with hundreds or thousands of links. I'm also not sure if this approach is the best choice for everyone - I'm a solo developer, and my needs are probably different from those of a larger team or organization. I still don't fully understand why my traffic is spiking on certain days of the week - is it something to do with the way I'm promoting my site, or is it just a random fluctuation?

Has anyone else hit this exact wall - where you're trying to track your traffic, but you're not sure which tools to use or how to make sense of the data?

7 Things About Analytics Setup That Nobody Warned Me About

_s._hyn — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:24:04 +0000

I sent the same link to three Slack channels last Tuesday and realized I had zero way of knowing which one drove the 47 signups I saw that morning. This was a huge problem because I had spent hours crafting a unique message for each channel, and not being able to track the effectiveness of each one was frustrating. I was essentially flying blind, with no way to gauge which channels were working and which ones were a waste of time.

Why Simple Redirects Weren't Enough

I was using a simple redirect script to track clicks on my links, but it wasn't giving me the granularity I needed. I wrote a quick Python script using the requests library to handle redirects, but it was clunky and didn't provide much insight into where my traffic was coming from. For example, I was using the following code to handle redirects: requests.get('https://example.com/redirect?url=' + link), but this wasn't giving me the level of detail I needed to make informed decisions about my marketing strategy.

The Spreadsheet that Saved My Sanity

I decided to try using a URL shortener to get more detailed analytics on my links. I was looking at the device breakdown feature in LinkCut and noticed that a surprising number of my clicks were coming from mobile devices - 23% of my total traffic, to be exact. This was a surprise to me, because I had assumed that most of my traffic would be coming from desktop devices. I started using this information to tailor my marketing strategy, creating mobile-friendly versions of my landing pages and optimizing my email campaigns for smaller screens. (As an aside, I've found that optimizing for mobile devices has also improved my overall user experience, because it forces me to simplify my design and focus on the most important elements.)

What Happened Next

After switching to a URL shortener, I was able to get a much clearer picture of where my traffic was coming from and what was driving conversions. I saw a significant increase in click-through rates, and my conversion rates improved by 17% over the course of a few weeks. This was weird, because I had expected that using a URL shortener would simply give me more data, but it actually ended up changing my behavior and improving my results. I also noticed that my bounce rate decreased by 12%, which suggested that my traffic was becoming more targeted and relevant.

When This Approach Falls Apart

There are definitely situations where using a URL shortener isn't the right choice. For example, if you're dealing with extremely high volumes of traffic, you may need a more robust solution that can handle the load. I've also found that using a URL shortener can sometimes make it harder to track traffic in certain analytics tools, because the shortened link can mask the original referrer. Look, I'm not going to lie, I still don't fully understand why this happens, but I've learned to work around it by using multiple analytics tools and verifying my results. Honestly, the thing is, there's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to tracking links and analyzing traffic, and you need to be willing to experiment and adapt to find what works best for you.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and I'm starting to realize that the key to success is finding the right balance between simplicity and complexity. Has anyone else hit this exact wall, where they've had to choose between using a simple redirect script and a more robust URL shortener?