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 using a basic URL shortener and had no idea how to track the performance of each link. Look, I know I'm not the only one who's ever sent out a link and then wondered where all the traffic is coming from - and that's exactly what happened to me.
Fumbling in the Dark with URL Shorteners
I was using a simple curl command to shorten my links, like this: curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://example.com/api/shorten?url=https://mywebsite.com. It worked, but I had no way to track the clicks or see which links were performing best. I tried using some JavaScript to track the clicks, but it was clunky and didn't always work. I was basically flying blind, with no idea which of my marketing efforts were actually paying off. The thing is, I knew I needed a better way to track my links, but I didn't know where to start.
The Spreadsheet that Saved My Sanity
I started using LinkCut to shorten my links, and I was looking at the device breakdown in their click analytics - I noticed that a huge percentage of my clicks were coming from mobile devices. This was weird, because I'd assumed that most of my traffic would be coming from desktops. (I mean, who fills out a signup form on their phone, right?) But it turned out that a lot of people were clicking on my links from Twitter, which makes sense - Twitter is a very mobile-heavy platform. Anyway, I started optimizing my landing page for mobile, and I saw a big increase in conversions. I also started using the custom slug feature in LinkCut to make my links more readable and memorable - for example, I could use linkcut.link/my-link instead of a random string of characters.
What Happened Next
After I started using LinkCut, I saw a big increase in conversions - 23% more signups, to be exact. I was also able to see which links were performing best, and adjust my marketing efforts accordingly. For example, I found out that the link I was sharing on LinkedIn was getting way more clicks than the one I was sharing on Facebook - so I started focusing more on LinkedIn. I didn't expect this, but it turned out that the link expiry feature in LinkCut was really useful for me - I could set a link to expire after a certain date, and then use that to create a sense of urgency around my marketing efforts.
When This Approach Falls Apart
The thing is, using a URL shortener like LinkCut isn't always the right choice. For example, if you're trying to drive traffic to a sensitive or confidential page, you might not want to use a shortener - you might want to use a full, branded URL instead. I'm not sure this is the best approach, but I've also found that using a shortener can sometimes make it harder to track the performance of my links in Google Analytics. Honestly, I still don't fully understand why this is - but it's something to be aware of. Look, I know that using a URL shortener can be a bit of a trade-off - you get the benefits of tracking and analytics, but you also give up some control over your links.
I'm still experimenting with different approaches to link tracking, and I'm not sure what the best solution is. Has anyone else hit this exact wall, and if so, how did you solve it?
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