Are you looking for an efficient solution to trim lengthy links on your WordPress website while gaining insights into click-through rates when shared? If your website is plagued by cumbersome and complicated URLs, using a URL shortening tool can quickly transform them into concise strings of characters, making them easily shareable across various platforms. Additionally, these tools offer valuable tracking capabilities, allowing you to monitor the number of clicks on each link. In this comprehensive guide, we will introduce you to the best URL shorteners for WordPress, equipped with advanced link tracking features.
What is a URL Shortener, and Why Should You Use It on Your Site?
A URL shortener is a valuable tool that converts lengthy and intricate WordPress website links into compact, user-friendly URLs. It simplifies complex web addresses that can be challenging to comprehend by condensing them into a few characters, resulting in links that are more manageable and visually appealing. When a user clicks on a shortened URL, they are instantly redirected to the intended webpage. Importantly, URL shorteners employ 301 redirects, signaling to search engines that the link is permanent and will not change, thereby preserving your WordPress SEO efforts.
Short URLs prove particularly advantageous for sharing content on social media platforms. Some platforms, such as Twitter, impose character limitations on posts. Lengthy links can consume a significant portion of this character limit, leaving you with less room for compelling copy, potentially reducing engagement and compromising the effectiveness of your message. For instance, at WPBeginner, we utilize custom short URLs to promote content on Twitter.
Moreover, URL shorteners serve as a powerful solution for transforming unwieldy affiliate links into more digestible and branded URLs. Affiliate links typically feature a cumbersome structure that includes your affiliate ID or username. This complexity can deter potential customers. For instance, an affiliate link might appear as follows:
https://example.com/product/?ref=12345
Fortunately, URL shorteners allow you to convert these links into shareable and branded variants. Some advanced tools even enable you to cloak affiliate links, giving them a more professional appearance, like so:
https://example.com/product/
Another advantage of URL shortener tools is their ability to track the number of clicks on each link. This feature empowers you to assess which links are generating the most engagement. With this understanding, let’s dive into some of the best URL shorteners available for your WordPress website.
1. Pretty Links
Pretty Links stands out as the premier WordPress URL shortener plugin and the most renowned affiliate link management tool. It simplifies lengthy and intricate URLs by generating shortened versions adorned with your brand name. This plugin can be employed for links both inside and outside your website. Notably, it facilitates the cloaking of affiliate links, transforming them into user-friendly URLs suitable for various platforms, including social media.
Pretty Links offers a variety of redirection options when shortening URLs, including 302 and 307 temporary redirects, as well as the SEO-friendly 301 permanent redirects. This versatile plugin allows you to effortlessly manage all your shortened URLs directly from the WordPress dashboard. The premium version offers additional features such as link categorization and tagging. Moreover, the plugin boasts an auto-linking feature that automatically inserts affiliate links based on specified keywords within your content.
In addition to link management, Pretty Links provides comprehensive click-tracking capabilities. It generates detailed reports within the WordPress dashboard, offering insights into the browser, operating system, timestamp, host, URI, and other relevant data for each link. Furthermore, the plugin seamlessly integrates with MonsterInsights, enabling you to track affiliate link clicks through Google Analytics, thereby enhancing your understanding of user behavior.
Recommended For: Pretty Links is the ideal tool for anyone in search of a comprehensive link management solution for their WordPress site. It simplifies the process of managing affiliate links, cloaking and branding them, shortening any URL on your site, and monitoring link click activity.
Pros:
- Beginner-friendly plugin for crafting customized links.
- Convenient management and organization of URLs via the WordPress dashboard.
- Enables the cloaking of complex affiliate links.
- Incorporates an auto-linking feature for effortless keyword-based link insertion.
- Includes social sharing buttons for easy link sharing.
- Seamless integration with other plugins such as MonsterInsights.
Cons:
- Lack of an automatic link uncloaking feature for Amazon.
- Inability to perform link validation checks prior to publication.
Pricing: Pretty Links offers premium plans starting from $99.50 per year, but there is also a free version available for users looking to get started.
2. Bitly
Bitly stands as one of the most prominent URL shortening services in the market. It simplifies the process of creating short links, QR codes, and link-in-bio pages. Bitly is incredibly user-friendly and offers a free entry point for users to begin their link-shortening journey. To shorten a URL, simply input the link, and Bitly will swiftly generate a concise alternative for you.
The free version of Bitly provides shortened URLs with the ‘bit.ly’ domain, presenting a format such as:
https://bit.ly/3YqTCEH
By upgrading to the premium version, users can incorporate a custom domain and remove Bitly branding from their links. At WPBeginner, we leverage Bitly to craft custom short URLs for our website.
Bitly excels in tracking individual links and delivering insightful analytics via your account dashboard. These analytics encompass click counts, information about the technology used by your audience to access the short URL, and geographical data regarding the origin of the clicks.
Furthermore, Bitly offers a free WordPress plugin that simplifies the process of shortening links for specific post types. This plugin also provides click tracking information directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Recommended For: Bitly serves as an excellent choice for both free users seeking to experiment with link shortening and enterprises in need of a robust link-shortening and tracking solution. It facilitates the creation of short links, QR codes, and link-in-bio pages, along with detailed analytics covering click activity, QR code scans, geographical data, and more.
Pros:
- Streamlines the creation of short and custom links with minimal effort.
- Provides comprehensive link click reports accessible from the Bitly account dashboard.
- Offers a free WordPress plugin for link shortening.
- Allows the generation of QR codes for links.
- Includes a feature for creating a link-in-bio page.
- Permits custom domain integration with Bitly.
Cons:
- Limited feature set in the free version.
- Incorporates Bitly branding in short links under the free plan.
- Absence of scheduling or automatic linking of URLs to keywords.
Pricing: Bitly offers a free version allowing the creation of 10 short links and QR codes per month. Paid plans commence at $8 per month.
3. ThirstyAffiliates
ThirstyAffiliates emerges as the top link management plugin for WordPress, specializing in the cloaking of affiliate links. It empowers users to transform lengthy and impractical affiliate URLs into concise, reader-friendly links that are easy to comprehend. We have relied on ThirstyAffiliates for over five years across our websites, including WPBeginner.
The plugin furnishes users with the ability to manage all their links directly from the WordPress dashboard. Creating branded links, inserting them into content, and organizing them into categories are all effortlessly
accomplished tasks. ThirstyAffiliates also offers click-tracking capabilities, delivering comprehensive performance reports accessible within the WordPress admin panel. These reports furnish insights into the performance of your shortened links, including identifying top-performing affiliates.
Notably, ThirstyAffiliates integrates seamlessly with MonsterInsights, facilitating the tracking of links through Google Analytics. The plugin goes a step further by tracking geolocation data, enabling you to identify the regions generating the most link clicks.
ThirstyAffiliates offers more than just URL shortening; it includes features such as automatic keyword-based affiliate link insertion, link importing, 404 error checking, link scheduling, and more.
Recommended For: If you are an affiliate marketer or a WordPress blogger, ThirstyAffiliates is tailor-made for you. It boasts user-friendly link shortening capabilities that allow you to condense any URL with ease. ThirstyAffiliates also serves as a viable alternative to Pretty Links.
Pros:
- Highly user-friendly for URL shortening.
- Provides options for selecting link prefixes.
- Conveniently manages all links from a single location.
- Allows automatic keyword-based link insertion.
- Features a smart uncloaking mechanism for Amazon Associates links.
- Performs automatic checks for 404 errors in links.
Cons:
- Dashboard reports lack comprehensive detail.
- Lack of integration with eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce.
- The free version offers limited features.
Pricing: ThirstyAffiliates offers premium plans starting from $79.50 per year, and there is also a free version available for those looking to get started.
4. URL Shortener by MyThemeShop
URL Shortener by MyThemeShop is a free WordPress plugin designed to facilitate the creation of short links for your website.
