They can hide their nefarious links in a shortened URL meaning people either clicked on the links and quickly learned to either never trust a shortened link, or to always use a link extraction site (e.g. WhereDoesThisLinkGo) to see where the shortened link actually went before they clicked. Keys can be generated in base 36, assuming 26 letters and 10 numbers. Our link service measures information such as how many times a link has been clicked, which is an important quality signal in determining how relevant and interesting each Tweet is when compared to similar Tweets.
Your link stats will also be public if you use this service. For example, links that point to a page on will rewritten with any available link subdomain sharing that domain (e.g. ). But like I said, on Twitter, the Twitter folks have already figured out the whole URL shortening thing. Finally, URL shortening sites provide detailed information on the clicks a link receives, which can be simpler than setting up an equally powerful server-side analytics engine, and unlike the latter, does not require any access to the server. This can be added to existing JavaScript files or in a script block as long as it’s loaded somewhere within the HTML body (ideally, just before the closing tag). jQuery (or your alternative) must be loaded first although the Google Analytics tracking code can appear anywhere on the page. /* Track outbound links in Google Analytics */ (function($) { "use strict"; // current page host var baseURI = window.location.host; // click event on body $("body").on("click", function(e) { // abandon if link already aborted or analytics is not available if (e.isDefaultPrevented() || typeof ga !== "function") return; // abandon if no active link or link within domain var link = $(e.target).closest("a"); if (link.length != 1 || baseURI == link[0].host) return; // cancel event and record outbound link e.preventDefault(); var href = link[0].href; ga('send', { 'hitType': 'event', 'eventCategory': 'outbound', 'eventAction': 'link', 'eventLabel': href, 'hitCallback': loadPage }); // redirect after one second if recording takes too long setTimeout(loadPage, 1000); // redirect to outbound page function loadPage() { document.location = href; } }); })(jQuery); // pass another library here if required The event is recorded with the category name ‘outbound’, action name ‘link’ and the value set to the URL of the outbound page.
Bonus: Using your custom URL shortener with WordPress If you want to use your custom URL shortener with your WordPress website without having to manually log in to your URL shortener every time, you can use the free WP to Twitter plugin. You'll be able to use all of our great features and maintain your brand at the same time! More meaningful: readers at least know the link goes to your site.
It’s a free platform for scheduling and managing Tweets, like Tweetdeck. Click outside the box to update your generated tracking link. First thing you need to do is install and activate the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin.
To enable SSL for your link domain Identify your link domain. Shortcomings[edit] Short URLs often circumvent the intended use of top-level domains for indicating the country of origin; domain registration in many countries requires proof of physical presence within that country, although a redirected URL has no such guarantee. See more information about AppsFlyer's Tracking Link Structure and Parameters. Not all redirection is treated equally; the redirection instruction sent to a browser can contain in its header the HTTP status 301 (permanent redirect), 302, or 307 (temporary redirect). Still, you can create shorter links for other uses that don’t rely on link shortening services. This will create an instant redirect from your domain name to affiliate URL. ( --> ) The customer will never see the destination URL in their browser address bar ahead of time. We can't make custom URLs available to members upon request. This means you couldn't register, for example, domain.uk. We want tracking to work everywhere so I recommend using a library with robust cross-browser event handling. Google has additional means of collecting data: you can gather a lot of statistics when you own the top browser and search engine! It takes 30 seconds to take control of your inbox.Google Analytics provides an overwhelming quantity of information.