The ShortFreeURL blog
Guides, comparisons and practical tactics for branded links, QR codes and campaign tracking.
Planning link expiry without abandoning late visitors
Choose an expiry rule, prepare the after-campaign destination and test the boundary before a limited-time link goes into a message or a pri…
A practical monthly review of team link permissionsFIELD NOTES / 110 Guides · 3 min readA practical monthly review of team link permissions
Review who can create, edit and administer links, verify sensitive paths with test accounts, and make ownership clear before a teammate lea…
A mobile deep-link test plan that includes the fallbackFIELD NOTES / 109 Developers · 3 min readA mobile deep-link test plan that includes the fallback
Design and test app-installed, app-missing and desktop journeys so a mobile campaign remains useful when an app cannot open.
Reading human and automated traffic without false certaintyFIELD NOTES / 108 Guides · 3 min readReading human and automated traffic without false certainty
Separate link requests from people, compare like-for-like reporting windows, and investigate traffic patterns before judging a campaign by …
Changing a short domain with a recovery planFIELD NOTES / 107 Guides · 3 min readChanging a short domain with a recovery plan
Inventory published paths, verify ownership and destinations, and move traffic in a controlled sequence that preserves links already in cir…
UTM hygiene before launch and after the first clicksFIELD NOTES / 106 Marketing · 3 min readUTM hygiene before launch and after the first clicks
Use a small campaign dictionary, a tested sample and a repair log to keep traffic labels consistent from the first link to the final report.
Using MCP for link work with clear, reviewable actionsFIELD NOTES / 105 Developers · 3 min readUsing MCP for link work with clear, reviewable actions
A practical way to let an AI assistant search links, read analytics and prepare new URLs while keeping credentials, destinations and publis…
A QR print verification workflow from proof to productionFIELD NOTES / 104 QR Codes · 3 min readA QR print verification workflow from proof to production
Check the encoded link, artwork, print proof and destination before a QR campaign leaves the studio, then keep a record that makes future c…
Uptime and incident response for a redirect serviceFIELD NOTES / 103 Developers · 4 min readUptime and incident response for a redirect service
A redirect that fails takes down every campaign at once, including the ones printed on paper.
Archiving and deleting old links without breaking the pastFIELD NOTES / 102 Guides · 4 min readArchiving and deleting old links without breaking the past
Deleting a link is the one action in a link platform that cannot be undone from the audience side.
Planning the slug namespace on a short domainFIELD NOTES / 101 Guides · 4 min readPlanning the slug namespace on a short domain
A short domain has one namespace shared by every team. Deciding its shape early avoids collisions you cannot undo.
What to do when a link goes viralFIELD NOTES / 100 Case Studies · 4 min readWhat to do when a link goes viral
Unexpected traffic arrives faster than any decision process. The work is mostly done in advance.
Structuring links for a multi-region campaignFIELD NOTES / 099 Marketing · 4 min readStructuring links for a multi-region campaign
One campaign in eight markets is eight campaigns that must still roll up into one report.
Versioning links in CI so releases do not break themFIELD NOTES / 098 Developers · 4 min readVersioning links in CI so releases do not break them
Links that point at versioned artefacts need to be updated by the same pipeline that produces the artefacts.
Fighting link rot in documentationFIELD NOTES / 097 Guides · 4 min readFighting link rot in documentation
Documentation accumulates links faster than anyone can maintain them. The fix is structural, not heroic.
Consent and click analytics: what a redirect may recordFIELD NOTES / 096 Guides · 4 min readConsent and click analytics: what a redirect may record
A redirect happens before any banner appears. That timing is the whole question, and it has a defensible answer.
Referrer policy: what your links tell the destinationFIELD NOTES / 095 Developers · 4 min readReferrer policy: what your links tell the destination
The referrer header is both an analytics backbone and a leak. Choosing a policy means choosing which one matters more.
How WhatsApp and Telegram build link previewsFIELD NOTES / 094 Guides · 4 min readHow WhatsApp and Telegram build link previews
Two messengers, two crawlers, two caches, and a set of behaviours that explain almost every preview that looks wrong.
Short links in SMS and RCS: the constraints that matterFIELD NOTES / 093 Marketing · 4 min readShort links in SMS and RCS: the constraints that matter
Character counts, carrier filtering and link previews behave differently in messaging than anywhere else you publish.
Tracking app installs from a short linkFIELD NOTES / 092 Guides · 4 min readTracking app installs from a short link
The gap between a tap and an install is where most mobile attribution goes wrong. Here is what actually survives the store.
Migrating a QR campaign that is already in printFIELD NOTES / 091 QR Codes · 4 min readMigrating a QR campaign that is already in print
The codes cannot be recalled, so the work is entirely in the redirect layer and in what you leave behind.
DNS and TTL planning when you move a short domainFIELD NOTES / 090 Guides · 4 min readDNS and TTL planning when you move a short domain
Moving where a short domain points is a small change with a long tail. The tail is set by a number you should lower days in advance.
When to choose 301 and when 308 is the right answerFIELD NOTES / 089 Developers · 4 min readWhen to choose 301 and when 308 is the right answer
The difference is not permanence. It is what happens to the request method and the body.
Redirect chains: what they cost and how to flatten themFIELD NOTES / 088 Guides · 5 min readRedirect chains: what they cost and how to flatten them
A short link that passes through three hops before landing is slower, leakier and harder to debug than one that lands on the first try.
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Branded short links, QR codes, UTM and campaign tracking, click analytics, link-in-bio pages, and honest comparisons between link platforms.
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