Years of phishing texts have trained people well. A link they cannot read is a link they do not tap. A string of random letters on a shortener's domain tells the reader nothing about where it goes, so careful people ignore it and cautious people delete the message. A branded short link helps at the moment that matters, the half second before the tap, by showing a name the reader recognizes.
What a branded short link is
A branded short link has two parts you control. The domain names you, or at least names something the reader trusts, and the slug after the slash says what the link is for. go.acmeplumbing.com/spring is branded twice over; it is clearly the plumber's own address and it clearly leads to the spring offer. There are two levels on BioLink.page:
- A neutral shared domain. biolink.page/acme-spring or biolink.love/acme-spring, available on the free plan with a slug of your choice. Neutral, readable, and not a domain associated with spam.
- Your own domain or subdomain. go.acmeplumbing.com/spring, available on the Starter plan at $1 a month with one custom domain, or five on Pro. One DNS record and the address is yours.
What the numbers can and cannot tell you
Shortener companies publish figures showing that branded links get more clicks than generic ones. Those figures come from companies that sell branded links, not from independent studies, so treat them as marketing claims rather than a result you can expect. What holds up without a statistic is simpler. People decide in a moment whether to tap an address, and a domain they recognize gives them less reason to hesitate, especially in a text message or an email where there is no preview card.
Where branded links pay off for a small business
- Text messages. Short, no preview card, and the reader is deciding in one second. Check the length with the character counter, since a short link is much shorter than a tracked long URL. Send marketing texts only to people who agreed to receive them, and follow the TCPA and your carrier's rules.
- Yard signs and vehicle wraps. Realtors, contractors, landscapers and roofers put an address where people read it from a moving car. "go.acmeroofing.com/quote" can be remembered at 30 miles an hour. A random string cannot.
- Postcards and door hangers. A branded link plus a QR code of the same link covers both the people who scan and the people who type.
- Receipts, invoices and packaging. A "Leave a review" link on the receipt and a "Reorder" link on the box.
- Radio and podcast spots. An address that can be said in three words and spelled in none.
- Email signatures and newsletters. The reader sees the domain in the status bar before clicking; a branded one matches the sender.
Setting one up
- Create a free account and create a short link. The free plan includes 100 of them.
- Type the slug. Lowercase, short, and descriptive of the offer rather than the date, so /spring-tuneup rather than /st26. The slug generator turns a longer phrase into a clean one.
- Paste the destination. If it is on your own website, tag it first with the UTM link generator so the visit shows up under the right source in Google Analytics, or add the UTM parameters in the link settings and keep the destination clean.
- Save and test with the URL redirect checker.
- When you are ready for your own domain, upgrade to Starter, connect go.yourbrand.com with one DNS record, and move the important links across.
Agree on a slug convention if more than one person creates links. Campaign first, then placement, is the usual pattern, so /spring-tuneup for the postcard and /spring-tuneup-sms for the text, which keeps the statistics readable months later. On the paid plans, projects group the links of a campaign or a client in the dashboard.
Pairing links with QR codes
Every printed link should have a QR code next to it and the link printed as text under the code. The code is generated from the short link, not from the destination, so it keeps working when the offer changes, and visits from scans and from typed addresses land in the same statistics. The details of sizing and placement are in QR codes for restaurants and food trucks, and they apply to a yard sign just as well as to a menu.
Measuring the difference
A before-and-after test, such as posting the same offer a week apart with a generic address and then a branded one, mixes in too many other changes to show the domain's effect. Audience, day, placement and offer all move the numbers. A fairer test sends both versions at the same time, for example to two random halves of an email list, and compares the share of recipients who click. If you cannot split the audience, treat the difference as an observation rather than proof. Nothing needs to be added to the destination page, because the statistics are recorded when the short link redirects. If the destination carries UTM parameters, Google Analytics shows the visits from the other end.
Frequently asked questions
Is biolink.page branded enough on its own?
It is neutral and readable, which is most of the benefit, and your slug is unique on it. The full benefit comes from your own domain, which is why Starter includes one.
Can I use a domain I already own?
Yes, on Starter and Pro. Point a subdomain at BioLink.page with a CNAME record, or the root with an A record, and choose it when you create links. The domain must be one you control at your registrar.
Do branded links help search rankings?
Not directly. A short link is a redirect, and search engines follow it to the destination. The benefit is in clicks from people, not in ranking.
How short should the slug be?
Between three and twelve characters is the comfortable range. Shorter for signs and radio; longer is fine for email where the reader clicks rather than types.
Can I change where a branded link points?
At any time. The address stays the same, so a link printed on a truck can point at this season's offer and then the next one.
Final checks
- The domain names you or reads neutral, and the slug names the offer.
- The slug is lowercase and readable aloud.
- The destination carries UTM parameters, in the URL or in the link settings.
- Every placement has its own link so the statistics can be compared.
- Printed material shows the short link as text next to any QR code.
