Short links for SMS: more message, less URL.
Text messages are tight on space and links are long. A short link gives you room for the message and tells you how many people tapped.
Every character counts in a text.
A single SMS holds 160 characters when it uses the basic GSM alphabet, and only 70 as soon as it includes a character outside it, such as Cyrillic, a typographic quote or an emoji. Longer messages are split into several parts, each of which holds a little less and is billed separately.
A typical tracked URL is 80 to 150 characters. A short link is about 20. That is the difference between one message and two, and between a message that explains the offer and one that is mostly a link.
More than a shorter URL.
Tap counts
See how many people tapped the link, when, and on which kind of device.
A link per send
Create one short link per campaign or segment and compare them.
Fix it after sending
If the offer page changes, update the destination and the link in messages already delivered follows.
UTM tagging
Tag the destination once so your own analytics also see the SMS channel.
Stop it when it ends
Archive the link at the end of a promotion so old messages don't lead to a stale page.
Test before you send
Run the link through the redirect checker to make sure it lands where you expect.
Carriers can filter shared short links.
Mobile carriers and SMS platforms apply their own spam rules, and some of them block or flag links on public shared shorteners. Check what your SMS provider allows before a large send, send a test to a few real numbers, and prefer a domain you control when you can.
Fit the offer and the link in one message.
Create a free account and shorten your first SMS link.
Common questions
How long is a short link? +
A shorturl.la link is a domain plus a five-character code, around 20 characters in total.
Will carriers block my links? +
Some do block links on public shorteners. Rules differ by country and provider, so send a test before a large campaign and check your SMS provider's guidance.
Can I see who tapped? +
You see aggregated statistics: taps by day, country, device and referrer. You don't see individual recipients.
Can I use the same short link for every recipient? +
Yes. If you need results per segment, create one link per segment.