How to Use Short Links in UniLink (Create Branded Short URLs for Any Link)

Turn any long URL into a clean, trackable branded short link at unil.ink/your-slug — complete with click analytics, UTM parameters, and optional password protection.

A long affiliate URL with tracking parameters, a verbose product page address, or a campaign landing page URL that wraps across two lines — these are the kinds of links that lose clicks before they even get a chance to convert. Short Links in UniLink lets you replace any URL with a clean, branded address at unil.ink/your-slug that you control entirely. The link looks professional, fits anywhere (bio, email signature, printed materials, spoken aloud on a podcast), and every click that goes through it is recorded so you always know which links are working.

What Short Links Does

Short Links is a URL shortener built directly into UniLink's dashboard. You create a redirect: someone visits unil.ink/your-slug and UniLink immediately sends them to the destination URL you specified. The redirect is a 301 (permanent) by default, which means it is fast and SEO-friendly. The entire process from click to landing page loads in milliseconds because the redirect logic runs at the edge.

Every click is logged: timestamp, country, device type, and referrer. You see this data in the Short Links analytics panel without needing a separate analytics account or UTM-parsing setup. Speaking of UTM parameters — UniLink can append them automatically to the destination URL on every click, so your Google Analytics or marketing dashboard receives properly tagged traffic without you having to append parameters manually every time you share the link.

Two optional protective features are available. You can set an expiry date after which the short link stops working and returns a 410 gone response. You can also add a password so only recipients who know the code can proceed to the destination — useful for early-access pages, internal documents, or gated promotional offers. Both features can be toggled after creation without changing the slug.

How to Get Started With Short Links

1. Open Short Links — in your UniLink Dashboard, click Short Links in the left sidebar. If this is your first time, the panel is empty with a prominent Create Short Link button in the center.
2. Click Create Short Link — a creation modal or side panel opens with fields for destination URL, custom slug, and optional settings.
3. Paste your destination URL — enter the full URL you want to redirect to. This can be any valid URL: your own site, an affiliate link, a checkout page, a YouTube video, a PDF hosted anywhere.
4. Set your custom slug — type the slug you want after unil.ink/. Slugs must be lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. UniLink checks availability instantly; a green checkmark confirms the slug is free.
5. Add UTM parameters (optional) — expand the UTM section and fill in Source, Medium, and Campaign fields. UniLink appends these to the destination URL automatically on every redirect, so your analytics tool sees correctly attributed traffic.
6. Set expiry or password (optional) — enable the expiry date picker if you want the link to deactivate on a specific date. Enable password protection and enter a code if you want to gate access to the destination.
7. Save and copy — click Create. The short link is live immediately. Copy the unil.ink/your-slug URL from the confirmation screen and share it anywhere.

How to Use Short Links in Practice

1. View your links — the Short Links dashboard lists all your links with their slug, destination (truncated), creation date, and total click count. Click any row to open its detail panel.
2. Check click analytics — in the detail panel, the Analytics tab shows a click-over-time chart plus breakdowns by country, device, and referrer. Use date range filters to isolate campaign periods.
3. Edit destination URL — click the pencil icon on any link. You can change the destination URL without touching the slug. All existing printed or shared links keep working and now point to the new destination.
4. Update UTM parameters — change the UTM values at any time. The new parameters apply to all clicks from the moment you save, so you can retag a link mid-campaign if a parameter was wrong.
5. Disable a link temporarily — toggle the Active switch to off. The link stays in your list but returns a 404 for anyone who visits. Toggle it back on when ready.
6. Delete a link — click the trash icon and confirm. The slug is released back to the pool and can be claimed by anyone, including other UniLink users. Only delete if you are certain no one is using the link.
7. Export click data — click Export CSV in the analytics panel to download raw click data with timestamps, countries, and referrers. Useful for reporting or importing into a BI tool.

Key Settings Explained

How to Get the Most Out of Short Links

The most powerful use of Short Links is as a tracking layer on top of links you share repeatedly. Instead of sharing a raw affiliate URL in your bio, your email list, and your Instagram story, create one short link per channel — unil.ink/amazon-bio, unil.ink/amazon-email, unil.ink/amazon-story — each with different UTM source values. Now you know exactly which channel drives the most affiliate revenue without any tag manager setup.

For time-sensitive campaigns, the expiry date feature eliminates the broken-link problem. Set the link to expire on the last day of your sale. Anyone who finds the link after the sale ends sees an informative expired-link page rather than a confusing 404 or worse — a permanently live page for a deal that no longer exists.

Password-protected short links have a niche but high-value use case: sharing price sheets, event invites, or internal documents with a group without making the content publicly indexed. The URL itself is not guessable, and the password adds a second layer so even someone who stumbles across the slug cannot proceed without the code you shared privately.

If you run a newsletter or send regular emails, create a standardized UTM naming convention before you start generating links. Source = channel (email, instagram, tiktok), Medium = content type (newsletter, story, reel), Campaign = the specific campaign name. Consistent naming makes your analytics data actually usable over time rather than fragmented across dozens of variations.

Troubleshooting Common Issues