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🤔 Link Trackers vs Link Shorteners: What's the Difference?

By Maya Kyler on October 21, 2023

Whether it's for social media, marketing campaigns, or simply making a URL more user-friendly, you've probably heard of tools like bitly, y.gy, branch.io, shorturl.at, tlinky.com , and many others. But some of them advertise themselves as link shorteners (or URL shorteners) and others as link trackers. In this article we'll lay out the difference.
What's a Link Shortener? Picture this: you're sharing a super-long, clunky URL on Twitter, and it eats up half your character limit. That's where link shorteners swoop in to save the day. They take that lengthy web address and transform it into something concise and user-friendly, making it easier to share and manage.
Example: Bitly is the poster child for link shorteners. Take this long URL: https://www.example.com/your-very-long-and-complex-link. Bitly turns it into something like this: bit.ly/1234. Simple, right?
Link Trackers: The Sherlock Holmes of Links. Link trackers are the detectives of the digital world. They not only shorten your links but also provide valuable insights. When you use a link tracker, you're not just creating a short URL; you're also gaining the ability to monitor how many people clicked on it, where they came from, whether they're on an iPhone or a Macbook, and even when they clicked. It's like a backstage pass to understanding your audience.
Example: Branch.io does more than just shorten URLs; it tracks user interactions. Let's say you're promoting a new app. With Branch, you can see how many people clicked your link, installed the app, and made a purchase within the app. It's marketing gold!

Link Shorteners vs. Link Trackers: The Key Differences

Purpose
  • Link Shorteners: Make long links short and user-friendly.
  • Link Trackers: Shorten links while providing data on link performance.
Insights:
  • Link Shorteners: Provide no analytics or data about link performance.
  • Link Trackers: Offer detailed analytics, such as click-through rates, geographic location, and referral sources.
Use Cases:
  • Link Shorteners: Ideal for sharing clean, manageable URLs on social media and in printed materials.
  • Link Trackers: Essential for marketing campaigns, tracking user engagement, and optimizing content.
Examples:
In a nutshell, while link shorteners give you neater URLs, link trackers offer a deeper understanding of how your links perform. So, choose the tool that best suits your needs. Are you just looking for a snazzy link to share on Twitter? Go for a link shortener. Need to track your marketing campaign's success? A link tracker is your best friend. This also explains why some of these are much more expensive than others. y.gy is priced affordably, whereas branch.io is a "contact sales" enterprise tool (read: expensive!) for in-depth tracking and attribution of the user journey after clicking a link. At y.gy, we offer a link shortener and qr code creator with reasonably extensive link tracking functionality, but not post-click tracking.

What is Link Tracking Functionality?

It's worth going into greater depth on what a link tracker should actually give you. Below are the key data components of link tracking.
  1. ** Click-Through Rate (CTR):** One of the fundamental metrics, CTR tells you the percentage of users who clicked on your shortened link. It's the first step in gauging the effectiveness of your campaign. To assess CTR, you need to compare it against the total number of pageloads, so you have to supplement with tracking pixels (for emails) to assess opens, or Google Analytics to track website pageloads.
  2. Geographic Data: Link trackers can reveal the geographic locations of your audience. This information is invaluable for tailoring your content and targeting specific regions.
  3. Device Type: Discover the devices your audience uses to access your links, whether it's a smartphone, tablet, or desktop. This insight helps you optimize your content for different platforms.
  4. Referral Sources: Link trackers unveil the websites, social media platforms, or apps that are driving traffic to your links. You can see where your audience is coming from, allowing you to focus your marketing efforts effectively.
  5. Conversion Tracking: Beyond click data, link trackers often enable you to track the actions users take after clicking on your link. This includes downloads, form submissions, purchases, and more. It's a goldmine for e-commerce businesses and app developers.
  6. A/B Testing: Some link trackers offer A/B testing capabilities, allowing you to experiment with different link destinations or content to determine which performs best.
  7. User Agent Data: Detailed information about the user's browser, operating system, and device model can be gathered, helping you ensure a seamless user experience.
  8. Time-of-Day Metrics: Link Trackers let you see when your links are most active. This data is vital for planning campaigns and scheduling posts.
By contrast, the following is regular link shortener functionality:
  1. Open Graph Tags: Link shorteners can read and display Open Graph tags, enhancing the appearance of shared links on social media. You can customize the title, description, and image that appears when someone shares your link.
  2. Custom Domain Support: Many link shorteners allow you to shorten links with your custom domain, reinforcing your brand's identity. For example, instead of shortening yourdomain.com/my-long-link-1234 to y.gy/1234, you can shorten it to yourdomain.com/1234

Final Notes

Link Trackers can be hugely powerful by providing deep insights into user behavior. Not only can they reveal the number of clicks, but they can also track the entire user journey. For instance, if you're a mobile app developer, Branch.io can show how many users clicked your link, installed your app, and completed specific in-app actions. That level of detail is a game-changer for understanding user engagement and optimizing your mobile app marketing strategy.
But branch.io is an expensive enterprise product. y.gy is cheap, and we still offer a wealth of analytics that is indispensable for marketing campaigns, app promotions, and any scenario where you need a comprehensive view of user interaction. We're here to help you unlock the vast potential of data-driven decision-making in the digital landscape. When it comes to tracking, analyzing, and optimizing your links, there are important differences between link shorteners and trackers. We do both, and we're here to help.
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