Terminus App - UTM Tracking Made Easy

Simple UTM Builder + Google UTM Alternatives

UTM builders are tools that add custom campaign parameters to your URL so you can track these campaigns in Google Analytics. They are essential to you being able to track the success of your campaigns.

You can use these URLs in your Facebook, retargeting, and email campaigns, and that’s just to name a few.

But, you already know this, which is why you’re here.

At Terminus App, we’ve designed this URL Builder tool below to help you. It’s super easy, and only takes three steps:

Tools like this are super helpful if you’d like to get an idea of how your UTMs could look, or even if you’d like to run your first campaign. However, if you’re a serious marketer and need to test multiple campaigns across multiple channels, we’d highly recommend a more advanced option.

Here are some other options for building and tracking your UTMs.

1. Manual tagging

When talking about UTM campaign tagging, most blogs only mention Google’s URL builder, this is most likely because creating your own UTM codes inevitably results in making mistakes, and wasting your time. That’s why it’s worth exploring a few other tools, some of which not only help you build, but also manage your UTM tracking URLs. You can then choose the best tool for your marketing campaigns considering your analytics requirements, team size, risk tolerance, and budget.

However, for the sake of this tutorial, let’s try building a URL to get familiar with its format. Let’s say you need to track visits to your site at www.yoursite.com for your summer_launch campaign that you promote on Twitter. So you have,

URL = www.yoursite.com
utm_source = twitter
utm_medium = social
utm_campaign = summer_launch

The tagged URL will be:

www.yoursite.com/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer_launch

You will notice that a question mark (?) separates the actual URL and the first parameter while ampersand (&) separates the other parameters.

Pros of Manual Tagging:

No software or website needed

Cons of Manual Tagging:

Extremely error-prone
Your memory and knowledge of URL formats is all you have
Very difficult to be consistent

2. Google URL Builder Tool

This is the most popular URL builder tool out there. It’s the first to appear in the search engines and because it’s created by Google, it has the impression that it must be more correct than others. Some believe that it helps Google Analytics recognize their campaign parameters.

However, that’s not true. The Google URL builder tool is good for one-off URL creation, but it’s not ideal if you want to track entire campaigns across your site. Here’s what it looks like if you haven’t seen it already:

Pros of Google UTM Generator:

• Simple to use
• Free

Cons of Google UTM Generator:

• Does not remember your campaign tags or your URL.
• No way for you to force consistency in tagging.
• Does not automatically shorten URLs.

3. URL Builder Spreadsheets

As you start to tag more than a handful of URLs, it’s better to start saving them along with their campaign parameters. For this purpose, spreadsheets are an obvious choice. You can either go with Microsoft Excel or Google Spreadsheets (which is what I prefer).

If you are a serious marketer, you should keep track of your URLs.

I repeat… If you are a serious marketer, you should keep track of your URLs.

Combined with a good tagging strategy, keeping track of URLs can enable you to get accurate analytics reports. You can then compare your traffic and conversion numbers across different mediums, sources and even year-over-year. You can gain a lot of insight from such comparisons. Without saving your campaign parameters, you cannot implement any tagging strategy consistently.

There are many spreadsheets templates available online for campaign tagging. If you decide to go with the spreadsheet option, you could try this free Google Analytics URL Builder Spreadsheet.

Pros of URL Builder Spreadsheets:

• Remembers your past URLs and campaign parameters
• Your team has a central place to go to for building URLs
• Helps achieve consistency for your tagging guidelines
• It’s free

Cons of URL Builder Spreadsheets:

• Cannot handle anchor tags because of URL parsing limitations of a spreadsheet.
• Cannot URL encode arbitrary UTM values. This can result in invalid URLs.
• Easy to overwrite the formulas and break the spreadsheet
• Difficult to tag URLs in bulk
• Cannot automatically shorten tagged URLs
(possible with some advanced spreadsheet voodoo)
• Cannot see clicks on shortened URLs

4. Terminus app

Terminus, like spreadsheets, helps you build and manage UTM tracking URLs and has several other convenient features. It also hides the nitty-gritty details of maintaining a spreadsheet.

To build a tracking URL in Terminus, enter one or more destination URLs. You can then either select from pre-existing UTM parameters or enter new ones. Here’s what the Terminus URL Builder looks like:

You can also save the combination of UTM parameters in a preset. It can then be used to quickly tag new URLs with the same set of parameters.

If you need to add multiple sets of UTM tags to a URL, say you are publishing a new blog post, you can do it in as little as two clicks.

You can even quickly add UTM tracking to all the URLs in your emails and generate a fully UTM tracked email in seconds.

With Terminus, it’s possible to make your UTM conventions part of your URL builder. Define as many conventions as you like. No need to remember them anymore.

After you save the URLs, Terminus automatically shortens all of them. If you like, you can configure your own custom domain, use Terminus shortener, or connect your own Bitly account. You can then copy shortened URLs with a single click and use it for your various marketing campaigns. A typical list of URLs looks like this:

Pros of Terminus app:

Remembers your past URLs and UTM parameters
Your team has a central place to go to for building URLs

(each team member can have fine-grained permissions)

Automatically shortens UTM tagged URLs
Keeps track of clicks on shortened URLs
Can tag URLs in bulk
Many other features like custom parameters, presets, preset groups,

redirect codes, clicks reports, audits, etc.

Cons of Terminus app:

It’s not free

Start your 21-day free trial to find out if it works for you and your team. Cancel with one-click. There’s zero risks.

Final Thoughts:

I’m sure there are more such tools out there. Once you understand your needs and the capabilities of these tools, you will be able to choose one with confidence.

Having said that, all of the above tools are just that. Tools. Remember that creating a coherent and consistent strategy is needed to have your UTM tags remain intact. With an adhesive plan, your traffic reports will dodge any mishaps.

Try Out Terminus App – All Your UTMs in One Place

Learn more about UTM Parameters in these articles here:
• UTM Parameters Best Practices: A Course for Beginners and Experts
• 7 Most Frequently Asked Questions About UTM Parameters
• Terminus UTM Builder – Features

Email Tracking: How Does It Work?

Waiting around for an email response days after you’ve sent it is as anxiety-provoking as it is frustrating. But, thanks to email tracking technology, sending an email and watching it disappear into the void is a thing of the past.

Using an email tracker, you’re able to monitor the behavior of your email recipients. Whether you want to measure how many link clicks you’re receiving or how many people open your messages to begin with, tracking emails is a simple, strategic method for crafting better-performing email campaigns.

Why is Email Tracking Vital to Your Campaigns?

Understanding who’s clicking on your emails provides you with critical insights into your campaign’s performance. Here are a few reasons why email tracking will benefit your campaign.

Email tracking provides you with insight into valuable metrics.

Understanding the metrics obtained from tracking emails enables you to fine-tune your campaign strategy. As you adjust your tactics, you’ll be able to monitor the changes in your results.

Metrics like click rates, unsubscribe rates, and delivery rates are all helpful in understanding your campaign’s strengths and weaknesses. We’ll go into more detail about those metrics later on in this post, but having a general understanding of which areas your campaign is falling short in — or succeeding in — will help you boost your performance in the long run.

For example, if your emails are going largely unopened, it might be an indicator that your subject lines need rewriting, your communications are too frequent, or that your content is irrelevant to the contacts on your list. It could also mean that there are technical errors occurring, such as sending emails to addresses that don’t exist anymore.

Email tracking saves you time.

Understanding who opens your emails and who doesn’t will inform you about whom you should follow up with. If a contact isn’t opening your first email, there’s little chance they will be interested in opening a follow-up message. You’ll save time by investing your energy in following up with those who were interested enough to open your first email, rather than those who weren’t.

Email tracking provides you with the opportunity to send timely and impactful follow-ups.

When you are sending follow-up emails, tracking email opens will help your communications become more timely. Knowing when your contacts check their emails provides you with the opportunity to send messages when they’re most likely to open and read them. What’s more, seeing when your contacts are opening messages in real-time will help you to send a timely follow-up. Say, for example, that after sending a proposal to a prospective client and hearing nothing back, you notice your email has been opened a few days later. This is the perfect opportunity to send a relevant, timely follow-up or phone call while you know the prospect is actively reading your message and has you top of mind.

So, How Does Email Tracking Work?

There are three different ways in which you can track an email.

1. Read receipts

Read receipts are an opt-in way to see if your email has been opened. They’re offered by some email clients like Microsoft Outlook and Gmail, but they are restricted in some ways. Read receipts need to be authorized by the recipient before they’re activated. Additionally, they only work if you and your recipient are using the same email client — so if you’re sending an email from your Outlook account to a Gmail address, the request for a read receipt will be ignored.

2. Image pixels

Another way to track emails is through use of image pixels, which are 1×1 pixel images (in other words, images too small for the human eye to see) embedded with a line of code. The image pixel is sent with an email, and once the recipient opens the email, the tracking client knows the pixel has been downloaded. The tracking client then notifies the sender of an open.

Image pixels are one of the most widespread ways that emails are tracked. It’s important to note, however, that because images don’t load every time an email is opened, image pixels won’t always be 100% accurate. If the recipient’s images don’t automatically download from an email, the pixel won’t download either, and it won’t count as an open.

3. Trackable links

Trackable links are encoded URLs that notify the sender when they’ve been clicked on. By sending trackable links in your emails, you’re able to see when and what links users interacted with. This gives you an idea of which emails are opened and what content is performing well.

You’re able to create your own trackable links using UTM codes, which will help you dial into the origin of your website traffic and give you a clearer picture of how effective your email campaigns are. For example, if the goal of your campaign is to direct users to your website to take advantage of your summer sale, you can track which clicks to your website came from that specific campaign. Here’s a deeper dive into how you can track link clicks in an email campaign.

How to Track Emails Using UTM Codes

The Terminus app has a handy feature for building trackable emails using UTM codes. Here’s how it works:

The first step is composing your email as usual, which you can do in your email service provider, like Mailchimp. The next is finding the HTML source code. With Mailchimp, you’ll get it by clicking on the “< >” button. Other email providers will have something similar.

Once you send your tracked email and the recipients have clicked on the links, your reports will also be available in Google Analytics. To find them, open your account and navigate to Acquisition > Campaigns > All Campaigns. You’ll see your reports broken down by campaign name. Using this method will also help you track these clicks all the way and see if people converted on your website.

If you’re new to using UTM codes to build trackable links, make sure you avoid these common mistakes as you start out.

Track Your Emails with Terminus App UTM Builder

Other Important Email Metrics To Track

Once your reports are generated, you’ll find there are a number of useful insights to glean from your email tracking metrics.

Clicks

Your click through rate, or simply click rate, is the percentage of people who click on a link or image in your email. So, if you send an email campaign to 100 people and 10 people clicked on links within your email, then your click rate would be 10%. A higher click rate, about 2.5% or above, is a sign that your campaign is relevant to your readers and reaching the right audience. A lower click rate — below 2.5% — means you might have to readjust your approach.

Unsubscribe rate

Your unsubscribe rate is the percentage of subscribers who have opted out of receiving your messages. Nobody really wants to know their unsubscribe rate, but understanding it is important nonetheless. An unsubscribe rate is an honest glimpse into your campaign’s effectiveness and can actually help you strengthen your strategy in the long run.

Knowing who is unsubscribing from your emails will tell you about the people who read your emails, the kind of content they prefer, and how you can adjust your communications to keep them engaged. As you fine-tune your email strategy, compare how many people unsubscribe when you use a particular subject line, content format, number of images, and the frequency with which you send emails. You’ll know what kind of communication resonates best with your audience when you can pinpoint what leads to higher unsubscribe rates.

Keep in mind that the average unsubscribe rate across all major industries is 0.1%, so if you experience an unsubscribe rate higher than that, it’s time to make some adjustments.Gin

Delivery Rate

Your delivery rate is another key insight into the health of your campaign. Email delivery rates are calculated with this formula: emails sent minus bounces by the number of emails sent. It’s important to know if your emails are bouncing, as it could point to a few lapses in your campaign strategy.

For one, your mailing list might be filled with invalid email addresses. On the other hand, it could be that your subject lines appear too spammy and get filtered out by email service providers. You should aim for a 95% delivery rate or above for your email campaigns.

Having access to metrics like these is invaluable to your email campaign. Luckily, most popular email marketing tools, such as MailChimp and Hubspot, offer email tracking services that summarize these email tracking metrics in a report.

Conclusion

Using email tracking as part of your marketing strategy is a step in the right direction for building more strategic and results-driven campaigns. Email tracking provides you with the complete picture of your campaign’s effectiveness, allowing you to better understand your audience, know your own strengths and weaknesses, and save time.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to leverage UTM parameters and how to monitor the effectiveness of your campaign, check out the resources below.

Additional Resources:

Guess No More – How to Track Link Clicks in an Email Campaign

Just about everybody uses email, and if we’re talking numbers, “just about everybody” equates to roughly 3.9 billion users worldwide. That number is steadily on the rise, so if you have yet to develop an email marketing strategy, now is the best time to start.

Emails are critical components to successful marketing campaigns not only because they’re such ubiquitous and effective communication tools, but also because they’re action-oriented and measurable. Emails are transactional by nature and contain calls to action tailored to specific audiences. Most importantly, they’re measurable, allowing the sender to obtain key marketing metrics through link click tracking.

Link tracking takes the guesswork out of where your emails succeed and where they’re falling flat. And like learning any new skill, finding out how to best track email links is a process that takes some trial and error. To make it easy for you, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to track links in emails.

How to Track Links in Emails

1. Start by identifying your target audience.

Understand who your customers are, and you’ll be better able to target them with relevant messaging. Intimately knowing where your audience members live, how old they are, what language they speak, their spending power, and their interests will lay the fundamental groundwork for a successful campaign.

2. Build out your email campaign.

Once you have your target audience established, it’s time to draft and build out your campaign. Before getting into the nitty-gritty of writing compelling subject lines and killer body content, identify the goal of your campaign. Ask yourself what the need for your emails are, and why your audience will benefit from them. From there, begin drafting copy, finding imagery, and scheduling out your campaign. And be to leave wiggle room in your schedule for test rounds before sending emails right off the bat!

3. Set up an email journey.

Email journeys are automated emails that are sent based on triggers you define, allowing you to send out the right content at the right time. Those triggers could be a certain date or actions, such as a customer abandoning their cart or the way a subscriber interacts with your emails. Not only do automated emails save marketers time in the long run, but when they’re personalized, they actually yield higher click-through and conversion rates. Most email marketing services, like MailChimp, AWeber, and Constant Contact offer automation features that can help you set up your email journey.

4. Create UTM codes for all email links.

Now, it’s time to create UTM codes for all the links in the body of your emails. This is usually the part that makes email marketers groan, but UTM building doesn’t need to be painful. Using Terminus’ email tracking feature, you can quickly choose which of the URLs in the email you want to track. From there, it’s easy to specify custom UTM parameters while enforcing consistent conventions for accuracy in reporting.

When creating UTM parameters, you’re essentially establishing link tracking tags that identify things like the URL’s source, medium and campaign name. You can also track individual links by keywords, which are automatically generated to identify each link.

Once your tracking tags are applied to the links in your new emails, you’ll need to refresh any draft campaigns or active journey emails to track to those as well.

Try Out TerminusApp UTM Builder

The Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Your First Email A/B Test

5. Find your results in Google Analytics.

You can find your tracked email reports in the “Reporting” tab of your Google Analytics account. In the sidebar, click Acquisition > Campaigns > All Campaigns. Here, you’ll be able to track sales, conversions, and A/B campaigns. You’ll also find insights into user behavior, such as bounce rates and average session durations.

Before you begin tracking links in your email campaigns, check out these frequently asked questions for more guidance:

Email Tracking FAQs

What does UTM mean?

A UTM (urchin tracking module) is a simple code attached to a custom URL in order to track its source, medium, and campaign name. UTMs acquire the data you need to understand the effectiveness of your campaigns.

How do I measure clicked links?

You can sort through your results by the specific tags you added to your URLs using Google Analytics or an analytics tool of your choice.

How do I turn click tracking on or off?

Most email marketing services have toggle switches that turn link tracking on or off. Using the Terminus app, you have the option to send a tracked email with the click of a button in your email builder.

How do I track email clicks using Bitly links?

Links created with Bitly are easily tracked. After logging into your Bitly account, head to your dashboard, which shows you a comprehensive view of sharing and engagement metrics. Here’s a deeper dive on how to track email clicks using Bitly.

Is it possible to track clicks on Bitly links AND uniquely identify users’ actions post-click?

Definitely. You’ll just need to add your specific UTM parameters to the link before shortening it with Bitly. For example, if you want to tweet a URL and then track how many users signed on to your website as a result of that, you can add the following parameters:

utm_campaign=<campaign name>

utm_medium=social

utm_source=twitter

utm_content=<some unique link ID>

Then, shorten the link with Bitly before tweeting. The data will come back to you in the form of a _utmz cookie, which contains information about how and when an individual visits your site for the first time.

How does click tracking look in plain text campaigns?

Plain text campaigns don’t use hyperlinks to conceal entire URLs, so your audience will see the full link. Consider creating shortened, custom URLs for good-looking links in plain-text campaigns.

Can I see who has clicked a link in my email?

Certain email marketing providers allow insights into who has clicked a link in your email, including MailChimp and Constant Contact. Bonus: the Terminus app is also compatible with these platforms.

Conclusion

Tracking email click links is a surefire way to better understand your email marketing campaign’s effectiveness. Given the abundance of resources online, you’ll be able to get going with tracking links in emails in no time, and with help from the Terminus app, you can easily add consistent UTM parameters to all your email links. If you haven’t already, start your zero-risk, 21-day free trial today.

For more tips on how to level up your email marketing game, check out these articles:

Easily Track Your Emails With UTM Parameters

How to Shorten a LinkedIn URL – and Other Social Applications

If you are actively promoting your brand on social media but not using URL shorteners, you could be undermining your marketing efforts. Even if you have outstanding, user-friendly content, it matters little if users are not clicking on your links.

A URL shortener works by utilizing a redirect to send users clicking on the shortened link to the webpage that has the longer link. URL shorteners serve numerous benefits for social media marketers. In addition to making your posts look more attractive, they promote optimization and branding and help to gather and make sense of important analytical data. URL shorteners can be used on all major social applications, such as Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is particularly important for professionals. It is the largest social media platform for job-related posts and business networking. Using a LinkedIn URL shortener helps to promote your brand, set you apart from the competition, and allows you to easily share the LinkedIn profile link on your business card or resume.

How to Shorten a LinkedIn URL

When you create a profile on LinkedIn you are automatically assigned a generic URL. To find your profile’s default URL, all you need to do is access your LinkedIn profile. The easiest way to do this is to go to www.LinkedIn.com. Login to your account with your username and password. Once at the home screen, the easiest way to access your profile is to click on the “Me” icon located on the toolbar at the top of the page.

From the drop-down menu, click on “View Profile”. On your profile page, your LinkedIn URL will be located in the URL bar at the top of your browser.

Benefits of a LinkedIn URL Shortener

According to experts, there are some 575 million users on LinkedIn, with more than 260 million monthly active users. Only a very small percentage of users have taken the steps to create a LinkedIn URL shortener. Thus, most URLs on LinkedIn look largely the same. So, by using a custom URL, you are setting yourself apart from other users. This also makes you look more professional to your colleagues and potential employers. You can also add your custom URL to your email signature when sending emails for professional and/or business purposes.

There are also search engine optimization (SEO) benefits to using a LinkedIn URL shortener. A major factor in SEO is the readability of content. Custom URLs are shorter and lack an excessive amount of special characters, improving the readability of your profile and giving you an SEO boost.

Shorten & Track Links with TerminusApp

Why You Need UTM Parameters In Social Media Marketing

How to Shorten URLs with TerminusApp

Using TerminusApp to create branded short URLs is easy. Follow these simple steps:

Pick Your Domain Shortener
Select “Add a Custom Domain
Configure Custom Domain
Configure DNS Settings
Request SSL/HTTPS for Your Custom Domain (Optional)
Configure Your Project to Use the Custom Domain

If you want more in-depth directions for this process, check out this article: Vanity/Custom URLs – How to Get One & Why It’s Important

How to change your LinkedIn URL

You can change the default URL to a LinkedIn URL shortener through the settings in your LinkedIn profile. We discussed above how to access the homepage of your profile. Once there, click on “Edit public profile & URL” located on the right side of the screen.

On the next screen, you will see your current profile URL underneath the section “Edit your custom URL”. Click on the small blue pen icon located just beneath the URL. Enter the LinkedIn URL shortener that you created using TerminusApp.

Click “Save” to apply the changes to your profile URL. If for some reason the URL you have selected is not available, you will receive a notification to enter a different URL.

URL Shorteners for Other Social Networks

You can use TerminusApp to create and share nice looking URLs on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. In addition to the benefits of using a LinkedIn URL shortener that we mentioned above, there is another major benefit of using custom URLs.

The advantages of any digital marketing campaign over traditional forms of advertising are the ability to easily collect and analyze data. This is done by adding UTM parameters to your links. You can then use Google Analytics or another service provider to help you monitor sources of traffic and to make improvements to your social media marketing campaigns.

YouTube

Using a YouTube URL shortener can serve a number of important functions. When commenting on videos, you can keep track of links. When creating videos, you can use a Youtube URL shortener to create optimized links and easily share them with others.

You can easily create a Youtube URL shortener using TerminusApp by following the same steps that we mentioned above. To change the URL, however, you need to do the following:

Ensure that you are eligible. You need to have at least 100 subscribers and your video has to be at least 30 days old.
Sign into your YouTube account.
Click on your profile picture located on the top right corner of the page.
Click on Settings, Advanced Settings, Channel Settings. If you are eligible you will see a link that reads “You’re eligible for a custom URL”.
Enter your Youtube URL shortener in the custom URL box.
Agree to the Terms of Use, click Change URL and then Confirm Choice.

It’s important to note that you can only change the Youtube URL shortener for a video once, so make sure you are satisfied before completing the steps above.

Facebook

Much like LinkedIn, a Facebook URL shortener gives your page a professional feel that helps set you apart from your competition. You can also use a Facebook URL shortener to track your Facebook ad campaigns.

Create your Facebook URL shortener on TerminusApp using the steps described above. Once you have done that, follow these steps:

Go to www.facebook.com/username.
Select the Facebook page that you wish to change the URL for from the dropdown menu.
Enter your Facebook URL shortener in the box following www.facebook.com/.
Click on “Check Availability”.
If the URL is not available, then enter another one. If it is, then click on confirm

Instagram

If you have more than 10,000 followers or a verified account, you can add a URL to your Instagram stories. You can also use an Instagram URL shortener on your profile bio link.

How to add a link to an Instagram story

To add a link to an Instagram story you need to follow these steps:

Access the tool to add a new Instagram story.
If you are eligible you will see a link icon at the top of your screen. Click on it.
Paste the URL shortener that you have created into the story link box.
Click on “Done”.
Publish your story and share the link with your followers.

Conclusion

Start using custom, short URLs to take your social media marketing to the next level. TerminusApp allows you to easily create branded short URLs for use on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and all other major social media platforms.

A LinkedIn URL shortener helps separate your profile from nearly 600 million other users. Creating a LinkedIn link shortener with TerminusApp is simple. Once you have created your URL, you can change your default profile link by accessing the settings in your LinkedIn profile.

If you are interested in learning more about using UTM Parameters in your social media marketing, check out these articles:

Google Analytics: How to Get Accurate Traffic Reports

The 15 Best URL Shorteners For Any Business

Does your business need a URL shortener?

Well-crafted URLs are an important (yet often overlooked) element of a successful SEO strategy. A smaller URL is more likely to catch your audience’s attention than a jarring string of letters and numbers. It can also help build trust among your audience and generate higher click rates to your site.

The simplest way to create clean, enticing URLs is by using a URL shortening tool. No matter the size of your business or budget, this article will help you find the best URL shortener for your unique needs.

What is a URL Shortener?

A URL shortener is exactly what it sounds like: a tool that turns long, complicated URLs into smaller, bite-sized links. Some URL shortening services offer features that go beyond simply shrinking links, including URL customization, embedding UTM parameters, and link tracking and analytics. Understanding which of these features to leverage for your business is key to determining the best URL shortener for you.

To conduct a thorough audit of your needs, consider these questions:

What’s your budget?

Many URL shorteners offer free and paid versions of their services, some of which can cost upwards of $500 per month. Understanding how much you’re able to spend will help you choose the best URL shortener for your business.

How many people are on your team?

Are you flying solo, or are you working as part of a team? If you’re on your own, chances are a free URL shortener will meet your needs just fine. But if you’re working with others, you might need a more robust service that provides access to collaborative workspaces.

What do you need it for?

Are you looking to track links in Google Analytics? If so, you’ll want to make sure your link shortener can embed UTM parameters. Perhaps you’re looking to drive brand awareness — the best URL shortener for you should offer a customization tool. And if you need a shortened link for social media? You should be able to customize your link to drive clicks and track key analytics in a single platform.

Shorten Your URLs with TerminusApp

Whether you’ve got a stacked agency budget and a team behind you, or you’re simply looking for a quick and free solution, the Internet is full of options. Here are some of the best URL shorteners.

Best URL Shorteners

1. Cuttly

Cuttly offers a variety of features, including link shortening, branded link creation, and advanced analytics. Best of all, it’s absolutely free to use. Cuttly allows users to track each shortened link in real time and measure its performance. It also offers a UTM code generator for registered users.

2. Short URL

Short URL is a no-frills site that allows for the shortening, sharing, and tracking of links. There’s no customization tool on this platform, but for those looking for a straightforward and free URL shortener, this is a great place to start.

3. Tiny URL

TinyURL.com is a free site that offers both URL shortening and customization. What we like about this tool (besides it being free, of course) is that it’s easily integrated into your browser’s toolbar. Clicking on the toolbar button will then create a tiny URL for the current page you’re on. However, Tiny URL doesn’t possess link tracking abilities.

Other URL shorteners offer paid and enterprise plans. Paying for a URL shortener can give you access to services like on-call customer support, link management, traffic routing, and collaborative workspaces. If that sounds like something your business could benefit from, try opting for one of these paid URL shorteners.

4. Rebrandly

Rebrandly is a link management platform to brand, track and share short URLs using a custom domain name. Rebrandly does provide a free service, but it caps its tracked clicks at 5,000 per month. Plans range between $29 and $499 per month, or you can contact Rebrandly for custom pricing.

5. Clickmeter

Clickmeter helps businesses optimize clickthrough and conversion rates through the management, racking, and monitoring of shortened URLs. Users have access to tools like click and conversion tracking, URL shortening, branded domains, A/B testing, and dynamic traffic redirects. Plans range from $29 per month to $349 per month.

6. Bitly

Business that use branded links report a 34% increase in clicks to their website. With Bitly, you can create custom branded links that remain consistently recognizable across any channel. Bitly integrates with nearly every social media and digital marketing tool and offers analytics tracking tools on a single interface. You can get started for free or at $39/month with a basic plan. Contact Bitly for a custom plan.

7. Ow.ly by Hootsuite

Social media managers, rejoice — Ow.ly will help you shorten links, measure traffic, and demonstrate social ROI right inside the Hootsuite dashboard. Pricing ranges between $29 and $599 per month.

8. Buffer

Buffer is another social media management site that includes a URL shortener. Plans start at $15 per month and range up to $99 per month for its publishing services (which include link shortening), but for analytics access, you’ll need to purchase an additional plan.

9. Branch.io

Branch is a mobile linking platform that unifies user experience and measurement across different devices, platforms, and channels. You can use the platform for free, but Branch charges $59 per month for premium solutions that integrate deep links into marketing tools — which is excellent news for app developers, as web links don’t work with native mobile apps.

10. Snip.ly

Sniply allows you to add custom links to all owned, earned, and paid media. For example, you can attach a call-to-action that appears as a little pop-up box on the bottom of the page. Plans range between $29 per month to $299 per month.

11. T2mio

Along with link shortening, T2mio has a variety of useful tools, including a one-click social share and QR code generator, bulk URL creation, and one-click domain mapping. You can get started with a one-time fee of $5, or pay for monthly plans ranging between $29 to $89 per month. You can also contact T2mio for custom pricing.

12. Zapier

Zapier allows you to instantly connect its URL shortener feature with over 1,500 apps, including Gmail, Slack, Dropbox, and Airtable. There’s a free plan available that’s suitable for individuals, but if you’re on a team, you might consider looking at their other pricing options.

13. Terminus

Along with providing a UTM builder, we work with your custom domain to help you build branded, short URLs. Terminus also includes HTTPS for your custom domain, custom paths, a retargeting pixel, and a rich UTM builder. Plans start at $24 per month and range up to $158 per month, but you can also get in touch with us for a quote.

Best URL Shorteners for Developers

14. Firebase

Firebase is a comprehensive app development platform backed by Google Cloud. This guide walks you through creating Dynamic Links using either the Firebase console, using a REST API, iOS or Android Builder API, or by forming a URL by adding Dynamic Link parameters to a domain specific to your app.

15. Polr

Polr is an open-source link shortener. It allows you to host your own URL shortener and brand your URLs while gaining access to analytics.

What Do URL Shorteners Look Like?

Let’s take a look at what using a URL shortener might look like in practice. For example, take this URL: https://www.terminusapp.com/blog/analytics-dashboard-look-like-old-copywriting-formula/

What would it look like if we shortened it?

With Terminus, it would look like this after customizing the path: https://ter.li/analytics-dashboard

Using Cuttly’s free tool, we’d have: https://cutt.ly/3rYXriJ

Using Bitly, it would look like this: https://bit.ly/2uM530c

And if we were to customize it: https://tinyurl.com/terminus-analytics-guide

Essentially, using a URL shortener is like giving a link a much-needed makeover — the benefits of which extend far beyond just aesthetics. Luckily, there’s no shortage of URL shorteners available for both individuals and companies that operate on a larger scale. You can start by taking advantage of a 21-day Terminus trial. It’s zero-risk and absolutely free.

Additional Resources:

Vanity/Custom URLs – How to Get One & Why It’s Important

While you’ve been designing your website, you may have come across the term “vanity URL.” These are sometimes also called custom URLs. But what is a custom URL?

Essentially, a vanity or custom URL is a unique web address branded for marketing purposes. It is specific to your website and your business and can help your audience reach you more quickly and easily.

For instance, let’s say your website is running a summer sale. You can create a new webpage that will lead your users to the sale, but the URL is made of a string of complicated numbers that’s not memorable or catchy. Your vanity URL, however, would simply read https://mywebsite.com/SummerSale.

Are vanity URLs truly necessary? How do you go about getting one? This article will break down everything you need to know surrounding custom URLs, including best practices for selecting your URL, how to use one, how to create one, and how they can positively impact your SEO.

Why Should You Have a Vanity URL?

Custom or vanity URLs can be incredibly helpful for your business’s online presence. First, they’re simply easier to remember than a standard URL. Having a URL that’s short and easy to remember will make it much more likely that your audience will actually visit your website. It also makes your URL much easier to share and helps build more trust with your users.

Have you ever seen an ad for a website and thought it looked intriguing but didn’t have time to write it down? If it was a long and complicated link, chances are you couldn’t remember it when you got home. However, if it was a vanity URL that was short and catchy, you probably remembered it and had a better chance of visiting the website. Using vanity URLs can be an appealing and effective way to promote your business.

You may have seen websites promoting a specific campaign or sale with a unique URL, like https://mycompany.com/SaveTheTurtles. This web address is much catchier than a longer URL and is easier for audiences to remember and, in turn, visit later.

Create and Track Your Vanity URL with TerminusApp

Vanity URL Best Practices

Now that you’ve decided to create a vanity URL, what can help make it effective? There are a few simple best practices to keep in mind that will put you on the right track.

1. Decide on a Good Name

First, decide what you’ll name it. Keep it short and memorable with your company name and one or two words that describe where the link will lead. For example, imagine you click on a page titled www.mywebsite.com/contact it’s pretty clear that this page will lead to the “contact” section of your website. This is the ease and simplicity that your audience is looking for.

Finally, avoid complicated abbreviations that your audience isn’t likely to remember. The simpler, the better!

2. Plan Where You’ll Place It

Once you’ve named your custom URL, decide where you’re going to use it. They’re great for advertisements both online and off. Online, you can share your URL on free download pages, contests on social media, or landing pages. Offline, you may see a vanity URL on a flyer, billboard, or direct mail.

Let’s say you’re sending out a brochure discussing a new feature on your website. You probably don’t have enough space to cover everything you want to share, and you want your audience to see it for themselves anyway! By including a vanity URL like mywebsite.com/New, you’ll be giving your audience a memorable place to go.

You should avoid using your vanity URL for every link you share. If you’ve already got a link that’s short and easy to associate with your brand, then it’s fine as it is.

How to Create a Custom URL

To create a vanity URL, you can use any shortening service that allows custom domains and also customizing short urls. Bitly is one of the most popular ones. For our example, we’ll use Terminus custom shortener.

Step 1. Pick Your Domain Shortener

You can either opt to use the Terminus domain, ter.li, or you can select your own domain. Simply visit the Custom Domains page available in the top navigation menu, select “Add a Custom Domain,” and configure the domain to your liking.

Step 2. Select “Add a Custom Domain

Step 3. Configure Custom Domain

Specify the custom domain name, say ex.mp
Specify the Default URL where a visitor will be redirected if a valid short URL is not found or if the your custom domain is visited directly.
Click Save.

Step 4. Configure DNS Settings

Then you’ll need to configure your DNS settings as per the instructions provided.

This can take a while (up to an hour), but you can verify it by looking for a checkmark next to your custom domain in Terminus.

Step 5. Request SSL/HTTPS for Your Custom Domain (Optional)

If you wish, you can also request SSL/HTTPS for your new domain as well, providing added security to your visitors.

Step 6. Configure Your Project to Use the Custom Domain

Once the custom domain is setup, you can now customize any URL and turn it into a vanity URL.

Choose which URL you would like to customize

2. Then type the most relevant, memorable word that gets the meaning across

Creating a custom URL is easier than ever before thanks to these custom domain shorteners. You always stay in complete control of your website, and you can easily track your analytics to see how your vanity URL is performing.

Uses of Vanity URLs

You now have your vanity URL. If you’re promoting your social media page, for example, a vanity URL of www.face.book is much more attractive and easier to remember than the typical string of numbers you’d encounter.

Now that you have your new link, how do you promote it? Like we mentioned, you’ll likely see these URLs both in the digital and physical spaces. A few print examples might include:

Magazines
Flyers
Billboards
Sides of vehicles!

Vanity URLs work well in these spaces because they provide a quick and easy address for your audience to remember even if they can’t write it down.

You’ll also see custom URLs online, of course. Examples include:

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter
Email newsletters
Online brochures

Using a vanity URL in a digital ad makes the whole appearance much cleaner and more streamlined, leading to a better user experience and, therefore, more clicks. It’s an easy way to link to a sale page, contact form, or feedback opportunity.

Vanity URLs are also incredibly helpful with remarketing. Sometimes, a visitor will head to your website but not follow through with the action you want (i.e. purchasing your product). Remarketing to these audience members can be the extra push they need to follow through. By using a vanity URL to reach out to those you’re remarketing, you’re providing them with a quick and simple link to make the process even easier.

Finally, custom URLs are perfect for social sharing. The typical URL with long strings of numbers is just unappealing, and social media followers are less likely to click. With a short and unique link, it’s easier to integrate your page into your social media strategy, and your audience has a better chance of clicking and sharing your link.

SEO and Vanity URLs

Using vanity URLs can help you boost your SEO immensely if done properly. Consider the top keywords in your industry and see if you can integrate these into your new vanity URL. This can help your website get more traffic just by web users searching for the keywords.

Additionally, Google favors websites that are already popular. Vanity URLs can help boost your SEO in this way as a clean and short URL is more memorable, so more people are likely to remember and visit it. A long URL, on the other hand, is less likely to be directly searched and may wind up lower in search results.

Vanity URL Examples

Some of today’s biggest companies make good use of their custom URLs. You can feature them on a variety of different platforms. Here are a few for reference:

Twitter:

Take a look at how Pepsi has promoted its #TheRecipe campaign on Twitter by using a vanity URL:

Facebook:

Facebook ads are a great way to show off your vanity URLs, even if customers don’t click through, chances are they’ll notice a stand out URL. Here are a few examples:

Stand-Out Domains:

Whether your business is big or small, you can use these vanity URLs to your advantage. These are just two examples of where you can display a custom URL, but the possibilities are truly endless! They provide the perfect opportunity to make an impact on your potential customers.

Conclusion

In today’s fast-moving world, we’re always looking to make things simpler and easier to take advantage of. Vanity URLs are the perfect way to make your links more appealing to your target audience. Custom or vanity URLs are quick and memorable links that bring your audience to your website. They’re easy to design and can be used just about anywhere. Used properly, they can do wonders for your website traffic and SEO efforts. By taking advantage of this incredible tool, you can more confidently advertise your website and reach your target audience faster and more effectively than ever before.

Learn More About Tracking Your Marketing Campaigns

What’s in a Name? Expert Insight to UTM Naming Conventions

UTM Naming Conventions are a crucial part of accurately tracking your analytics, but experts have never been able to agree on what’s best. Utilizing UTM Naming Conventions is how a company can track specific UTM parameters together, whether you want to know how many people are finding your business through an ad on Facebook or a certain phrase in your emails.

UTM Naming Conventions are unique to every business and there’s no “one size fits all” method, so we’ve brought in a team of experts to tell us what they think. They’ve weighed their pros and cons and given their unbiased opinions.

Himanshu Sharma

Himanshu helps business owners and marketing professionals in generating more sales and ROI by fixing their website tracking issues, helping them understand their true customers purchase journey and by helping them determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.

He has over 14 years experience in digital analytics and digital marketing. He is the author of four best-selling books on analytics and conversion optimization. He currently works for Optimize Smart.

He was nominated for ‘digital analytics association awards for excellence’. Digital Analytics Association‘ is a world-renowned not-for-profit association that helps organizations overcome the challenges of data acquisition and application.

Do you recommend specifying campaign goal in UTMs? If yes, where should this information go?

No, I don’t recommend mentioning campaign goals (like optin, sales etc) in UTMs.

How about business units, product categories, products, etc.? Should they be part of UTM? If yes, where should this information go in UTM?

You can add them as a part of the value of utm_campaign. Make your campaign name as descriptive as possible while keeping it as short as possible.

How do you recommend specifying display sizes in UTMs?

You can add display sizes as a part of the value of utm_campaign.

What other information do you recommend capturing in UTMs and how?

Only the information you really need. Don’t make the UTM parameters unnecessary long. I usually use utm_campaign to capture information.

Robert Petkovic

Robert teaches digital specialists about basic and advanced usage of Google Analytics on several courses. He is also a keynote speaker on various digital marketing conferences, as well as a Program Director of digital marketing conference “LINK”, based in Sarajevo.

Although he works in Zagreb, he actually lives by the sea and can’t imagine a week spent without taking a look at the beautiful Croatian coastline. You can find his new website here.

Do you recommend specifying campaign goal in UTMs? If yes, where should this information go?

I don’t see any practical usage of this, because I usually do performance marketing where every campaign has its goals and if I do create a report on specific conversions, that would usually contain all the campaigns that lead to the conversion.

However, the utm_campaign tag itself may contain a lot of additional information encoded in the campaign name. For example, the campaign that shows winter boots to ladies who are already engaged with our brand and whose goal is to make a preorder might have the name such as “winter-boots-2019_W_DO_Preorder”. “W” stands for women and “DO” stands for “DO” phase in See-Think-Do-Care framework.

How about business units, product categories, products, etc.? Should they be part of UTM? If yes, where should this information go in UTM?

Definitely, utm_term (Keyword) is the place for that type of information. And yes, I strongly suggest to use the product or author or category in the utm_term, if possible.

How do you recommend specifying display sizes in UTMs?

I usually use utm_content tag (Ad Content) for that type of information, as well as for the creative type (A vs B), the type of post, etc.

What other information do you recommend capturing in UTMs and how?

Well, this requires a whole new blog post and I encourage you to read the rather old but evergreen blog post on 5 cool examples of utm-tracking on Degordian educational hub. Any time I prepare an analytics measurement plan for some website, I think of “marketing measurement plan” where I discuss the current situation with the client and their needs so that we can find the best UTMcombination that fits their needs. Some other information I track is:

– which billboard info did someone used to type-in the URL (via bit.ly or via QR code, which is usually tracked as utm_medium, while the utm_source might be the exact location)
– content author (as utm_term)
– clicks to email signatures (utm_source=signature&utm_medium=email&utm_content=employee123)
– which version of the same newsletter link gets better results (utm_content)
…
The ultimate goals are to have 0 sessions from direct sources, because although that type of traffic is by definition “the best traffic”, in reality it’s just traffic we forgot to utm-track 😉

Jackie Vetrano

Jackie Vetrano is the assistant director of marketing and prospect management at UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business, MBA programs. When she isn’t knee-deep in lead nurturing and strategic communications, Vetrano spends her free time running, trying new foods, ax-throwing, defending the Oxford Comma, and posting photos of her cat on Instagram.

You can find Jackie on Twitter.

Do you recommend specifying campaign goal in UTMs? If yes, where should this information go?

Because these are links, I would assume that most all campaign goals are “clicks,” which would mean using a UTM code for this matter would not be beneficial or provide any further insight. It is more important to clearly define each UTM variable within your team, and then reflect on the goals and if they were achieved based on the data provided. For example, if you want to know how many people completed a form after clicking a Facebook ad, you would have to combine UTM codes (“how many people clicked on this link from Facebook?”) and Google Analytics’ Goals (“how many people completed this form?”) to get the answer.

How about business units, product categories, products, etc.? Should they be part of UTM? If yes, where should this information go in UTM?

This goes back to the interest of the team. It is likely that the webpage URL contains the name of the product or service (www.company.com/televisions), so adding “television” to the UTM code does not provide any further insight.

Puru Choudhary

Puru is the Founder & CEO of Terminus. Terminus is a feature-rich UTM Builder that replaces your spreadsheets. It helps you and your team standardize and consistently follow UTM naming conventions.

Do you recommend specifying campaign goal in UTMs? If yes, where should this information go?

Adding a goal to UTMs can help define what a specific campaign is trying to do. It can provide clarity and purpose to the entire team. It can also help what metrics to look at. If the goal was to make a sale, then the metric is to look at purchases/revenue generated. This can also help when people building UTMs are not the same as those looking at analytics reports. utm_campaign is a good place to add this information.

How about business units, product categories, products, etc.? Should they be part of UTM? If yes, where should this information go in UTM?

It depends on the business. If you need to look at metrics for each business unit, product, etc. then these values can help you quickly filter the reports and get that data. This can save a lot of time if done correctly and consistently. These can also be part of utm_campaign.

How do you recommend specifying display sizes in UTMs?

Yes, if possible, add the display sizes. They can provide information about which ones are performing better than others. They can be specified in utm_content. In fact, utm_content is a good place to add any useful information about the copy, image, video, etc. of the things a visitor sees before clicking on your UTM link.

What other information do you recommend capturing in UTMs and how?

It’s best to capture only the information you absolutely need and nothing else. A good way to do that is to imagine what kind of reports would be helpful. That can help you realize what information you need and then add that information in the utm_campaign or utm_content based on its type.

Recap

As you can see, there are lots of opinions when it comes to UTN naming. Now that you’ve reviewed these expert’s insights, you can get implementing.

For more information and assistance with naming your UTM conventions, check out TerminusApp’s Naming Convention Product.

If you would like to read a more in-depth review of UTM Naming Conventions this is the article for you: How to come up with UTM Naming Conventions and Enforce Them?

Additional Resources:

http://www.mysite.com/sale?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer_sale

How to Utilize Google Analytics to Effectively Track Your Campaigns

What is Campaign Tracking?

Campaign tracking can be vital to making your online ads more effective. In short, campaign tracking involves identifying the activities of users to pinpoint where your website’s traffic is coming from. By seeing which ad placements are drawing the largest number of visitors to your site, you can optimize your campaigns and budget more effectively to capture a larger audience at a reasonable cost to you.

Google Analytics is a great tool for campaign tracking. It brings all of your resources together in one convenient location to give you a quick look at your statistics. In general, Google Analytics helps you track campaigns in two categories:

Organic campaigns, such as direct traffic, unpaid search results, and social media/email traffic
Paid campaigns, such as paid keywords and Google Ads

Where to Start

Tracking campaigns through Google Analytics is an easy process. Your biggest helper here lies in UTM parameters, which are tags added to your URL to help determine where traffic is coming from. There are five types of UTM parameters:

Campaign: letting you see which ad campaign the link came from
Source: identifying traffic sources like search engines and newsletters
Medium: which indicates how traffic is reaching you such as email or social media
Content: highlighting a specific call to action
Term: which tells you which certain keyword is present in a successful ad

In addition to the “campaign” term that we’re focusing on here, these other UTM parameters are ideal for giving you a more detailed look at where your traffic is originating from. You’ll be able to instantly see where people are viewing your ads, so you can focus your efforts on the most successful channels.

To take advantage of UTM Parameters, you will need to understand UTM Naming Conventions in order to build a custom URL in order to track the parameters. While manual tagging isn’t that difficult, it can be less time-consuming to use a UTM builder from Terminus. This way, you’re guaranteed to make no mistakes and can more accurately determine which results you want to see.

For example, if you’re wanting to track your traffic from Facebook, your URL might look like this:

You’ll simply enter the destination URL and the requested parameters into the URL builder, and it will automatically be drafted! You also have options to save preset parameters and add UTM tracking to all URLs in your emails.

Setting Up Goals and Tracking Your Progress

Tracking campaigns through Google Analytics is a quick and easy way to make sure you’re on the right path to meet your goals. You can keep track of certain behaviors and reproduce the ads that have elicited those behaviors. Using Google Analytics to create and track goals is a convenient way to have this information all in one place.

Once you’re in Google Analytics, head to “Admin” at the gear-shift symbol toward the bottom of your page, then click “Goals” in the right-hand menu and select “+ New Goal.”

From there, you’ll enter your goal description and details to your exact specifications, including the engagement you’re tracking and the destination type.

You can also use Google Analytics to identify conversions, when your visitors answer the call to action you present, like completing a form or buying a product. In Google Analytics, head to the “Conversions” menu, select “Goals” and then “Overview.”

Here, you’ll see exactly how your conversions are faring, so you can plan to replicate the methods that are working for you and your visitors.

Tracking Your Campaigns on Google Analytics

There are a few quick steps to take to start tracking your campaigns through Google Analytics. To start, log on to Google Analytics, then head to the “Acquisitions” page and click “Campaigns” and “All Campaigns.”

The initial page here will give you a summary of your campaigns and their success. You can see how many users, new users, and sessions have resulted through a certain campaign. You can also view more statistics about the behaviors of your visitors and your conversion rates. Simply scroll down to view this information.

These figures will give you a better look at the trends in your traffic. If there’s a certain campaign that’s converting at a higher rate, you can easily track it to see where your success lies. Over time, you’ll be more able to identify trends to maintain and increase visitor numbers by mimicking the campaigns that have been successful in the past.

Once your campaigns are being tracked, you can run reports to take a closer look at your metrics. To see an overview, head to the “Acquisition” tab, then select “All Traffic” and “Channels.” You can then view your trends over a day, week, or month, or look toward the bottom of your screen to see your acquisition, behavior, and conversion numbers.

In the end, campaign tracking through Google Analytics can make a huge difference in the way you run your ads. By creating and utilizing customized UTM parameters, creating goals, tracking your campaigns, and identifying conversions, you’ll have a fuller picture of the success of your online ads, leading you to a clearer vision for the future of your business.

If You Would Like to Learn More About UTM Parameters, Check Out These Articles: