How to increase your clickthrough rate using a URL shortener?

URL shorteners are a great way to make long, unwieldy, and ugly links more presentable and manageable. Not only do they make links look cleaner, but link shorteners can also be used to increase your clickthrough rate (CTR). This means that by shortening your URL, you can make it easier for potential customers to click on your link.

This article will show you effective ways how to increase your CTR by using a URL shortener to reach your marketing goals and improve your company's bottom line.

What are URL shorteners?

URL shorteners are services that take long, complicated URLs and shorten them to simpler ones to make them easier to remember. When people click on the new shortened URL, they will be redirected to your main website, social media accounts, or landing pages.

A link shortener is useful for a number of reasons, but it's particularly helpful when you have a marketing campaign. For example, suppose you're running a social media campaign and you want to include a link to your promo site. However, the URL for your site is quite long and would take up a lot of space in your Instagram or Twitter post. In this case, you can use a URL shortener to create a shortened link that takes up less space.

By using a customized URL shortener that match your branding, you don't run the risk of driving away prospective customers with suspicious-looking links.

Link shorteners are also great for tracking clicks. By using a URL shortener with built-in analytics, you can see how many people are clicking on your links and where they're coming from. This data can be invaluable for understanding what content is resonating with your audience and where you should focus your marketing efforts.

How does a URL shortener improve CTR?

CTR is the measure of "clickability" of your link or online ad. It's the ratio of the number of clicks to the number of views. A high CTR indicates that users are finding the content relevant and interesting that they are compelled to click on the link to find more information.

As the CTR is one of the key success indicators in online advertising and digital marketing, it's important to understand what a good CTR is. CTRs vary across industries, but the average CTR in Google Ads for all industries stands at 3.17%. However, it must be emphasized, that some industries have a much higher CTR than others. For example, the finance and insurance industry naturally have a higher CTR than the legal services industry.

Shorter URLs may result in higher CTRs because they can make links more user-friendly, easy to remember, and easy to share. If you're looking to improve your CTR, using a branded URL shortener is one strategy you can try.

Top 5 ways how to increase your clickthrough rate using a URL shortener

1. Keep your link short and simple for a better CTR

Shorter links are much easier for people to remember. They are more likely to share the link to different social media platforms because it doesn't look suspicious or spam-like technical parameters. Furthermore, short links don't take up a lot of space, so they don't detract from your message or ad copy. Plus, it's a way to overcome strict character limits in social media like Twitter.

2. Use branded links to promote your marketing campaigns

Customized and branded links give your ad campaigns a major boost, as they add an element of trustworthiness and professionalism. For every marketing campaign you launch, you can use a branded link to bring more awareness to your brand and products. This put your brand on top of mind of existing and potential customers.

3. Add specific keywords to your URL to increase visibility

A URL shortener allows you to include keywords in your branded links. By doing this, you can ensure that your website is visible for the keywords that you want to target. This can further improve your website's visibility in search engines. It acts as an SEO ranking factor. Target keywords strategically placed on your shortened URL are likely to get more clicks because people will get an idea of what the link is about straight away.

4. Include a Call to Action in your URL

If you wish to increase the CTR of your links, then you should consider using a Call to Action (CTA) in your URL. A CTA is a directive that aims to persuade the readers to perform an action , such as clicking on a link or subscribing to a channel.

By including a CTA in your URL, you can make your links more clickable and increase the chances that people will visit your website or participate in your digital marketing campaign.

5. Create an image or video to go with the shortened URL

People are more likely to click on a link if they see an accompanying image or video that looks interesting. So, next time you're sharing a shortened URL, try adding an image or video to make your post more engaging.

You may even find that people are more compelled to share your post if it includes an image or video. It acts as a preview or a teaser that will pique their interest. So, give it a try and do A/B testing. See what works best for your target audience.

Choose the Right URL Shortener Service Provider

Let's face it, when it comes to URL shorteners, there are a lot of options out there. So how do you know which one to choose?

Here are a few things to look for in a URL shortener service provider:

• Customizable options: A good URL shortener will let you customize your links to match your branding.
• Secure links: Make sure the URL shortener you choose offers secure link options, so you can rest assured that your links are safe and private.
• Ability to track clicks and traffic: You'll want to consider a service that provides short link analytics. This way, you can track how many people click on your shortened URL.
• Short links management: This will allow you to organize your short URLs and group them into categories so that you can easily keep track of their performance.
• Excellent customer support: A quality URL shortener service provider will offer customer support in case you have any questions or problems.

By choosing a link shortener service that provides all of these features, you can be sure you're getting the most out of your shortened URL in your digital marketing campaigns.