Blog/URL Shortener

Most Creators Don't Track This

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The Problem

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Best URL Shorteners (Bitly vs Short.io vs TinyURL vs Dub)

Whether you're a content creator, marketer, or small business owner, your links are the foundation of your digital presence, and without the right setup, you could be losing valuable traffic and revenue without even realizing it. In this guide, we're going to show you exactly how to take control of your links, protect your data, and grow your brand more effectively.

Here’s what we'll cover:

Why creating your own short links will protect your revenue
The best link tracking software (and which ones to avoid)
Five principles of using URL shorteners that will ensure you own all your data on social media
How to monitor affiliate/sponsorship traffic so you catch issues early

Mistake Creators Make

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We see so many YouTubers making the mistake of posting their sponsorship links directly in their YouTube description (or Instagram bio, etc).

Typically, brands give creators a super long, unattractive tracked link, sometimes shortened with their URL shortener. But shortening isn't just about looks — it’s about control and data. If you use the brand's short link, you're giving them full control over tracking and analytics. This makes it difficult to catch tracking errors—and trust us, they happen a lot.

Example: We sent 150 clicks to a partner via our own tracking, but the brand’s affiliate platform only registered 9 clicks. Because we had our own data, we caught it immediately. Without our link tracking, we’d have had no proof. That’s exactly the vulnerability that scams like Honey exploited.

Bottom Line: Always use your own short links.

Best URL Shortening Software

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Most people know about Bitly, TinyURL, or Short.io, but they’re outdated or incomplete for serious creators.

For years, tools in this space just plain sucked, there was no real innovation.

Short.io, we used them for a while, but their analytics were almost unusable, and managing links was painful. Bitly did a fantastic job branding themselves so everyone shares their bit.ly links, but that benefits them, not you. On the free Bitly plan, you can’t even have a custom domain. Also, Bitly’s platform looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2008. When you share bit.ly links, you’re building their brand, not yours. Plus, you can’t even trust a bit.ly link, you have no idea what’s on the other end.

TinyURL

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Take TinyURL; you would have probably heard of them by just going to quickly shorten a URL at some point. But it’s not for serious creators who want to own their data, as you can't get serious long-term analytics. Skip TinyURL.

Short.io

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We used them previously to get off a self-hosted solution, but it was not enjoyable to actually use their tool and analyze your analytics. We used it for a while — analytics were painful, and management was clunky. Don't use Short.io.

Bitly

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Bitly, Bitly, Bitly, ohhh you cheeky popular tool you!

You… You recognize the name, don't you?

Ah yes, because, well, they did a DAMN GOOD JOB at making sure the entire internet shares THEIR domain via short links. Clever Bitly built their brand around encouraging users to share links using their bit.ly domain because it benefitted… well... them 🤷‍♂️

There are two problems with this:

For one, when you’re sharing bit.ly links, you’re building their brand, not yours.

Secondly, people see a bit.ly link, and because it's familiar, they trust it, but you shouldn’t...you actually have NO idea what is on the other end.Using your own domain tells your audience, "this is a trusted link that I approve.

Sure, on Bit.ly's paid plan, they allow you to have a custom domain. But most people — especially creators — start off on the free plan where you can't have a custom domain, so Bit.ly encourages this bad practice from the start.

Not to mention, Bit.ly as a platform is quite… dated... it doesn't even update your link tracking in real time. And trust me, once you actually start seeing YOUR data rolling in, you'll want a live updated feed for all the dopamine.

Not to mention, it was built in 2008 and it, well... looks like it (to say the least) 😅 they are using old tech and have not adapted or modernized with the times.

Do not use Bitly.

Dub Links

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Dub is the most modern, creator-focused link shortening platform.

Dub allows you to create your own custom domain even on the free tier (yes, you can use their option for short links if you're not ready for that yet, but please don't do that... use your own domain).

With Dub, you can easily spin up short links, add tags for organization, and even enable features like password protection, expiring links, or geo-targeting (i.e., if you want to send visitors to a different link based on their country—which is useful for Amazon affiliate links, for example).

We literally live in Dub analytics and check on it probably a dozen times per day.

For example, if I post a short link on social media, I can see how many people clicked my link in REAL TIME, what country they are from, and which platform is getting the most engagement 🔥 (even if no one publicly "likes" a post, you'd be shocked to see how many people are actually clicking).

This gives us real-time feedback on what's working.

They also have a super generous free tier so you can try it for free, and when you're ready to upgrade, you can lock in a Dub Links discount.

Protect Your Revenue

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When a brand gives you an affiliate link or their own short link, ALWAYS REPLACE IT WITH YOUR OWN, not sometimes, ALWAYS. You're still sending traffic to the page they requested; you are simply adding a layer where your short link is redirecting to THEIR short link. This ensures you can also view all the traffic you're sending over.
‍Use your own domain for link shortening. This is your brand you are building, not your sponsors' or Bitly's.‍
Create a system. e.g., for Amazon affiliate links, always start with /a/ so you can easily search and organize similar links. For us, all of our software links start with /r/. And use tags in Dub to organize similar links.‍
Swap out where you direct traffic as needed. For example, if you hard code a link in a video or post on socials, you can always change where the traffic is going. Say you had hard coded your affiliate link into a video, but some controversy happened...you can easily change where you're sending viewers. You get to have full control.‍
Use short links everywhere you post. YouTube description, Instagram/TikTok bio, X posts, newsletter links, your website, EVE-RY-WHERE. This will give you a full picture of your footprint on the internet and provide insights into what is working and what you should do more of.

So now that you have your link tracking set up, you might be thinking, "What do I actually do with all of this?"

Monitor Traffic

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As a creator, you have something that many businesses want and that’s attention and eyeballs.

You figured out a way to make people care about you and trust your recommendations. So here are four things you should do to monitor that things are working correctly and you’re getting paid what you deserve:

Bookmark Analytics

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Bookmark your Dub analytics with your affiliate platform analytics side by side.

Check Analytics Weekly

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At least once a week, check that your Dub analytics and affiliate analytic platforms are lining up (some affiliate platforms track links slightly differently, so if it’s off by 10-15% of clicks, this is okay, but if it’s more than that, it’s likely something is broken).

Speak Up

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If you notice a discrepancy, immediately email the brand. I know you will be tempted to "wait and see" but it’s always better to reach out sooner rather than later because every single day you are losing data and therefore potential revenue. Simply show them a screenshot of your Dub analytics and tell them that you are noticing a discrepancy and you’re concerned about their platform. A good partnership manager will look into this immediately.

Working in the software space, we’re here to assure you that bugs are extremely common, more common than you’d think, so keeping an eye on things is key.

Remember, if tracking is broken, the brand still benefits from all the traffic you’re sending over — you’re the only one who loses out, so it’s in your best interest to keep an eye out.

Re-Negotiate Agreements

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Check to see how much traffic you sent over before renewing any sponsorship agreements.

With more data that you own, you’re going to be able to have a benchmark for how many link clicks you’re sending "on average" and you’ll be able to tell what a super successful campaign versus a mediocre one was.

If your campaign is a top performer, you can call this out and say "We sent you X amount of clicks and see that it performed super well; we’d love to revisit our rates together." You can even use this to inform your pricing and potentially negotiate your rates.

Final Thoughts

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Brands can benefit from making creators feel small and not being transparent. They can get lower rates; if it’s an affiliate program, they can skip payments to where they are due.

The only way to combat this is by owning your own data and showing them where there are errors. And this is why you absolutely should be using your own tracked links for everything.