Short links and QR codes: a simple guide for creators

Why shorten a link

Long addresses full of letters and symbols look untrustworthy and are hard to share in captions, videos or print. A short link is easy to read, easy to say out loud and easy to remember.

Short links also let you count clicks. Because every visit passes through the short address first, you can see how many people used it, from which kind of device and from which country.

When a QR code is better

QR codes shine offline: on posters, business cards, product packaging, event screens and stickers. Anyone with a phone camera can open your page without typing anything.

Use a QR code that always points to the same address, such as your bio page. That way you can print it once and keep updating the page behind it without reprinting.

Reading your numbers

Compare clicks week to week rather than day to day — single days are noisy. If one short link performs much better than the others, look at where you posted it and do more of that.