I’ve been working with WordPress for years and I’ve always found myself using those clunky third-party link shorteners for everything.
It was just the easiest option you know? But recently I stumbled upon this fantastic way to create shortlinks directly from my WordPress dashboard and it’s a must.
The Beauty of Shortlinks
Now I’m not talking about just shortening URLs.
I’m talking about the real power of shortlinks.
Think about it: you’re sharing a link on social media and you’ve got a character limit.
Or maybe you’re trying to track how many people click on a link you’ve shared in a newsletter.
Shortlinks are the answer.
Advantages Galore
First off they save space.
Imagine trying to cram a long complicated URL into a tweet – nightmare right? Shortlinks give you more room to actually say something meaningful.
And honestly they just look cleaner and more professional.
Let’s face it those long URLs with random characters just don’t inspire trust.
Hidden Power: Tracking and Analytics
But here’s where things get really interesting: those little shortlinks are packed with tracking power.
You can see exactly how many people clicked on them when they clicked what device they were using and more.
You’re getting valuable insights into how people are interacting with your content.
The Old School Approach: The Get Shortlink Button
Remember the old WordPress editor? It used to have a handy “Get Shortlink” button right there in the editor.
You just clicked it and boom you had a shortlink.
Unfortunately that button got hidden in later versions of WordPress.
Bringing Back the Button
But fear not! There’s a little bit of code magic that brings it back.
You just need to add a simple filter to your functions.php file.
add_filter( 'get_shortlink' function( $shortlink ) {return $shortlink;} );Now just find the functions.php file in your theme (it’s usually under Appearance > Theme Editor in your WordPress dashboard) paste that code in and update the file.
Ta-da! The “Get Shortlink” button will be back in your Classic editor.
The Modern Approach: Shortlink Plugins
Alright let’s be real.
Not everyone loves dealing with code.
And if you’re using the Block Editor the code trick won’t work anyway.
That’s where shortlink plugins come in.
Pretty Links: A User-Friendly Option
One of my favorites is the Pretty Links plugin.
It’s super user-friendly and it’s got a ton of options.
- Install and Activate: Search for “Pretty Links” in the WordPress plugin directory install it and activate it.
- Create Shortlinks: Click on the “Pretty Links” menu in your sidebar. Then click “Add New” to create a shortlink.
- Customize: Enter the long URL you want to shorten and you can even edit the “slug” (the part of the shortlink after your domain). You can also add notes to yourself and even set things like “nofollow” attributes.
- Share and Track: Once you’ve created a shortlink you can share it easily and Pretty Links will keep track of all the clicks.
More Options
Pretty Links is just one of many great shortlink plugins out there.
There are tons of others so do some research and find one that fits your needs.
Beyond Shortlinks: The Power of WordPress
Shortlinks are a great tool but they’re just one piece of the puzzle.
WordPress is a powerful platform for building websites blogs and online businesses.
There’s a ton you can do with it and there are always new tools and techniques to explore.
The WP Engine Advantage
Speaking of exploring if you’re looking for a great WordPress hosting platform I highly recommend checking out WP Engine.
They’ve got everything you need to make your website fast secure and reliable.
Plus their support is fantastic.
So there you have it.
Shortlinks are a great way to make your online life a little bit easier and your analytics a lot more insightful.
And hey if you want to explore the power of WordPress even further WP Engine is your go-to.
Happy creating!