How to Create a LinkedIn Short Link

Creating a specific, clean link for your LinkedIn profile or your shared content is a small detail that makes a big impact. A custom URL looks professional, is easy to remember, and is much simpler to add to a business card or email signature. This guide will walk you through exactly how to create a custom LinkedIn short link for your profile and how to shorten links for the content you share to track performance and maintain your brand identity.

Your First LinkedIn Short Link: The Custom Profile URL

Before you start sharing links to external articles or your website, the most valuable short link you can create is the one for your own LinkedIn profile. By default, LinkedIn assigns you a URL with a random string of numbers and letters, something like linkedin.com/in/jane-doe-a1b2c3d4. It’s clunky and forgettable.

Changing it to something memorable, like linkedin.com/in/janedoe or linkedin.com/in/janedoeconsulting, instantly elevates your personal brand. It shows attention to detail and makes it significantly easier for people to find you.

Why Customizing Your Profile URL Matters

• Professionalism: A clean URL on your resume, business card, or email signature looks far more polished than the default, messy one.
• Memorability: Your customized link is easy for you to remember and for others to type directly into their browser.
• Personal Branding: It’s a small piece of digital real estate that reinforces your name or your brand. It’s your unique identifier on the platform.
• Discoverability: A customized URL containing your name and/or keywords can slightly improve your visibility when people search for you on LinkedIn and other search engines.

How to Create Your Custom Profile URL (Step-by-Step)

Changing your profile URL is straightforward, but the option is a little tucked away. It’s easiest to do this from a desktop browser.

1. Navigate to Your Profile: Log in to LinkedIn and click on your profile picture or the "Me" icon in the top right corner, then select "View Profile."
2. Find the Edit URL Setting: On your profile page, look to the top right section for a box that says "Edit public profile &, URL." Click on it. This will open a new tab with your public profile settings.
3. Customize Your URL: In the new tab, again on the top right side, you'll see a section titled "Edit your custom URL." Underneath it, you’ll see your current URL with a small pencil icon next to it. Click the pencil icon.
4. Enter Your New URL: A box will appear where you can type your desired custom URL. Your new link will start with `linkedin.com/in/`. You only need to type the last part.
5. Save Your Changes: After typing your new URL, click the "Save" button. If the URL is already taken by another user, LinkedIn will prompt you to choose a different one.

Best Practices for Choosing Your Custom LinkedIn URL

You can change your URL up to five times within a six-month period, but it's best to pick one and stick with it. Here are some guidelines for making a great choice:

• Use Your Name: The simplest and most professional option is a variation of your first and last name (e.g., `janedoe`, `jane-doe`, `doejane`).
• Keep It Short: Aim for a URL between 5 and 30 characters. Brevity is king.
• Stay Professional: Avoid using nicknames, slang, or anything unprofessional. Think of it as part of your digital resume. Your college username, `skaterboi89`, isn't the best choice here.
• Add a Keyword (If Appropriate): If your name is very common, you might need to add a differentiator. Consider adding your profession or specialty, like `janedoe-writer` or `johnsmith-cpa`. This can also help with discoverability.
• Avoid Numbers (If Possible): Unless numbers are part of your established brand, a URL without them looks cleaner. `johnsmith123` looks less polished than `johnsmithconsulting`.

Sharing Content: How to Create Short Links on LinkedIn

Now that your profile link is perfected, let's talk about the links you share in your posts. When you paste a long URL into a LinkedIn post, LinkedIn automatically shortens it using its own shortener, which looks like lnkd.in/AbC1dEf. This is fine for casual sharing, as it keeps your posts looking tidy.

However, for marketers, business owners, and creators, this default shortener misses a huge opportunity to gather data and build a stronger brand presence.

Why Go Beyond LinkedIn's Default Shortener?

Using a third-party link shortening tool - especially one that offers branded links and analytics - gives you a massive advantage. Here’s why it’s worth the extra step.

1. Branded Links Build Trust

Which of these links would you rather click?

• `lnkd.in/eY7aB3z`
• `bit.ly/3XgJhKs`
• `yourbrand.co/market-trends`

The third option wins every time. A branded short link (also known as a vanity URL) uses your own domain. It reinforces your brand, looks completely professional, and tells users exactly where they’re going. This transparency significantly increases trust and click-through rates. Generic shorteners can sometimes be associated with spam, but a link with your brand name on it feels safe and credible.

2. Detailed Click Analytics

LinkedIn’s native analytics are decent, but they don't tell the full story behind who is clicking your links. A dedicated link shortener provides a deep well of data:

• Total Clicks: Track the exact number of clicks your link receives over time.
• Geographic Location: See which cities and countries are driving the most traffic.
• Referral Sources: Understand where your traffic is coming from (though on LinkedIn, it will mostly be direct or from the platform).
• Time-of-Day Data: Analyze when your link is getting the most engagement, helping you optimize future posting times.

This information is foundational for understanding what content resonates with your audience and for proving the ROI of your social media efforts.

3. UTM Parameters for Campaign Tracking

If you're using tools like Google Analytics, you need to know where your website traffic is coming from. UTM parameters are small tags you add to your URL that tell analytics platforms exactly how a user arrived at your site.

A full URL with UTMs can be incredibly long and messy. For example:

https://www.yourwebsite.com/blog/2023-marketing-report?utm_source=linkedin&,utm_medium=social&,utm_campaign=q4_report_launch

Pasting that into a LinkedIn post is a non-starter. A link shortener takes that monster URL and transforms it into something clean and clickable, like `yourbrand.co/q4-report`, while preserving all of that valuable tracking data on the back end.

This allows you to see in Google Analytics not just that traffic came from LinkedIn, but that it came specifically from your "Q4 Report Launch" campaign post.

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating a Trackable Short Link

1. Choose a Link Shortening Service: Select a platform that offers analytics and, ideally, branded domains. Popular options abound, so find one that fits your budget and needs.
2. Build Your Full URL with UTMs (Optional but Recommended): Before shortening, decide what you want to track. Use Google’s Campaign URL Builder or build them manually. At a minimum, consider using:
   • `utm_source=linkedin` (Identifies LinkedIn as the source)
   • `utm_medium=social` (Identifies the medium as social media)
   • `utm_campaign=your-campaign-name` (e.g., `summer_sale` or `new_blog_post`)
3. Paste and Shorten: Copy your long URL (with UTMs) and paste it into your chosen link shortener. The platform will instantly generate a short version.
4. Customize the "Back-Half": The best shorteners let you customize the random string of characters at the end. Change `bit.ly/3rA5sDq` to something descriptive and readable like `bit.ly/linkedin-link-guide`. This adds context and improves click-through rates.
5. Copy and Use: Grab your shiny new short link and paste it into your LinkedIn post along with compelling copy that tells your audience why they should click.

Final Tips for Using Short Links in Your Posts

• Provide Context: Never just drop a link. Your post copy should frame the link, explaining what it is, why it's valuable, and what someone will find after clicking.
• Link Placement (The Great Debate): You've probably seen people post links in the first comment, believing it boosts reach. LinkedIn has officially and repeatedly stated this is a myth and their algorithm does not penalize posts with links in the main body. The best practice today is to put the link directly in the post. It's a much better user experience and avoids sending your audience on a scavenger hunt just to find your CTA.
• Track and Optimize: The whole point of using a powerful shortener is the data. Check your analytics regularly. See which posts are driving the most clicks and what topics your audience engages with. Use these insights to refine your content strategy.

Final Thoughts

Mastering how you use links on LinkedIn is a simple strategy with a significant payoff. Customizing your profile URL solidifies your professional brand, while using trackable short links for content provides the critical data needed to understand your audience and prove your impact.

Creating and managing these links is just one part of a solid LinkedIn strategy, the other is consistently showing up with great content. This is where we built Postbase to help. Our visual content calendar makes it easy to plan your LinkedIn posts weeks in advance, and our reliable scheduler ensures your content - complete with your new trackable links - goes live exactly when you plan it to, every single time.

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