How to Shorten a Link for Facebook

A long, complicated URL in a Facebook post can kill your click-through rate before anyone even reads your caption. It looks messy, can seem untrustworthy, and takes up valuable space. This guide gives you everything you need to know about how to shorten a link for Facebook, the best tools for the job, and the pro strategies that turn a simple link into a powerful marketing tool.

Why Bother Shortening Your Facebook Links?

Shortening a link for Facebook isn't just about making it look prettier - though that's a nice benefit. It's a strategic move with real advantages that can directly impact your social media performance. When you move past thinking of it as an aesthetic choice and start seeing it as a marketing tool, you unlock a ton of potential.

It’s About Trust and Clicks

First impressions matter, a lot. Which of these links would you rather click?

This one:

https://www.yourbrand.com/products/summer-collection/new-arrivals-for-women?utm_source=facebook&,utm_medium=social&,utm_campaign=summer_launch_24&,session_id=Fr56hYui89Klm

Or this one?

yourbrand.co/summer

The first one is a mouthful. The tracking parameters (the `utm_` parts) are essential for analytics, but they look like computer code to the average user. That jumble of characters can feel sketchy and untrustworthy, making people hesitate before clicking. The second link, however, is clean, clear, and branded. It tells the user exactly what to expect and feels professional, which increases confidence and encourages more clicks.

It Unlocks Powerful Tracking and Analytics

This is the game-changer for marketers. When you use a link shortening service, you're not just getting a shorter URL, you're gaining access to a dashboard full of valuable data. Every time someone clicks your shortened link, the service logs it.

This means you can track metrics like:

• Total Clicks: The most basic but important metric. How many people actually clicked your link?
• Geographic Location: See which cities and countries are driving the most traffic. This can help you tailor future content to your most engaged audiences.
• Referrer Data: See exactly where your clicks are coming from. While you know you posted it on Facebook, you can see if it was from a direct post, a share, or a comment.
• Click Patterns Over Time: Find out when your audience is most active by seeing which days and times get the most clicks.

This data moves you from guessing what works to knowing what works. You can see which headlines drive clicks, which topics resonate, and what timing is most effective for your audience.

It Builds Your Brand and Creates a Cohesive Look

Using a branded link shortener with a custom domain reinforces your brand identity with every single post. When people see a link from Nike, they see `go.nike`. When The New York Times shares an article, you see `nyti.ms`.

That branded link becomes an extension of your company. It looks professional, builds recognition, and adds a layer of consistency across all your social touchpoints. Even if you're not ready for a fully custom domain, customizing the back-half of a link (like `bit.ly/WinterSale`) creates a much better user experience than a random string of numbers and letters.

The Best Tools for Shortening Links (And How to Use Them)

There are a ton of link shorteners out there, but most people can get everything they need from one of these three popular choices. They range from simple and free to powerful and brand-focused.

1. Bitly: The Industry Standard

Bitly is one of the most well-known and trusted link shorteners, and for good reason. It’s reliable, its free plan is very generous, and its paid plans offer deep analytics and branding tools. For most businesses and creators, Bitly is the perfect place to start.

How to Shorten a Link with Bitly:

1. Sign Up for a Free Account: Head over to Bitly.com and create a free account. This is important because it lets you track all your links in one dashboard and customize them.
2. Create Your Link: In the dashboard, click the "Create new" button and choose "Link."
3. Paste Your Long URL: Copy the full URL you want to shorten (tracking parameters and all) and paste it into the "Destination" field.
4. Customize it: Bitly will instantly generate a short link. But don't stop there! In the "Custom back-half" field, change the random characters (like `3jX9kLp`) to something descriptive and easy to read. For example, if you're linking to a blog post about dog training, use `bit.ly/DogTrainingTips`. This step is a huge part of what makes short links effective.
5. Title and Share: Add a descriptive title so you can find the link later, then hit "Create." Copy your new, shiny short link and paste it into your Facebook post.

A few days later, you can log back into Bitly and see exactly how many people clicked that specific link.

2. TinyURL: The Quick and Easy Option

Sometimes you just need to shorten a link right now without creating an account or tracking deep metrics. That’s where TinyURL shines. It’s one of the oldest link shorteners and provides a no-fuss way to shrink a URL in seconds.

How to Shorten a Link with TinyURL:

1. Go to the Website: Open TinyURL.com. You’ll see the main shortener tool right on the homepage.
2. Paste and Customize: Paste your long URL into the provided box. You can also specify a custom "alias" in the box below it, which works just like Bitly's custom back-half. For example, you can set it to `best-jeans-2024`.
3. Make It Tiny: Click the "Make TinyURL!" button.
4. Copy and Use: The tool will generate your new, shorter link. Just copy it and you’re ready to post.

Keep in mind the free, no-account version of TinyURL won't give you analytics. It's a great tool for personal use or quick, one-off links, but if you need to track your marketing efforts, stick with something like Bitly that requires an account.

3. Rebrandly: The King of Custom Branded Links

If you're serious about branding, Rebrandly is the tool for you. Its entire focus is on helping you create links with your own custom short domain. This is the most professional option and does wonders for brand recognition and trust.

How to Create a Branded Link with Rebrandly:

1. Get a Custom Short Domain: Before you start, you'll need a short domain related to your brand. For example, if your company is "Jessica's Jewelry," you might register `jessjwlry.co`. Rebrandly can help you find and purchase one through their platform.
2. Connect Your Domain: Once you have a domain, you'll connect it to your Rebrandly account. They have clear guides on how to do this.
3. Create a New Link: Inside your dashboard, click "New Link" and paste your long destination URL.
4. Customize the Slashtag: Rebrandly automatically uses your custom domain. Your job is to create a clean, descriptive "slashtag" (the part after the `/`). For a promotion, it could be something like `jessjwlry.co/holiday-sale`.
5. Save and Share: Save the link, and now you have a fully branded, trackable URL to share across Facebook and all your other social channels. It looks incredibly professional and stays consistent with your brand.

Beyond Just Shortening: Pro Tips for Facebook Links

Creating the short link is just the first step. To really get the most out of your links on Facebook, follow these best practices that separate amateur posters from professional marketers.

Always Use UTM Parameters First

This is the most important tip for anyone using social media to drive traffic. UTM parameters are small tags you add to the end of a URL to tell your analytics software (like Google Analytics) exactly where a visitor came from. Before you shorten a link, you should add these tags.

A full URL with UTMs looks like this:

https://www.yourwebsite.com?utm_source=facebook&,utm_medium=social&,utm_campaign=q3_promo

• source: The platform where the traffic is coming from (`facebook`, `instagram`, `newsletter`).
• medium: The type of traffic (`social`, `cpc`, `email`).
• campaign: The specific marketing effort this link is part of (`q3_promo`, `product_launch`, `blog_post_promo`).

Here’s the key: Copy this entire long, ugly URL with the UTMs and paste that into your link shortener. The tracking data will be preserved, but hidden behind your nice, clean short link. Now, when you look at Google Analytics, you’ll be able to see exactly how your `q3_promo` campaign on Facebook performed.

Customize Your Links. Every time.

Never settle for the random, auto-generated back-half (like `bit.ly/4aBcDeFg`). It means nothing to the user. Always take the extra 10 seconds to customize it. A custom link like `brand.co/FreeGuide` is informative, builds trust, and is even memorable. People know what they are clicking on, which directly leads to higher click-through rates.

Let the Link Preview Load

When you paste a link into a Facebook post, Facebook takes a moment to fetch a "link preview." This usually includes a hero image, a title, and a short description from the link's destination page. Wait for this preview to fully load. A post with a rich visual preview gets far more engagement than a post with just a text link.

Once the preview has loaded, you can actually delete the visible URL text from your post. The preview will remain as a clickable, visual element, making your post much cleaner and more focused.

Be Open and Honest

Finally, your caption should always accurately reflect what's on the other side of the link. Don't use clickbait or misleading descriptions just to get a click. Shortened links should be used to build trust, not break it. The goal is to provide value, and that starts with being honest about where you're sending your audience.

Final Thoughts

Shortening your links for Facebook is far more than an organizational habit, it's a fundamental practice for anyone who uses social media to build a brand or business. By transforming long, clunky URLs into clean, branded, and trackable assets, you gain invaluable insights into your audience's behavior while making your profile look more professional and trustworthy.

Of course, getting clicks on your links is only half the battle, managing the engagement that follows is just as important. With Postbase, we handle everything that happens after the post goes live. We bring all your comments and DMs from every social platform into a single inbox, so a conversation never gets lost in the shuffle. Because all your scheduling, analytics, and community engagement happen in one calm and organized place, you can spend less time switching tabs and more time building relationships with your audience.