How to Shorten a Link in a LinkedIn Post

A long, clunky URL can derail an otherwise perfectly crafted LinkedIn post, making it look messy and unprofessional. Thankfully, shortening links is a simple fix that cleans up your content, improves analytics, and makes your posts more visually appealing. This guide will walk you through exactly why you should shorten your links and show you a few easy ways to do it.

Why Should You Shorten Links on LinkedIn?

Beyond just making your post look tidier, shortening links provides some real strategic advantages for your brand and content strategy. It's less about vanity and more about performance, professionalism, and gaining valuable insight into your audience's behavior.

1. It Improves the Look and Feel of Your Posts

First impressions matter. A raw URL filled with a jumble of letters, numbers, and tracking codes can be jarring to look at. It clutters your message and can break the flow of your carefully written caption.

Compare these two examples:

• Without a shortened link: "Check out our new comprehensive guide to digital marketing: https://www.mywebsite.com/resources/guides/2024-q4-updated-digital-marketing-strategy-guide-for-b2b?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=q4_content_push"
• With a shortened link: "Check out our new comprehensive guide to digital marketing: mybrand.co/digital-guide"

The second option is undeniably cleaner, more professional, and easier for your audience to read. It keeps the focus on your message, not on a distracting string of text.

2. It Allows You to Track Clicks and Measure Engagement

This is arguably the most powerful reason to use a dedicated link shortener. When you simply paste a link into LinkedIn, you have limited visibility into its performance. Sure, you can see post views and general engagement, but you don't know exactly how many people clicked that specific link.

Third-party URL shortening services provide detailed analytics on your link performance, often including:

• Total Click Count: See exactly how many times your link was clicked.
• Geographic Data: Discover where in the world your audience is clicking from.
• Referral Sources: Identify which platform - or even which specific post - is driving the most traffic.
• Click-Over-Time Data: Understand when your link gets the most engagement, helping you optimize post timing.

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

3. It Enhances Credibility with Branded Links

Using a generic shortener like Bitly is fine, but using a custom branded link takes your professionalism to the next level. A branded link uses your own custom domain (e.g., nyr.pt/books or pep.si/summer), making it instantly recognizable and trustworthy.

When users see a link that contains your brand name, they are more likely to trust that it's legitimate and leading them to the right place. A random string of characters could lead anywhere, but a branded short link feels familiar and safe, which can significantly lift your click-through rate.

How to Shorten a Link for Your LinkedIn Post: 3 Methods

Now that you know the "why," let's get into the "how." There are three primary ways you can shorten a link for your next LinkedIn post, ranging from super simple to more strategically advanced.

Method 1: Let LinkedIn Automatically Shorten it For You

LinkedIn has its own built-in link shortener that works automatically. When you paste any URL into the post creation box, LinkedIn compresses it into a shorter `lnkd.in` link format inside the link preview.

How to do it:

1. Start creating a new post on LinkedIn.
2. Copy the long URL you want to share.
3. Paste it directly into the "Start a post" box.
4. Wait a moment for LinkedIn to generate a link preview with an image and headline. Once a preview is generated, LinkedIn has already shortened your link on its backend and will properly track it. You can even remove the long URL text from your caption to keep things clean, the clickable preview will remain.

Pros:

• Extremely easy and requires zero extra steps or tools.
• Generates a functional, clean post with a rich preview card.

Cons:

• You get no customization options for the link itself.
• You miss out on the advanced click-tracking analytics offered by dedicated services. You only get basic click info from LinkedIn’s own analytics.

This method is great for quick, casual link sharing but isn't ideal for business or marketing content where tracking performance is important.

Method 2: Use a Dedicated URL Shortener (Like Bitly)

Using a third-party tool like Bitly, Rebrandly, or TinyURL is the most popular and effective way to shorten links. These services give you control, customization, and - most importantly - analytics.

Let's use Bitly as our example, as it's one of the most widely used platforms.

Step-by-step Guide with Bitly:

1. Create an Account: Go to Bitly.com and sign up. They have a free plan that's perfect for individuals and small businesses, offering a set number of trackable short links per month.
2. Click 'Create New': Once you're logged into your dashboard, find and click the "Create new" button. From the dropdown, select "Link".
3. Paste Your Long URL: A window will pop up. In the "Destination" field, paste the long, unwieldy URL you want to shorten.
4. Customize Your Link (Optional but Recommended): Bitly will auto-generate a random short link like `bit.ly/3XyZ8aB`. You have the option to edit the "back-half" of this link to something more readable and memorable. For example, you can change it to `bit.ly/LinkedInBestPractices`. This makes the link clearer and more clickable. Paid plans allow you to connect a custom domain so you can create branded links like `yourbrand.co/blogpost.`
5. Copy and Paste: After creating your link, simply click the copy button. Now, head over to LinkedIn and paste this new, clean Bitly link right into your post. You can still let LinkedIn generate a link preview automatically from the short link.

Pros:

• Full access to detailed click analytics.
• Ability to create custom, readable links that drive more TRUST.
• Helps maintain a consistent and professional brand image.

Cons:

• Requires an extra step and using a separate platform while working on posts.
• Custom branded domains often require a paid subscription.

Method 3: Use an All-in-One Social Media Management Tool

If you're already scheduling your LinkedIn content ahead of time, a great social media management platform will have a URL shortener built directly into the workflow. This is the most efficient method for busy social media managers, marketers, and brands.

Instead of creating your post in one tab and then jumping over to Bitly in another, you can do it all in one cohesive process. Most modern scheduling tools automatically detect a link, shrink it for you, and attach relevant tracking parameters.

Pros:

• Maximum Efficiency: Write, schedule, and shorten your link all in one place. No more switching between browser tabs.
• Centralized Analytics: Track link clicks directly alongside your post's other engagement metrics like likes, comments, and shares.
• Consistency Across Platforms: Easily create different short links for the same destination URL when sharing it on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook, making cross-platform campaign tracking easy.

Cons:

• These platforms are subscription-based, so this method is best for those already managing multiple accounts or scheduling content consistently.

Best Practices for Using Short Links on LinkedIn

Shortening your link is just the first step. To get the most out of it, keep these best practices in mind to boost engagement and maintain brand trust.

1. Prioritize Branded Short Links

Whenever possible, invest in a branded short domain. A link like `adidas.com/running` is immediately trustworthy and says more about your brand than `bit.ly/4aBcDeFg`. It reinforces your brand identity with every share and dramatically increases the likelihood of getting clicks.

2. Be Transparent About the Destination

Don't use a shortened link to mislead your audience. Tell them what the link is about in the surrounding copy. For instance, clearly state "Download our free e-book:" or "Read the full case study on our blog:" before you drop the link. Building trust is paramount on a professional network like LinkedIn.

3. Actually Use the Analytics Data

Don't just shorten the links - use the data they provide! Check your analytics dashboard regularly to see which links are performing best. This insight helps you understand what headlines, topics, and formats your LinkedIn audience wants to see, allowing you to tailor your future content strategy for better results.

4. Combine Short Links with UTM Parameters

For more advanced tracking in Google Analytics, you can add UTM parameters to your original URL before you shorten it. UTMs are simple tags that tell Google Analytics exactly where your traffic is coming from.

A URL with UTMs might look like this:
https://www.yourwebsite.com/blog-post-title?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spring_sale

This link is a complete mess to share directly. But when you drop it into a link shortener, you get a clean, clickable link like `yourbrand.co/spring-sale` that still passes all of that valuable tracking data through to Google Analytics. It's the best of both worlds: cleanliness for the user and rich data for the marketer.

Final Thoughts

Shortening a link in a LinkedIn post is a small action with a big impact. It instantly elevates the cleanliness and professionalism of your content while providing access to powerful click analytics that help you refine your social media strategy. Whether you use a dedicated service or an integrated management tool, make it a standard step in your posting process.

We know how much context-switching can disrupt your flow, especially when you're just trying to get content scheduled. That's why we've built link shortening and analytics directly into Postbase. This allows you to write, schedule, and create trackable short links from a single, streamlined dashboard, helping you save time and keep your entire content workflow in one place.