Create and Customize Short Links
Trimlink allows you to transform long URLs into clean, branded short links while adding advanced marketing, tracking, QR code, and security features.
Watch the quick demonstration video below, or read on for a complete guide to every customization option available.
Video Demonstration
Getting Started
To access the link creator:
- Open your Dashboard.
- Select your desired workspace.
- Navigate to Short Links from the left sidebar.
- Click the Create Short Link button.
Important Note: The Destination URL is the only required field needed to create a short link. All other settings grouped below are completely optional tools for you to customize your campaign.
Phase 1: Core Link Details
Begin by providing the foundational information for your new link.
- Link Title: Enter a descriptive name to help you identify the link inside your dashboard (e.g., Summer Campaign or Product Launch). This title is for internal organization only and is not visible to your visitors.
- Destination URL (Required): Paste the long URL you want visitors to be redirected to (e.g.,
https://yourwebsite.com/long-article-name).
Phase 2: Branding & Organization
Customize how your link appears to the public and how it is organized internally.
1. Domain & Slug Configuration
- Domain: Choose the base domain for your short link (e.g.,
trimlink.aior your own custom domain likego.yourbrand.com). - URL Slug: Customize the ending portion of your short URL to make it memorable (e.g.,
trimlink.ai/summer-saleinstead of a random string).- Length: Must be between 3 and 30 characters.
- Allowed Characters: Only letters, numbers, hyphens (
-), and underscores (_). Spaces are strictly prohibited.
2. Custom Header (Brand Identity)
Enable the Header option to inject a brand identifier immediately after the domain and before the slug. This is highly recommended if you are using a generic short domain but want to maintain brand transparency with your audience (e.g., trml.in/YourBrand/summer-sale).
- Length: Maximum of 20 characters.
- Allowed Characters: Only letters, numbers, hyphens (
-), and underscores (_). Spaces are strictly prohibited.
3. Organization Tools
- Tags: Apply keywords (e.g., marketing, social-media) to easily filter and search through massive link libraries later.
- Collections: Group related links together. If a collection doesn't exist, click New to create one instantly (e.g., creating an Event Registrations collection).
Phase 3: QR Code Generation
Bridge offline and online marketing by attaching a dynamic QR code to your short link. Toggle Enable QR Code to reveal the customization suite.
- QR Customization: Modify the QR style, eye shape, border style, and precise brand colors.
- Add Logo on QR: Enable this feature to upload and embed your company logo directly into the center of the QR code to build trust and brand recognition.
A live preview of your QR code will update instantly as you adjust these settings.
Phase 4: Security & Tracking (Advanced)
Protect your content and gather precise analytics by enabling our advanced routing tools.
1. Password Protection
Toggle Password Protected to lock your destination URL. Visitors will be prompted to enter your secure password before the redirect executes. Ideal for internal resources or exclusive client content.
- Length: Your password must be between 6 and 255 characters long.
2. Link Expiration
Toggle Link Expiry to automatically disable the short link after a specific event. You can configure the exact End Date and Time for when the link should expire. (Note: The moment you save the link acts as the official start time). Once expired, the link will no longer redirect traffic.
3. GPS Tracking
Turn on GPS Enabled to collect highly accurate visitor location data. (Note: This requires explicit browser permission from the visitor and is excellent for regional marketing or local foot-traffic analytics).
4. UTM Tracking Parameters
Enable UTM Parameters to inject tracking tags into your destination URL. This ensures your traffic is perfectly categorized in Google Analytics or other CRM platforms.
- Source: Where the traffic originates (e.g., facebook, newsletter).
- Medium: The marketing channel (e.g., cpc, email).
- Campaign: The specific promotion name (e.g., summer_sale).
- Term & Content: Optional fields for tracking specific ad creatives or keywords.
Finalize and Create
Once you have configured your desired settings, simply review your information and click Create Link.
Important Security Note: To protect our community and your visitors, our application infrastructure automatically scans your destination URL upon submission. We actively detect and block malicious links, phishing attempts, and verify that the content is safe (restricting adult, harmful, or illegal categories).
Once successfully verified by our security filters, your new short link (and optional QR code) is generated instantly and ready to be shared across your social channels, email campaigns, and printed materials!
Frequently Asked Questions
- No. Only the Destination URL is strictly required. All other settings are optional and can be used to customize tracking, branding, security, and organization.
- Yes. You can customize colors, styles, borders, labels, and add a custom logo at any time by editing the link.
- Visitors will no longer be redirected after the configured expiration date and time have passed. They will be safely routed to an error page.
- When enabled, visitors who click your short link will be routed to a secure Trimlink portal asking for the password. They will only be forwarded to your final Destination URL after providing the correct password.
- Enabling UTM Parameters allows you to automatically track traffic sources, campaigns, mediums, and content inside third-party analytics platforms like Google Analytics, giving you clear insight into which links drive the most conversions.
- Trimlink's advanced security infrastructure automatically scans all destination URLs. If a link is flagged for malicious activity, phishing, adult content, or other harmful material, it will be blocked to protect our users.
- No. To protect user privacy, GPS tracking requires the visitor to explicitly grant location permissions through their web browser before data is collected.
- Collections are used to group related links together into broad categories (like a folder), while Tags act as searchable keywords assigned to individual links for precise, granular filtering.