Links for Media & Publishing
Track distribution across every platform without losing the article behind the link.
Publishing distributes the same piece of content to a dozen places at once, then tries to work out which of them mattered. Short links on your own domain, with per-placement tagging and a raw click log, make that answerable — and keep working when an article moves or a site is redesigned.
A link per placement, not per article
The mistake is one link shared everywhere. If the newsletter, three social platforms, a partner site and a push notification all use the same URL, the numbers arrive as one undifferentiated pile. A link per placement, with its own campaign tagging, keeps them separable without changing the article URL at all.
Folder defaults make this cheap: create links inside the campaign folder and the tagging is applied for you.
- Separate links per channel, partner and format
- Saved UTM presets and folder-level defaults
- Tags and query-syntax search across a large library
- Bulk creation for a full distribution plan at once
Surviving redesigns and archive moves
URLs move. A CMS migration, a section rename or an archive policy can invalidate every link ever shared for a piece. Because a short link is a layer of indirection you control, repointing is a bulk edit rather than a lost audience.
The domain-level 404 destination catches the rest, sending traffic from retired codes somewhere useful instead of into an error page.
- Bulk repointing after a CMS migration
- Editable destinations that keep their history
- Custom 404 recovery at the domain level
- Choice of 301, 302, 307 or 308 per link
Honest numbers on launch day
A link posted publicly is fetched immediately by link previewers, chat clients and scanners. On a normal article that is noise; on a small campaign it can be most of the traffic. Separating automated from human clicks is what makes early numbers usable rather than flattering.
The raw per-click log is available underneath the aggregates, so an unexpected spike can be examined rather than accepted.
- Human and bot traffic reported separately
- Raw per-click log with referrer and device
- City-level geography where the data supports it
- CSV export of both aggregates and events
Testing headlines and cards
A/B testing splits traffic across up to ten destinations with sticky assignment, so a reader who returns sees the same version. Used with two variants of a landing page or two article framings, it produces a comparison rather than a hunch.
The Open Graph and card checking tools show exactly how a link will preview before it goes out, which is where most sharing problems actually originate.
- Split traffic across up to ten destinations
- Sticky assignment for returning readers
- Open Graph and card preview checks
- Per-variant click and conversion reporting
Subscriptions and paid conversion
Conversion tracking joins a click to a subscription start or a completed purchase through a click identifier reported back from your site. That turns a distribution report into something a commercial team can read: which placements produce subscribers, not which produce sessions.
Values can be attached, so placements are comparable on revenue rather than only on count.
- Click identifier passed through to your site
- Server-side conversion reporting with a value
- Attribution by link, campaign, partner and format
- Same mechanism for newsletter, social and print codes
Working across desks and partners
Teams separate titles, desks or brands, each with its own domains and folders. Roles keep editorial and commercial link libraries distinct, and read-only access covers freelancers and partners who need the numbers but not the controls.
The API and webhooks fit the automated case: a link created and tagged the moment an article is published, and click events streamed into your own analytics store.
- A team per title, desk or brand
- Read-only access for partners and freelancers
- REST API for link creation at publish time
- Signed webhooks streaming click events
Questions
Should we use one link per article or per placement?
Per placement. The article URL stays the same; the short links differ so their performance is comparable.
What happens to old links after a site migration?
Repoint them in bulk. Existing shares keep working because the short URL never changed.
Are link preview fetches counted as readers?
No. Automated traffic is classified and reported separately from human clicks.
Can we attribute subscriptions to a specific placement?
Yes, via the click identifier and server-side conversion reporting, with an optional value attached.
Can links be created automatically when we publish?
Yes, through the REST API, with folder defaults supplying the domain and campaign tagging.
Find out which placement actually carried the story.
Start Free — no credit card
The free plan includes 1,000 links, 5 custom domains and 50,000 tracked clicks a month, free forever. Paid plans start at $4 a month when you outgrow it, and you keep everything you have built.