There’s no doubt that the internet is a part of all of our lives, however, at times it can get a little confusing. Imagine sitting down with your laptop and a cup of coffee… looking at Facebook and you see an enormously long link. You don’t know what it means or the information that it contains, all you know is that it is going to take you somewhere on the internet.
However, there is a solution to this “daunting-link” issue known as Pretty Links. Pretty Links is a WordPress plugin that enables a user to “clean up” their promotional posts and create link redirects from a website domain. Rather than using other third party services which can strip away the control of the user and decrease credibility, Pretty Links “combines the ease of use of a third party solution with the power of a custom solution.”
Organize
Avid bloggers, affiliate marketers, and many others realize the challenges associated with managing links. Pretty Links allows the user to create clean, simple URLs that redirect to any other website which eliminates the need to use long URLs that confuse your audience or potential customers. Additionally, Pretty Links provides the tools necessary to manage your links (think of it as a home base or control center). Here, users gain the ability to access a configurable chart of clicks per day, which allows you to see the amount of traffic of a URL overtime, and to group, sort, search, and track clicks for your links.
Track
Being able to track the traffic of URLs can give you valuable information regarding the efficiency of a link. Pretty Links comes equipped with software that tracks the number of clicks per link as well as the amount of unique clicks per link. With this information you can easily see if you need to alter the name or distribute the link to more locations to increase traffic to a website.
Customize
As mentioned before, Pretty Links “combines the ease of use of a third party solution with the power of a custom solution.” There are multiple components of Pretty Links that enable the user to easily customize URLs to fit their needs. Numerous options are available on Pretty Links to redirect links depending on what your needs are including temporary (302 or 307) and permanent (301), as well as advanced redirection options including Java-script based, Meta-refresh, and Framed Cloak redirection. Additionally, Pretty Links has a plethora of options allowing you to have complete control over how your links look and redirect.
Pricing
Pretty Links costs anywhere from $118 to $398 depending on the features you desire, however, currently Pretty Links is having a 50% off sale (an amazing deal). I recommend using Pretty Links rather than other URL shortening companies because of its cleanliness and organization. For example Bitly, another popular link shortener, uses a randomizer to generate shorter links which ends up creating a shorter URL with random numbers and letters. On the flip side, Bitly has significantly lower prices, but at the same time a sharp, clean, and easy to read URL is sacrificed.
Bitly URL
Pretty Links URL
Tips
Pretty Links is considered to have two innovative ways to use your Pretty Links. The first being the skin-able bar (also known as the “Pretty Bar”) which allows you to remind people of your brand while they are using external links. The second is that you can use Pretty Links as tracking pixels which tracks conversations, email opens or other things that you may want monitored. One final thing to be aware of is that Pretty Links only works with WordPress, however, WordPress has numerous options when it comes to website creation so don’t worry too much if you are interested in Pretty Links!
If Pretty Links catches your eye you may also be interested in looking into 3 Ways to Increase Your Banner Click Rate to add a bit of “pizzazz” to the amazing Pretty Links that you create. Or maybe look into 15 Hashtag Tips for Instagram and Pinterest to increase the traffic of your social media and bring more attention to your links!
