# Short links

> Make short links on your own go. domain or go.datacenter.so, track each place you share them, and follow each click to the visit and the sale.

Source: https://datacenter.so/docs/short-links
Section: Short links

A short link is a short address that sends people on to a long one. Datacenter counts each click. When the link leads to a site you track, it also shows the visits and goals that came after the click.

## Make a link

1. Open **Links** and choose **New link**.
2. Paste your link, the page people should land on.
3. Pick where you will share it: SMS, Email, Instagram bio, Meta ads, QR code and more. The tracking fills in for you.
4. Check the **Campaign name**. It starts from the link's name, or from your last campaign.
5. Choose **Make link**.

Next you see your link with a big **Copy link** button. You can also copy the full link for ads, download the QR code, or make the same link for other places in one tap.

You need a confirmed email to make links. That is one of the ways we keep the shared domain free of spam.

## Your domain

New links get six random letters and numbers, like `go.datacenter.so/a8Kd2Q`. On paid plans you can choose your own ending, like `go.datacenter.so/spring`. A few words are reserved and cannot be used.

Use your own domain, like `go.yourbrand.com/spring`, on any paid plan. People, Meta, Instagram and email filters trust your own name more. New links start on it once it is verified. See [Custom short domains](https://datacenter.so/docs/custom-short-domains).

## Tracking, made simple

Each place you pick fills in the tracking tags for you, in one style: lowercase with hyphens. Anything you type is tidied the same way, so `Spring Sale` becomes `spring-sale` and your reports group it.

The tags themselves sit under **Advanced (UTM fields)**. You rarely need to open it. See [UTM presets](https://datacenter.so/docs/utm-presets) for what each place sets, and save your own.

If you paste a link that already has UTM tags, they move into the fields. Other parts of the address stay as they were.

## Short link or full link

- **Short link**: for SMS, bios, stories, DMs, email and QR codes. It is short, it counts each click, and you can change where it goes.
- **Full link**: for ads. The ad opens your page directly, with the tags on it. Copy it with **Copy full link** on the link's page.

For per-ad tracking in Meta, Google, TikTok and Microsoft ads, see [Tracking ads and email](https://datacenter.so/docs/tracking-ads-with-utms).

## Follow the click to the sale

When the destination is on a site in your account, the redirect adds `_dc` and the link id to the address. The script reads it on the landing page, then removes it from the address bar. Goals that visitor reaches later that day count for the link. In [90-day tracking](https://datacenter.so/docs/tracking-modes) the link keeps the credit for 90 days.

## Ad clicks pass through

When Instagram or Facebook opens your short link, it adds `fbclid` to it, even on a post you did not pay for. The redirect passes it on to your page, so Meta and the [attribution report](https://datacenter.so/docs/attribution-report) still see the click. The same goes for these ad click ids: `fbclid`, `gclid`, `gbraid`, `wbraid`, `msclkid`, `ttclid`, `twclid`, `li_fat_id`, `rdt_cid`, `ScCid` and `epik`.

A click id already in your link stays as it is. Everything else added to a short link is dropped, so nobody can change where it goes.

## Link stats

Each link shows:

- Clicks over time.
- Where the clicks came from, by referrer.
- Countries and devices.
- For a tracked site: the visits and goals that followed.

## Download your links

**Download CSV** on the Links page saves the links it lists, after any search or client filter, as a spreadsheet: the short link, where it goes, its UTM tags, and its clicks and visits over the last 30 days. It works on every plan. On paid plans the [read API](https://datacenter.so/docs/api) gives the same columns for any range.

## Variants

One offer often goes to many places. On the link's page, tick the places under **Make variants** and choose **Make variants**. Each one gets its own short link and tags. The group shows the total, with a row for each place.

## Safety checks

Every destination is checked when you save it:

- It must start with `http://` or `https://`.
- It cannot hold a username or password.
- It cannot be another link shortener or redirector.
- It is checked against Google Safe Browsing.

Links are checked again at least once a day. A link that turns up on a blocklist is turned off and answers with a short error instead of redirecting.

## Archive

Archive a link you no longer use. It stops counting toward your active link limit, and its stats are kept.