Background
A link shortener? Really?
Yep. We didn’t believe it either at first. Link shorteners are plentiful. But we found that most options on the market did a few things really well, other things not so well, and usually always had a steep jump in price for some of the most basic features. We decided to fully develop Link as a product that was simple and easy to use, feature rich with reasonable plans, and integrates seamlessly with our Chat (and Text) offerings.
Features
Dynamic Routes
As we studied the market, we had one driving question — What useful things should a link shortener do besides shorten links? One answer is the ability to dynamically route users to different locations. This is especially useful when trying to point users to a specific place based on their device, like an app download. We provide the ability to direct users based on their browser, device, or operating system and provide tracking details with our reports.
UTM Management
It’s a simple feature, but a time saver. Urchin Tracking Modules (UTM) codes are snippets of code added to the end of a URL so that you can track traffic origins. All redirect fields provide a UTM manager. This popup will show available UTM fields and allows value editing separately from the URL. This reduces the chance of error and provides the exact location of the field/value to edit. In addition, this will only update UTM parameters and leave any other query string parameters untouched.
Link Expiration
Another frustration we heard from clients was regarding link sharing for live events. Once the event was over, they lacked the ability to “turn off” the link. We saw this as another opportunity for clients to have greater control over their links. Link expiration is extremely useful when a link should only be active for a short time. It will stop tracking link clicks, providing a more reliable count, as well as avoiding confusion.
Predefined and Trackable Links
A newer feature added this year, we’re now able to support two new types of links, predefined and trackable links. Predefined links allow for a short link to be set up as normal, but also supports a listing that can be imported with a key, path, and redirect. This scenario can be very useful when trying to set up user defined short links where the same link should send users to specific locations.
Trackable links are currently on our roadmap, with release this fall. Trackable links allow you to create a link within our Text or Chat platforms, and use these in Broadcasts (Text) and Sequences (Chat). When a user visits the link, they’ll be automatically tracked with basic information provided that can be cross referenced with details in the respective source platform.
Future Plans
While we’ve covered a lot here, we still have plans to expand and improve upon our current offerings.
Mobile Deep Linking
Have you ever clicked on a link that took you directly into an app, or sent you to an app store asking you to download an app? This was mobile deep linking at work. Support for popular apps is planned, with the ability to target your own apps on both iOS and Android.
Integrations
While we have an API available for clients to develop with directly, we also have two integrations being developed to help with existing workflows. We’re now offering access to our platform through Zapier. We’re also in the process of developing a premium connector using the Power Automate platform. Look for our addition on both these great platforms very soon!
Developer Tools
Let’s not forget our developer friends! While our API has been up and running, powering the Link platform since 2019, we still have plenty of other expansions based around it.
- First party SDKs in a variety of popular languages.
- Fully documented API (the same one that powers our application right now).
We’ve covered a lot of ground here, and are really excited to be able to share with you all of what we’ve been working on with SeeBotLink. If you would like to talk to us about any specific needs or features, or would like to see a demo, just let us know.
