Creating Short Links
Creating shortened URLs is the core feature of Short Links. This guide covers all the options available when creating a new link.
Creating a New Short Link
Open the Short Links app from your Shopify admin
Click Create Link (or the “+” button)
Enter the destination URL
Customize settings as needed
Click Create to generate your short link
Your new short link is immediately active and ready to share.
Setting Custom URL Keys
By default, Short Links generates a random unique key (like abc123). You can customize this for branded, memorable links.
To set a custom key:
In the link creation form, look for the “Custom Key” or “URL Key” field
Enter your preferred key (letters, numbers, hyphens allowed)
The system will check if it’s available
Tips for custom keys:
Keep them short and memorable:
sale,new,vipUse descriptive names:
winter-sale,flash-dealAvoid special characters that might cause issues
Example:
Custom key:
holidayShort link:
yourstore.com/a/s/holiday
Adding Link Names and Notes
Link names help you organize and identify links in your dashboard.
Link Name: A friendly label visible only to you in the dashboard. This doesn’t affect the URL.
Example: “Holiday Email Campaign - January 2026”
Notes: Additional details for internal reference.
Example: “Sent to VIP customers on Jan 5. Expires Jan 15.”
These are especially helpful when managing many links for different campaigns.
Setting Expiration Dates
Create temporary links that automatically stop working after a specific date.
To set an expiration:
Look for the “Expiration” or “Expires At” field
Select a date and time
After this time, the link will show as expired
Use cases for expiring links:
Flash sales with end dates
Early access periods
Limited-time promotions
Seasonal campaigns
Expired links return a “Not Found” response rather than redirecting.
UTM Parameter Configuration
Add tracking parameters directly to your destination URL for campaign attribution.
Common UTM parameters:
utm_source- Where users came from (e.g., “instagram”, “email”)utm_medium- Marketing medium (e.g., “social”, “newsletter”)utm_campaign- Campaign name (e.g., “winter_sale_2026”)utm_content- Specific content piece (e.g., “hero_image”)utm_term- Paid search keywords
Example destination URL with UTMs:
https://yourstore.com/collections/sale?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=bio&utm_campaign=winter_sale
When visitors click your short link, they arrive at this full URL and your analytics tools (like Google Analytics) track the campaign source.
Next Steps
Learn about Managing Links once created
Understand UTM Parameters in depth
Set up UTM Passthrough for automatic parameter forwarding