An application programming interface (API) allows two software solutions to communicate with each other. Developers rely on APIs to combine the functionality of the tools they use daily.
URL shortener APIs work in the same way. If you want to integrate the power of URL shortening, you’ll need an API to get started. In this guide, we’ll explore four great URL shortener API options and how to use them.
What is a URL shortener API?
An API is a software intermediary that combines two different software using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and other important files. Software providers offer APIs to allow developers to integrate their technology with the tools they’re already using.
A URL-shortening API makes it possible for in-house developers to connect external link management features to their existing tech stack. By using a URL shortener API, you can avoid cycling between two different software, shorten long URLs, and improve productivity.
4 URL shortener APIs for effective branding
URL shorteners offer businesses the power to curate branded short links that are easily recognizable. Let’s look at four powerful URL shortener APIs you can use to make online branding easier for your team.
1. Bitly
Bitly is a leading link management platform and is considered one of the best URL shorteners on the market. This service helps thousands of companies shorten links and create branded links for their marketing campaigns.
The Bitly API is ideal for channels that aren’t traditionally easy to measure, like dark traffic. That’s why it’s become so popular for SMS campaigns or initiatives where the data sources are usually fragmented. Not only that, but you can also streamline processes and user experiences that are usually labor-intensive on the back end.
To give developers extended link customization features, Bitly offers comprehensive API documentation. With Bitly’s API, developers can:
- Integrate with all kinds of software, such as Salesforce, Adobe, and Twilio.
- Shorten and manage one or thousands of links efficiently and at scale.
- Manage a diverse portfolio of links from one central location with two-factor authentication.
- Generate links for website, print, and different user accounts automatically.
- Easily track link performance.
With these unique capabilities, Bitly offers digital marketing teams complete control in harnessing its link management capabilities within the confines of their tech stack.
2. Ow.ly
Ow.ly is a link-shortening tool created by Hootsuite, a popular social media management platform, that offers a straightforward API key for custom use.
Some of its basic features include:
- Basic analytics so developers can track the performance of short URLs
- Beginner-friendly documentation that’s free to use
- API endpoint that automatically integrates with Hootsuite (so customers can customize links for their social media campaigns)
Ow.ly offers limited features that may not be robust enough for businesses needing advanced customization. It’s also important to note that you have to be a premium Hootsuite customer to use its API.
3. Rebrandly
Rebrandly is a popular link management platform, offering link-shortening services. You can choose to register your domain name with Rebrandly or use your own domain to begin shortening your URLs with little technical knowledge.
Here are some of the main features of Rebrandly’s API:
- Developer-friendly; can pursue bespoke integration to cater to their specific needs
- Free and simple to use for back-end development
- Customized performance analytics
Rebrandly’s API is a great solution for both new and experienced developers. It should be noted that advanced customization options for developers are only available with premium pricing plans.
4. Cuttly
Cuttly allows users to simplify, track, and manage their branded links. Like other custom URL shortener tools, Cuttly offers API documentation for developers that:
- Provides detailed analytics in one place for all branded links
- Is free of charge for basic and advanced usage
- Offers detailed documentation for regular and team-level customization
Cuttly empowers both regular users and teams to embed their technology into foreign apps. However, some other competitors offer more enterprise-level features.
How brands leverage Bitly’s link-shortening APIs
Bitly offers a superior link-shortening API for new and experienced development teams. Let’s look at just a few ways you can leverage our API to support your business’s digital initiatives—plus some use cases and examples of how our customers use our API in the real world.
1. SMS
SMS campaigns can be extremely personalized and—with the right content and targeting—extremely effective. A text doesn’t just have to offer a sales promotion. You can leverage SMS to provide things like password resets, updates, and other real-time information.
When you use a Bitly link in an SMS campaign, you can see exactly how many people are engaging with the campaign and moving on to the next stage of the marketing pipeline.
- A custom sticker-printing service generates Bitly links and sends them to customers with status updates on their orders, guaranteeing that the brand has visibility into which links see the most engagement—and which customers are most engaged.
- A premier online booking service texts branded, trackable links to every guest that leads to check-in information.
- A major airline leverages the Bitly API to create links for SMS campaigns that message customers about flight times and other updates.
- A telecommunications company has customers fill out a form on the website for a technician visit and sends a branded link in a text message showing the times a technician can come, with each available time as a different Bitly link.
- A food and beverage company automated the Password Reset function with SMS and Bitly, so if you forget your password, you can opt to get a Bitly link that sends you to a personal reset page. This process led to a 66% reduction in inbound support inquiries.
2. Personalization
The Bitly API can deliver a measurable, personalized customer experience in real time. If you need to automatically generate links for every customer, you can—whether those links are for printed collateral, user accounts, or your website.
- A telecommunications service creates and delivers trackable links for customer onboarding and finance invoicing.
- An online skill marketplace sends users to new classes with individual Bitly links to track class registration and engagement.
- A major online marketplace allows for window shopping by having new users compare subscription packages, creating a Bitly link for each package. This way, customers can save it or share it with friends and family.
- A video game console maker used the Bitly API to create individual Bitly links for anyone who logged on to the gaming network and wanted to add credit card information.
3. Data & integrations
As a platform-agnostic tool, you can use the Bitly API to integrate with any other software tool or service. You can pull your top-performing links into a Tableau or Looker dashboard to better visualize your marketing efforts. You can integrate Bitly with marketing automation tools like Domo, too.
- A data visualization platform uses the API to call data for time of day, day of week, most popular device type, and channels to enhance the data passed off to clients. By optimizing every link at every touchpoint, the company can show clients valuable industry intelligence and trends.
- A major cloud service provider uses the API to generate shareable links to help users map out different parts of the environment and even leverages the integration as a sandbox for engineers to test out different initiatives in an API environment.
- An online marketplace is testing out a portal that allows every employee to automatically generate trackable, shortened links under one custom-branded domain.
4. Social channels
We’ve highlighted how the Associated Press uses the Bitly API to integrate branded deep links with every social button. That tiny change led to 500,000 app opens in just one month, a hugely successful mobile re-engagement campaign.
Major publishers do this a lot, too. With the Bitly API, you can ensure that even your earned media is branded. Auto-branding your links doesn’t just build awareness—it actually makes your earned media more trackable. Whenever someone else shares a branded Bitly link, you can track the activity on that link and see how content gets shared in various social media channels.
5. Email
While many email service providers (ESPs) provide analytics, enterprises often find that they’re juggling multiple ESPs against one another, with different teams managing different data sets. This can cause a lot of chaos when it comes to reporting and customer relationship management. Brands can use Bitly to create a macro view of every campaign and every ESP.
One grocery store chain, for example, uses the Bitly API to integrate Bitly links into every email it sends out, so it’s easy to track clicks and opens in every customer loyalty program.
Harness the power of Bitly’s API to boost your online presence
URL shortener APIs are a great way for businesses to get the most functionality out of the tools currently in their tech stacks. Rather than dealing with disparate platforms, these solutions make it easier for development teams to connect their organization’s URL-shortening solution with their other sales, marketing, and operations tools for more seamless workflows.
While there are several URL shortener APIs on the market, Bitly is a comprehensive solution that effortlessly supports both new and advanced developers. When you use the Bitly API, you can personalize the customer experience and measure that experience across touchpoints that used to be in the dark.
Ready to get started with Bitly? Check out our plans and pricing today!
