{domain}/{shortCode}. Visiting it triggers a redirect to the destination URL with all UTMs appended. The click is recorded with the visitor’s location, device, browser, and referrer.
When to use it
Always - there’s no “long-URL only” mode. Pick which short domain to use per link.Domain options
- System default
- Custom branded domain
Every workspace gets a default short domain on creation. No setup needed. Useful for ads where the slug isn’t visible to humans (Google Ads, Meta Ads).
How the redirect works
1
Visitor clicks the short link
Their browser opens
go.acme.com/q2-launch.2
linkutm validates the link
Checks whether the link is active. An expired link redirects to its fallback URL, or shows an error page if no fallback is set. Archived links keep redirecting normally.
3
Click is recorded
Country, city, device type, browser, OS, and referrer are captured. This is what populates your analytics.
4
UTMs are appended to the destination URL
The visitor’s browser is sent to your destination URL with all UTM parameters attached.
5
Pixels fire (if configured)
If you’ve added pixels (Facebook, TikTok, GTM, etc.) to the link or workspace, they fire before the final redirect.
Real-world example
A podcast sponsor read:“Visit go.acme.com/podcast for 20% off.”What happens:
- Listener types
go.acme.com/podcast. - linkutm logs the click (country = listener’s, device = mobile/desktop, referrer = direct).
- Redirects to
https://acme.com/offer?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=q2_launch. - The acme.com landing page sees the UTMs and reports them to GA.
Common mistakes
Using an insecure (http) short domain
Using an insecure (http) short domain
Some platforms (LinkedIn, Slack) won’t show previews for insecure links. linkutm always uses secure
https links, and the security certificate is set up automatically for verified custom domains.Pointing a domain that's already in use
Pointing a domain that's already in use
If
go.acme.com is already running a real site, pointing it to linkutm will break that site. Use a fresh subdomain instead.Edge cases
Bare domain. Visiting
https://go.acme.com/ with no slug after it shows a not-found page. Always share the full short URL including the slug.Archived links keep redirecting. Archiving only removes a link from default list views; the short URL still resolves and clicks are still recorded.