Why Use a Custom Short Domain?

Creating a customized short URL for your blog can help build your brand recognition and make it easier for readers to share your content on social media. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll walk through the step-by-step process to set up your own branded short domain and integrate it with WordPress.

You‘ve probably noticed big media sites like The New York Times (nyti.ms), The Wall Street Journal (on.wsj.com) and TechCrunch (tcrn.ch) using their own branded short URLs on social platforms.

Here are some of the key benefits of using a custom short domain:

• Improves brand awareness – Having your own consistent domain like nyti.ms helps people associate it with your brand when shared on social media or mentioned in articles/videos. According to research by HubSpot, 77% of users recall branded short links when they are used consistently.

• Easy to remember and share – Short URLs with your brand name are much easier for readers to remember and pass along on social media or email. A study by Rebrandly indicates links shortened with branded domains have a 17% higher click-through rate.

• Trackable – Custom short domains allow you to easily track clicks and visitor stats using a service like Bitly. You can see which social platform is driving the most traffic. Bitly reports that users with customized short domains get 40% more clicks on average.

• Looks professional – Media sites use short domains to maintain clean looking links that don‘t overwhelm readers. It improves click-through rates. Twitter research shows links with less than 15 characters result in 15-25% more clicks.

• Supplements main site – You can run it parallel to your main site domain and use it specifically for social sharing and marketing purposes. Many brands use unique short domains just for their Facebook pages or other social profiles.

Here are just a few examples of the benefits based on statistics. The data clearly shows customized short domains are well worth the minimal setup costs. Let‘s look at how to get your own branded short URL.

The first step is buying a new domain name for your short URL. Here are some tips I‘ve learned from registering domains for over 15 years:

• Brandable – Incorporate your brand name or initials if possible (e.g. nyti.ms). This helps recognition.

• Short – Domain hacks like .ly, .co, .me allow you to have fewer characters. I‘d aim for 5-8 characters.

• Memorable – Spell out your name creatively or make it catchy for readers. Use alliteration or rhymes.

• Searchable – Do some keyword research to see if the acronym spells a relevant term. This helps with SEO.

• Available – Double check to see if the exact match .com is available. If not, try alternate extensions.

You can use online domain generators like Domainr and NameMesh to brainstorm ideas. I recommend trying out at least 10-20 combinations before deciding.

Once you‘ve found an available domain name that meets your criteria, go ahead and register it. Domain.com and NameCheap are two affordable and reputable registrars I recommend based on personal experience.

Domain names usually start around $9/year for common TLDs like .com. Newer TLDs like .blog or .media may be $15-20/year. I suggest locking in domain names for at least 2-3 years initially.

Now that you have your custom short domain, it‘s time to link it up with the Bitly URL shortening service.

First, you‘ll need to sign up for a Bitly account and upgrade to at least a Basic paid plan which starts at $99/month. This will allow you to use your custom domain with their link management platform.

After logging into your Bitly account, go to Settings > Custom Domains and click Add custom domain. Choose the option to use your own domain name.

Enter your newly registered short domain name and indicate it‘s not currently in use. For root domains, set the CNAME record value to cname.bitly.com as highlighted above.

Finally, click Add domain to initiate the verification process. This can take up to 24 hours, so be patient.

Bitly will now show instructions for updating the DNS settings for your domain to point it to their servers.

To complete the domain connection, you‘ll need to configure the DNS records with your domain registrar. This points your custom short domain to Bitly‘s server.

Log into your domain registrar account and navigate to the DNS record management settings. Here you‘ll be able to add the necessary CNAME or A record provided by Bitly.

The steps to edit DNS settings will vary slightly by registrar, but you‘ll generally find it under the Domain, DNS, or Advanced DNS tab.

For a root domain, you‘ll want to add an A record with the Bitly IP address provided.

A subdomain like mybrand.blog will use a CNAME record pointing at cname.bitly.com instead.

Here are examples of each record type:

A Record

• Host – @
• Type – A
• Value – 66.6.44.4

CNAME Record

• Host – mybrand
• Type – CNAME
• Value – cname.bitly.com

Be sure to set a 1 hour TTL for flexibility. Save your changes, which can take up to 24 hours to fully propagate across DNS servers.

You can now switch back to Bitly to finish adding your custom domain integration. The verification process should complete automatically within a day or two.

Your custom short domain is now technically ready to use. The final step is connecting it to your WordPress site to start creating branded Bitly links.

Install and activate the WP Bitly Shortlinks plugin on your WordPress site. This allows deep integration with the Bitly API to automatically generate short links.

Under Settings > Writing, connect your Bitly account by clicking the Authorize button:

On the plugin settings page, select your newly added custom domain as the Default Domain.

The plugin will now begin generating short links for your posts using your custom domain name.

For example, a post like example.com/sample-post/ will now have a short link saved like mybrand.com/AbC123.

You can also view click stats within your WordPress dashboard by editing a post. The WP Bitly Shortlinks box shows how many clicks a post has received.

Now that your branded short domain is up and running, it‘s time to start promoting it and making use of it!

Here are some tips I‘ve learned for maximizing a custom short domain:

• Update your social media bios/links to use it instead of your main site URL.

• Share it directly on social posts when linking to articles or landing pages.

• Include the branded shortlink domain in your email newsletters.

• Add it to business cards, YouTube descriptions, etc.

• Set up link tracking campaigns on Facebook/Twitter using Bitly‘s click stats.

• Redirect old posts to use your new short domain for consistency.

• Prominently display it on your site‘s About or Contact page.

• Run an awareness campaign focused specifically on promoting your new domain.

• Partner with influencers by creating a custom subdomain or link for them to share.

• Analyze link clicks to see which platforms and users are engaging the most.

The more exposure your new short domain gets, the quicker it will get recognized and drive brand awareness when shared across the web.

Custom short domains are extremely versatile and can provide even more benefits with some additional set up:

• Link redirection: Forward your old domain to your new branded domain for seamless migration.

• Landing pages: Create custom landing pages on your domain to complement your main site content.

• Ticket links: Generate special short links for webinars, events, etc using custom subdomains.

• Vanity URLs: Set up vanity profile links like yourbrand.co/yourname for employees or influencers.

• Link management: Use Bitly‘s advanced tools to categorize, share and process links in one dashboard.

• Click tracking: Integrate Google Analytics for in-depth tracking of clicks, geography, referrers and more based on short links.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to leveraging your own short domain!

Having your own customized short domain comes with many benefits for brand marketing and social promotion. Configuring a domain hack with Bitly and WordPress is simple and affordable.

The key steps we covered were:

1. Find and register a short branded domain name.

2. Point it to Bitly‘s servers using DNS records.

3. Install the WP Bitly Shortlinks plugin.

4. Generate short links with your custom domain.

5. Promote your new domain on social media and your website.

Short URLs are a small addition that can have an outsized impact on your overall marketing and social media engagement. Promoting your content with a customized short domain helps build lasting brand awareness.

I hope this guide gives you a good blueprint for setting up your own short branded domain! Let me know if you have any other questions.