How to Use URL Shorteners like OpenMyLink to Increase Email CTR and Track Campaign Performance

A computer screen showcasing OpenMyLink's analytics dashboard with colorful graphs and metrics for tracking email campaign performance, set in a clean, organized workspace.

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How to use URL shorteners in email marketing

URL shorteners are one of the most overlooked but effective email marketing tools when you’re looking to increase email CTR and improve the performance of your email campaigns. By turning long, clunky URLs into compact, branded short links, you enhance the user experience and build trust. The real value shows up when you start to track email campaign performance, measure link analytics for email, and make decisions that increase engagement over time.

If you’ve ever run a campaign and wondered who clicked what, or which links actually matter, this is a tactic you need to implement right now. A platform like OpenMyLink for email marketers not only allows you to shorten URLs in emails but also gives you robust analytic tracking and targeting features made for smarter email marketing.

Shorten URLs in emails without losing trust

You’ve probably received an email filled with long, unformatted links. It looks suspicious. It feels like spam. Now imagine the opposite: a clear, concise, branded short link like go.yourbrand.com/deals instead of yoursite.com/blog/offer-2024/email-campaign?utm_source=april-newsletter.

Using branded short links helps maintain your brand identity and increases click-through rate (CTR). According to Rebrandly, branded short links receive up to 39% more clicks than generic short links. With OpenMyLink, you can customize your short aliases and even use your own domain, so your recipients know it’s a genuine link from you.

Poorly formatted links can trigger email spam filters. Clean, branded short links reduce this risk and make your emails look more professional.

Knowing how users interact with your emails is the first step to improving them. When you want to track email link clicks, generic analytics from your email software is often not enough. Using a URL shortener like OpenMyLink allows you to log detailed behavior:

  • Number of clicks per link
  • Timestamp of each click
  • Device and browser used
  • Geographic location
  • Referrer information

By applying URL tracking in email, you gain a real-world view of what your audience does after opening the email. You can then adjust content, offers, or send times based on clicks instead of guesses.

Let’s say you’re sending a product launch email with three different call-to-action buttons. With OpenMyLink, you can track which CTA performs best, and even reroute future link traffic accordingly via A/B tests or redirect rules.

Every email campaign has one goal: increase email engagement. This could be clicks, signups, purchases, or just time spent reading. When you start sending shorter, more targeted links, you reduce friction, and that matters.

Short links work especially well in mobile email, where screen space is limited. A long URL can wrap onto multiple lines and look cluttered. A branded short link fits cleanly into your copy or buttons and encourages action.

Here’s how short links boost engagement:

  • Make CTAs clear and scannable on both desktop and mobile
  • Highlight urgency or relevance with custom slugs (e.g., /sale-24h or /vip-event)
  • Avoid link-breaking issues when copying links manually

Combine these with tracking and geotargeting and you get precision-level engagement metrics for each variation of your emails.

Choosing the best URL shortener for email campaigns

Not all shorteners are built for marketing. The best URL shortener for email campaigns includes features beyond shortening. If it’s missing analytics, branding, retargeting, or audience segmentation—it’s probably not the right fit.

Here’s what to look for:

  • Custom domains to create branded links
  • Analytics panel that tracks performance per email or campaign
  • Audience tagging based on click behavior
  • Integration with email marketing tools
  • UTM builder and campaign labels for easy segmentation

OpenMyLink offers all this, built specifically to improve email campaign optimization. It lets you A/B test links, schedule activation dates for limited-time offers, and run retargeting scripts when links are clicked.

If your current tool doesn’t support these features, you’re flying blind.

With OpenMyLink email marketing, you move beyond passive sending and into actionable performance tracking. You can deploy email campaign optimization strategies immediately by linking short URLs to:

  • Drip campaigns: Track which product demo link got clicks, and follow up automatically
  • Newsletters: Use different links for regions and compare click rates
  • Promotions: Trigger page redirects based on user device or country
  • Welcome emails: Measure what links first-time subscribers interact with and personalize the next touch

One client doubled CTR by shortening links to product videos and tagging users based on what they clicked. Another segmented audiences based on who engaged with free trial offers versus pricing pages. All of this was done through OpenMyLink’s dashboard by applying link analytics for email.

Start optimizing every click. The metrics waiting behind each short link hold the answers to your campaign’s success.

FAQs

What is a URL shortener?
A URL shortener is a tool that converts long URLs into compact, shareable versions, often with tracking capabilities and branding options.

Why should I shorten URLs in emails?
Short links look cleaner, reduce spam triggers, and fit better in CTA buttons. They can also be tracked for performance insights.

How can I track email link clicks?
By using a shortener like OpenMyLink, each link’s performance—clicks, devices, locations—can be monitored and analyzed from a central dashboard.

Is OpenMyLink good for email marketing?
Yes. OpenMyLink includes branding, analytics, targeting, A/B tools, and API integrations, making it ideal for email campaign optimization.

Can I increase email engagement with short links?
Yes. Short links improve appearance, reduce friction, and enable better targeting and retargeting workflows.

Ready to boost your email CTR and make each click count? Start your free trial with OpenMyLink and track everything that matters.

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