The ClikSo Blog

Insights on marketing, analytics, and product updates from the team.

A three-row comparison table listing what to check in a free shortener plan: monthly links, click data and whether ads appear.

19 Sep 2026•11 Min Read•Comparisons

The Best Free URL Shorteners in 2026: An Honest Comparison

Eight free plans, with every limit read off the vendor's own page in September 2026 — including five facts most comparison lists still get wrong.

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Three cards labelled iPhone, Android and Desktop, each showing the different destination a single short link sends that device to.

18 Sep 2026•9 Min Read•Guides

How to Send iPhone and Android Users to Different Pages From One Link

One link, three destinations, and an honest look at the three ways device detection quietly fails on real phones.

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A short link, a 302 status badge and a destination address drawn as three connected cards, with the 302 highlighted.

17 Sep 2026•10 Min Read•SEO

301 vs 302 Redirects: Which One Your Short Links Should Use

The real choice is not 301 or 302. It is whether you send a Cache-Control header with it. Bitly sends one, and here is why that matters.

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A CNAME record in one card above an arrow, with the resulting branded short link go.yourbrand.com/sale highlighted below.

16 Sep 2026•11 Min Read•Guides

Custom Domain Short Links: A 20-Minute Setup That Buys You Trust

One DNS record, a free certificate and a short wait. Here is the whole setup, including the apex trap that breaks most guides on this subject.

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A two-row table contrasting a cheap first-year domain price against a much higher renewal price charged every year after.

13 Sep 2026•12 Min Read•Guides

How to Choose a Short Domain for Your Brand Without Overpaying

The first-year price is a sale price. Here is how to find what a short domain really costs you every year after that.

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A checklist for printed QR codes with two green ticks for correct sizing and matte stock, and an amber cross for shrinking to fit.

10 Sep 2026•10 Min Read•QR Codes

Restaurant, Retail, Event: Three QR Setups That Actually Get Scanned

Three real QR setups, with placement, size, what the code points at, and the one thing that goes wrong in each of them.

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Two SMS links compared with bars showing their length: a long tracking URL at 52 characters above a short branded link at 16.

7 Sep 2026•10 Min Read•Marketing

Putting a Link in an SMS Campaign Without Wasting Half the Message

One SMS holds 160 characters. One emoji cuts that to 70. Here is what a link really costs you, and which shorteners carriers filter.

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A table listing two closed shortener services against a domain you own yourself, which stays under your control.

4 Sep 2026•10 Min Read•SEO

Link Rot: What Happens to Your Short Links in Ten Years

Wikipedia says every goo.gl link died in August 2025. We tested 69 of them in September 2026, and most still work. Here is what really kills a short link.

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1 Sep 2026•9 Min Read•Analytics

How to Tell Which Channel Actually Brought the Sale

First touch credits whatever introduced the buyer. Last touch credits whatever stood nearest the money. A tagged link per channel beats both.

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29 Aug 2026•7 Min Read•QR Codes

Can You Put a Logo in a QR Code Without Breaking It?

Yes, but the famous 30 percent rule is not about area at all. What the QR standard really says, and where a logo can safely go.

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A short link sent in a chat above an arrow, with a card below listing the clicks, country and device data a redirect records.

26 Aug 2026•8 Min Read•Marketing

How to Track Clicks on a WhatsApp Link (No Code Needed)

WhatsApp gives you ticks, not clicks on the links you send. Meta says why in its own documentation. Here is the fix, and it works in any chat.

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A browser window listing three Open Graph tags, with the og:image row highlighted as the usual cause of a broken preview.

23 Aug 2026•8 Min Read•Marketing

Why Your Link Preview Looks Broken (And How to Fix the Thumbnail)

A broken link preview has four likely causes. Here is how to find yours in order, starting with the one almost nobody explains.

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Three linked cards showing a short link, the same link with a plus sign added, and the preview page that reveals its destination.

20 Aug 2026•7 Min Read•Link Safety

Someone Sent You a bit.ly Link. Here's How to See the Real URL.

Add a plus sign to a bit.ly link and Bitly shows you the real URL. Here is when that works, when it breaks, and what it still cannot prove.

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Two bars comparing the printed size a QR code needs when read across a room against one read from a table.

17 Aug 2026•10 Min Read•QR Codes

QR Code Size Guide: Flyer, Poster, Billboard, Table Tent

Most size guides hand you numbers as if they were standards. They are not. Here is what the QR standard really says, and what is only a rule of thumb.

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Two labelled bars comparing what a link tool counts against what analytics counts, with the link tool bar noticeably longer.

11 Aug 2026•10 Min Read•Analytics

Your Link Says 900 Clicks. Analytics Says 300 Visits. Who's Right?

A click and a session count different events. Here are the mechanisms behind the gap, with no made-up percentages anywhere.

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A checklist of link safety checks, two marked with green ticks and one — trusting the padlock — marked with an amber cross.

8 Aug 2026•7 Min Read•Link Safety

Is This Link Safe? 7 Warning Signs Hiding in a Short URL

Seven checks you can run on any link in about ten seconds, plus a calm answer to the question everyone asks: what happens if I just open it?

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A QR code drawn hard against the edge of its panel, captioned to show that a missing margin stops it scanning.

5 Aug 2026•8 Min Read•QR Codes

Why Your QR Code Isn't Scanning: 10 Fixes, Ranked

Your QR code won't scan. Here are the ten causes, in the order worth checking, and the fix for each one, with the reason it works.

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2 Aug 2026•9 Min Read•Analytics

UTM Parameters Explained in Plain English (With a Copy-Paste Template)

The nine UTM parameters, a naming rule set you can copy today, and the two GA4 changes from 2026 that most guides have not caught up with.

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A short link in one card above an arrow, with the full destination address revealed in a highlighted card below it.

27 Jul 2026•8 Min Read•Link Safety

How to Check Where a Short Link Goes Before You Click It

How to see a short link's real destination without opening it, which popular checkers are now dead, and the one thing no checker can tell you.

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A QR code in an app window above an editable destination field reading clik.so/menu, showing the link can be changed after printing.

25 Jul 2026•5 Min Read•QR Codes

Dynamic vs. Static QR Codes: Which One Should You Actually Use?

Printed a QR code and need to change where it points? Here's the difference that decides whether you can.

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Two link rows compared: a long tracking URL with a wide bar beneath it, above clik.so/summer with a much shorter bar.

23 Jul 2026•6 Min Read•Marketing

Short Links vs. Long Links: Does Length Really Affect Click-Through Rate?

The real reason short links get clicked more — and why it's not actually about the character count.

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A single redirect hop drawn left to right — clik.so/sale, a 302 badge, then yourbrand.com/sale — with a tick reading "the ranking signal passes straight through".

21 Jul 2026•6 Min Read•SEO

Do URL Shorteners Hurt SEO? The Truth About Redirects and Link Juice

The honest, nuanced answer on whether short links cost you rankings — plus the two mistakes that actually do.

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A long destination URL in a form field, an arrow, then the same link as clik.so/summer-sale in a highlighted short-link field.

18 Jul 2026•5 Min Read•Guides

What Is a URL Shortener and How Does It Actually Work?

What actually happens when you click a short link — redirects, slugs, tracking, and why the domain behind it matters more than people think.

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25 Jan 2026•8 Min Read•Announcements

It’s Time to Upgrade Your Links: Introducing clik.so

Introducing clik.so, the modern URL shortener designed for growth. Discover features, pricing, and why it's time to ditch generic links.

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