How SMS short links and link tracking work

What does link tracking do?

When you turn on Enable link tracking for an SMS Marketing campaign, Enfonica replaces each link in the message with a short link. Every recipient gets their own short link. Because each short link belongs to one message, a click is counted for the person who made it. This works even when several campaigns point to the same page, such as a survey and its reminders.

Only links that start with http:// or https:// are replaced. A link written as example.com.au/survey is left as it is and isn't tracked. Write links in full, such as https://example.com.au/survey.

Email-to-SMS can also shorten links this way, on request. For more information, see Send SMS from email.

Where do I see clicks?

After the campaign is sent, open it in SMS Marketing. Its report shows clicks, unique clicks, and the click-through rate, alongside delivery, opt-outs, and cost.

Why do clicks appear seconds after sending?

Some phones open a link as soon as the message arrives, to show a preview of the page. Security systems also check links automatically. Enfonica filters known bots and excludes the preview requests it has identified, including those from some Android phones, so they aren't counted as clicks.

A burst of clicks right after a reminder can also be real, because people often act on a reminder straight away. If the numbers still look wrong, tell us the campaign and when you sent it, and we'll check what opened the links.

Can short links use our own domain?

Yes. Our support team sets it up with you, for SMS Marketing or email-to-SMS. Enfonica needs to run the DNS for the domain that the links use, so it can answer each link and keep the HTTPS certificate current. You have two choices:

A subdomain is the safer choice, unless the domain is new and used only for short links. Tell us which you want. We'll create the DNS zone and send you the nameserver values to add.

How long is the code in each link?

Five characters by default, such as https://sms.example.com.au/xkmc2. That allows about 916 million different links. If you want a longer code, contact us, and we can set one up for you.

How long do short links keep working?

Short links in SMS Marketing campaigns work for 45 days after the message is sent. Short links from email-to-SMS work for 30 days. After that, opening the short link returns a not found error. If you send a reminder later, the new message gets a new link.

A short link shows an error page. Is the problem with Enfonica?

First, check the address bar on the error page. A short link answers in a fraction of a second with a redirect (HTTP 302) to your full link. By the time a page loads, the browser has usually left the short link behind.

What the address bar shows tells you where the error comes from:

• The address bar shows your full link, or another site. The short link worked. The error comes from the site behind your link, or from a service in front of it. For example, Enfonica doesn't use Cloudflare, so a Cloudflare error page comes from the site behind your link. Whoever runs that site can fix it.
• The address bar still shows the short link. The link might have expired or been mistyped. If neither is the case, send us the short link and the time it failed.

Why not use a public link shortener?

Carriers' scam filters look at the links in a message, including the domains they point to and any redirects along the way. Public link shorteners are used heavily in scam messages, so links through them make a message more likely to be filtered. Short links on your own domain, through Enfonica's link tracking, keep your messages clear of those shared domains.

For more information about what affects delivery, see An SMS wasn't delivered, or arrived late.