Link Shortening

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What is Link Shortening?

• Short URLs: dby.cc/summer-sale instead of example.com/products/seasonal/summer-2024/sale?utm_source=email
• Click tracking: Monitor link performance with analytics
• Device targeting: Send mobile users to app stores, desktop users to web
• Social previews: Custom Open Graph images and descriptions
• Expiration: Set time-limited links for campaigns

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Creating Short Links

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Via Dashboard

1. Navigate to Links in the sidebar
2. Click Create Link
3. Enter the target URL
4. Configure link options (slug, expiration, etc.)
5. Click Create

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Link Fields

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Example: Campaign Link

{
  "name": "Black Friday Sale",
  "targetUrl": "https://example.com/products/sale",
  "slug": "bf24",
  "expiresAt": "2024-11-30T23:59:59Z",
  "expiredRedirectUrl": "https://example.com/"
}

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Custom Slugs

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Auto-Generated Slugs

• Format: Random alphanumeric string (6-8 characters)
• Example: dby.cc/a3kF9x
• Collision-resistant using hash-based generation

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Custom Slugs

• Use lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens
• Length: 3-50 characters
• Must be unique across your organization
• Examples: summer-sale, signup, docs

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Device Targeting

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iOS Targeting

{
  "targetUrl": "https://example.com",
  "iosUrl": "https://apps.apple.com/app/example/id123456789"
}

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Android Targeting

{
  "targetUrl": "https://example.com",
  "androidUrl": "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.app"
}

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Combined Targeting

{
  "targetUrl": "https://example.com",
  "iosUrl": "https://apps.apple.com/app/example/id123456789",
  "androidUrl": "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.app"
}

• iOS users → App Store
• Android users → Play Store
• Desktop/other → Web URL

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Open Graph Metadata

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OG Fields

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Example: Social Preview

{
  "name": "Product Launch",
  "targetUrl": "https://example.com/launch",
  "ogTitle": "Introducing Our New Product",
  "ogDescription": "Revolutionary features that will change how you work.",
  "ogImageUrl": "https://example.com/images/launch-og.jpg",
  "ogVideoUrl": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=xyz"
}

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Link Expiration

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Setting Expiration

{
  "expiresAt": "2024-12-31T23:59:59Z"
}

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Expired Redirect URL

{
  "expiresAt": "2024-12-31T23:59:59Z",
  "expiredRedirectUrl": "https://example.com/campaign-ended"
}

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Use Cases

• Limited-time offers: Automatically disable after promotion ends
• Event links: Expire after event date
• Beta access: Time-limited signup links
• Seasonal campaigns: Auto-expire outdated campaigns

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Click Tracking

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Automatic Analytics

• Timestamp
• Referrer (where the click came from)
• User agent (browser and device)
• Geographic location (country, region, city)
• Browser name
• Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)

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Privacy-First Tracking

• IP addresses are hashed (SHA-256) before storage
• No personal identifiable information collected
• Anonymous visitor identification
• GDPR compliant

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Deduplication

• Uses IP hash for deduplication
• Prevents click spam
• Tracks unique clicks accurately

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Link Analytics

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Viewing Link Performance

1. Navigate to Links
2. Click on a link to view details
3. See click metrics, referrers, devices, and locations

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Available Metrics

• Total Clicks: All-time click count
• Unique Visitors: Distinct users who clicked
• Referrer Breakdown: Where clicks originated
• Geographic Distribution: Clicks by country/region
• Device Types: Desktop vs. mobile vs. tablet
• Browser Distribution: Which browsers users use
• Click Trends: Clicks over time (hourly, daily, weekly)

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Exporting Data

1. Open link details
2. Click Export
3. Choose format (CSV or JSON)
4. Download analytics data

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Managing Links

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Editing Links

1. Click a link from the links list
2. Click Edit
3. Modify any field (name, target URL, slug, expiration, etc.)
4. Click Save

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Deleting Links

1. Open the link’s detail page
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm deletion

• Stop redirecting (404 Not Found)
• Retain analytics data (unless purged)
• Cannot be recovered

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Bulk Operations

1. Select links using checkboxes
2. Choose bulk action (delete, export, etc.)
3. Confirm operation

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Advanced Features

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Caching

• Redis cache: Link metadata cached in-memory
• TTL: Cache invalidates on updates
• ETag support: Browser-level caching for repeated clicks

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Rate Limiting

• 100 requests per minute per IP
• Returns 429 Too Many Requests when exceeded
• Rate limit headers included in responses

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Bot Detection

• Social media crawlers (Twitter, Facebook) → OG preview
• Search engine bots → Direct redirect (no tracking)
• Malicious bots → Filtered from analytics

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Link Infrastructure

• Runtime: Bun + Elysia (ultra-fast HTTP server)
• Database: PostgreSQL (via Drizzle ORM)
• Cache: Redis (link metadata)
• Analytics: Kafka + ClickHouse (click events)
• Observability: OpenTelemetry tracing to Axiom
• Geographic data: MaxMind GeoIP2

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High Availability

• Graceful shutdown (SIGTERM/SIGINT)
• Connection pooling
• Automatic retries
• Health check endpoint (/health)

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Best Practices

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Naming Conventions

• Good: “Summer 2024 Email Campaign”
• Bad: “Link 1”

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Slug Strategy

• Campaigns: Use branded slugs (summer-sale, webinar)
• Temporary: Use auto-generated slugs
• Evergreen: Use descriptive slugs (docs, support, pricing)

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OG Optimization

1. Title: Front-load key words, 60-90 characters
2. Description: Compelling preview, 150-200 characters
3. Image: High-quality, 1200×630 pixels, < 1MB
4. Test: Use Twitter Card Validator, Facebook Debugger

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Expiration Strategy

• Set expiration for time-sensitive campaigns
• Always provide expiredRedirectUrl for better UX
• Review expired links monthly and delete unused ones

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Monitor Performance

• Track click-through rates
• Compare referrer performance
• Analyze device targeting effectiveness
• A/B test OG metadata

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Security

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URL Validation

• Use http:// or https:// protocol
• Be valid, reachable URLs
• Not redirect to localhost (in production)

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Slug Constraints

• 3-50 characters
• Alphanumeric + hyphens only
• No reserved words (admin, api, health, etc.)
• Case-insensitive uniqueness

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Rate Limiting

• Click fraud
• DDoS attacks
• Analytics pollution

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Integration with AI

• “Show me all my short links”
• “Create a link for the summer sale”
• “What’s the performance of the bf24 link?”
• “Delete expired links”

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Next Steps