Best URL Shortener
with Built-in UTM Builder

What is a UTM builder and why does it matter?

UTM parameters are tags you add to the end of a URL so Google Analytics (or any analytics platform) can tell you exactly where a click came from. A UTM-tagged URL looks like this:

Without UTM tags, Google Analytics shows your traffic as "Direct" — you have no idea whether it came from a newsletter, a tweet, a podcast, or a paid ad. With UTM tags on every link you share, you know exactly which channel is driving results.

The problem: building UTM URLs manually is fiddly and inconsistent. Different team members use different naming conventions. Long UTM URLs are ugly to share. That's why a URL shortener with a built-in UTM builder is so useful — it standardises your tagging and gives you a short, clean link at the same time.

The best URL shorteners with UTM builders

1. yourshortsite.link — UTM builder free on all plans

yourshortsite.link's UTM builder is available on the homepage for free — no account needed. Fill in your destination URL and up to five UTM parameters, and it builds the tagged URL and shortens it in one click. The short link is permanent, and you get click tracking included.

The Pro plan (£3.99/month) adds unlimited link creation, removing the free plan's weekly limit of 25 links. The UTM builder itself is always free.

2. Bitly — UTM builder on Growth plan ($29/month)

Bitly includes a UTM builder but it's locked behind the Growth plan at $29/month. On lower tiers you'd need to build UTM URLs manually and then paste them into Bitly to shorten. For a basic feature that every serious marketer needs, this paywall is frustrating. If you're already on Bitly Growth for other reasons, the UTM builder is well-implemented with campaign templating.

3. Rebrandly — UTM available on paid plans

Rebrandly integrates UTM tracking but again, it's not available on the free plan. The Essentials plan at $14/month is where UTM tagging becomes accessible. Rebrandly's UTM implementation is solid and includes campaign templates, but the price is high relative to what yourshortsite.link offers for free.

4. UTM.io / separate UTM tools

Some teams use dedicated UTM building tools (UTM.io, Google's Campaign URL Builder, spreadsheet templates) and then paste the result into a URL shortener separately. This works but creates two steps where there should be one, increases the chance of errors, and means you have to manage two tools. An integrated UTM builder + shortener is faster and less error-prone.

How to use yourshortsite.link's UTM builder

You can use it in two ways. The first is directly on the homepage — click the UTM tab, fill in your fields, and click shorten. The second is via the REST API — send a POST request to /api/v1/utm with your URL and UTM parameters, and the API returns a shortened UTM-tagged URL immediately. This is useful for automating link creation across campaigns at scale.

UTM parameter best practices

Whatever tool you use, consistency is everything. These conventions will keep your analytics clean:

• utm_source — where the traffic comes from: instagram, newsletter, google, podcast
• utm_medium — the marketing channel: social, email, cpc, organic
• utm_campaign — the campaign name: summer_sale_2025, onboarding_flow
• utm_content — to A/B test creative: banner_a, link_in_bio
• utm_term — paid search keywords: free+url+shortener
• Use lowercase and underscores everywhere — mixing cases creates duplicate entries in Analytics
• Never use UTM parameters on internal links — you'll corrupt your session data

Using short UTM links in print and offline marketing

One underused technique: put UTM-tagged short links on printed materials. A flyer might have yourshortsite.link/summer-sale as the URL, but the destination is https://yoursite.com/sale?utm_source=flyer&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=summer. Now you can track how many people visited from that specific flyer in Google Analytics. This is only practical with a URL shortener — a raw UTM URL would never fit on a flyer.