How to Sign Up With Bitly & Make Your First Shortened Link

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Learn how to shorten lengthy URLs into easy-to-remember links

Co-authored by Anar Kazimov and Sophia Bell

Last Updated: August 5, 2024 Fact Checked

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Creating a Bitly Account

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Creating a Link

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Tracking Your Links

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Expert Interview

If you want to share a link that's too long, you can use Bitly to create a short link you can share. Bitly is a free service online that anyone can use to shorten a long link, but it has many other features as well. This wikiHow will show you how to use Bitly.

Getting Started With Bitly

Get started with Bitly by signing up for an account. You can then create shortened links to lengthy URLs. However, Bitly also allows you to create QR Codes and landing pages, which can help you create a strong online brand.

Section 1 of 3:

Creating a Bitly Account

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1
Click Sign Up Free on Bitly's website. You will be directed to a page of the site's plans. You'll want the free plan if you plan to use Bitly as a personal account.
- With the paid accounts, you can get more focused tracking on more links per month. You can also customize your links to show something other than "bit.ly".^{[1]
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Alternatively, if you want to sign up for a paid plan, choose between "Pay annually" and "Pay monthly" by clicking the toggle above the plans, then click Get Started under the plan you want.

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3
Create an account. Click Continue with Google to automatically sign up with your Google account. Or, type in your email and preferred password.
- Click the blue Create free account button when you're ready. If you're signing up for a paid plan, the button will just say Create account.
- If you opt for a payment plan, you'll have to provide payment details after clicking Create account. Follow the on-screen instructions to add payment info.
4
Complete Bitly's onboarding. Bitly will request some information and ask a few questions about you and your work. Click the blue Continue button once you've completed one of the pages.
- On the About you page, you'll enter a display name and Bitly will also ask what you are using Bitly for. Select all of the options that apply.
- On the Your work page, Bitly will ask what industry your company is in. If you're using Bitly for personal use, select "I'm using Bitly for personal use."
- On the Start creating page, you can select one of the quick links or click I'll jump in on my own at the bottom to exit onboarding.
Open the email that you signed up with and locate the email titled "Please verify your email" from Bitly. Click the Verify My Email button to confirm your email and use all of Bitly's features.

Section 2 of 3:

Creating a Link

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If you don't have any Bitly links yet, the Create a Bitly link button will be in the center of the page. If you have at least one Bitly link, click the blue Create new button in the upper-left corner. ^{[2]
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Copy and paste a long URL in the "Destination" text field. Underneath the Destination field, Bitly will tell you how many more links you can create this month based on your plan. If you have a free plan, you can create 12 links per month.
- If desired, add a title in the Title (optional) field. Bitly will auto-fill the title from the URL you pasted into the Destination field.
3
Change your domain and/or custom back-half. For free users, you can only create a bit.ly link, but paid users can select a different domain. All users can add a custom back-half, however. A custom back half will be added behind the bit.ly URL (i.e. bit.ly/custombackhalf).
- Custom back-halves must be 100% unique. Free users can create up to 5 back-halves per month.
- If desired, you can also create a QR Code by enabling "QR Code (optional)." Free users can make 2 QR codes per month.
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Click the blue Create button. It's in the bottom-right corner. Clicking this button will bring you to your Bitly links details page.
- Click Copy in the upper-right corner of the page to copy your new Bitly link. To return to the Links page, click Back to list in the upper-left corner.
- If you created a QR Code, you can download and edit it via the QR Codes link in the sidebar.

Section 3 of 3:

Tracking Your Links

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Analytics are only available to paid plan users. All paid plans have access to click and scan data, ranging from 30 days to 1 year of data depending on which plan you have.
- Data visualization is visible on each individual link or QR Code. Click on the link/QR Code and check the data for engagements over time, locations, referrers, and devices.
- Analytics for your entire account is visible in the Analytics tab. You can see your top performing date and locations, as well as clicks and scans by device, over time, by referrer, and by location.