What status code does a CTAurl short link return?
An active CTAurl short link returns HTTP 302 with a Location header set to the destination exactly as saved. A missing, disabled or removed link returns 404 and is not cached. The redirect sets no cookie. The one optional step is a location-consent page, which a QR code can be set to show before the redirect.
| Request | Response |
|---|---|
| Active link | HTTP 302, Location = the destination exactly as saved |
| Missing, disabled or removed link | HTTP 404, Cache-Control: no-store |
The click is recorded after the response is sent, so recording never delays the redirect. A destination edit applies to the very next request, with no propagation delay.
The 302 is a server-side redirect. Apple's developer documentation for Messages link previews (TN3156) says Messages follows server-side redirects but not meta or JavaScript redirects.
Back-half rules
A CTAurl back-half is 3 to 31 characters: lowercase a to z, 0 to 9 and hyphens, and it cannot start with a hyphen. The same rule applies on every domain, including the Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Thai CTA domains, so the back-half is always in Latin letters and digits. A back-half that is already taken on that domain is refused when you save.
Do query strings and UTM tags pass through?
Query strings and UTM tags on the destination pass through a CTAurl short link. The destination is stored as you paste it, apart from standard URL clean-up, including its query string, and returned in Location, so UTM tags on the destination reach your analytics. When you add UTM tags with the Create form, CTAurl lowercases their values. Tags on the short link itself are not added to the destination.
Google Analytics Help states that UTM parameter values are case sensitive, so Instagram and instagram report as two sources.
What a CTAurl QR code encodes
A CTAurl QR code encodes a short redirect address on read-it.now (read-it.now/q/ followed by a code), whatever the link's own domain, and not your destination. That is why the printed pattern never changes when you change where it points, and why a phone's camera preview shows read-it.now. Downloads are SVG and PNG. Colour, pattern and a centre logo depend on your plan.
The click record
The CTAurl click record stores one row per request, and the privacy model lists every field. On the standard privacy setting a record holds the time, link and domain, the back-half, link or QR, the QR design variant, country and city, referrer host, device type, operating system, browser family, platform, and utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign, with no IP address. When a visitor agrees on a QR code's location-consent page, the record also holds their position to within about 40 metres. Counts are requests, not people, and include bots, security scanners and link previews.
Link-preview systems open links automatically, so a raw count can include them. Slack's developer documentation says its servers fetch every URL posted in a message, and WhatsApp's Business Platform documentation says WhatsApp fetches a page with its own user agent to build a preview.
The 22 CTA domains
CTAurl has 22 CTA domains in five languages, plus the general domain ctaurl.me. Each domain is displayed in its own script everywhere in the product.
| Intent | English | 中文 | 한국어 | 日本語 | ไทย |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy | buy-it.now | 立即購買.me | 구매하기.me | 購入する.me | ซื้อ.online |
| Book | book-it.now | 立即預訂.me | 예약하기.me | 予約する.me | จองเลย.online |
| Read | read-it.now | 查看全文.me | 더읽기.me | 詳しく見る.me | อ่าน.online |
| Sign up | sign-up.now | 登記申請.me | 바로신청.me | 今すぐ申込.me | สมัครเลย.online |
| Learn | learn-more.now | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet |
| Try | try-it.now | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet |
Plan limits
CTAurl plans differ in how many new short links and QR codes you can create each month. Free: 8 links on ctaurl.me, 2 on CTA domains and 3 QR codes. Starter: 50 links and 10 QR codes. Growth: 100 links and 30 QR codes. Scale: 500 links and 60 QR codes. On paid plans, ctaurl.me and CTA-domain links share one allowance. Allowances count new creations per calendar month (UTC) and reset monthly; existing links and codes are not counted and keep working. Running out blocks new creations only. Full detail on pricing.
API
The CTAurl REST API is built but not switched on yet. When it is, it will run at https://app.ctaurl.com/api/v1 to create and read links and QR codes, with 60 requests a minute per workspace. Tokens, requests, limits and what the API will not do yet are on the API page.