Email and SMS
Short links for SMS that read like the offer
A short link in a text should leave room for the offer and give readers a reason to trust the tap. A CTA domain such as buy-it.now explains itself.
Last reviewed 27 October 2026 by the CTAurl team
The count includes the message and the link.
The offer
How do you make a short link readable in a text?
A random string can look like a scam link. The address buy-it.now/summer-sale tells readers they can shop the sale before they tap. The words around it can focus on what is on sale and when the offer ends.
- Use buy-it.now/summer-sale for a shop offer.
- Use book-it.now/intro-class for a class booking.
- Use read-it.now/event-guide for event details.
Pick one of the CTA domains for the action you want readers to take. Give it a short ending that names the offer, so the link still makes sense if someone forwards the text.
Fix
Can you fix a link in an SMS after it has been sent?
A link in a sent SMS or email can be fixed because the message carries the CTAurl address, not the page behind it. If a scheduled text went out pointing at last week's page, change the destination once in CTAurl. The very next tap on any copy of the message opens the new page, with no delay.
Tag
How to track SMS and email clicks separately
To track SMS and email clicks separately, make one CTAurl link for each channel and put utm_medium=email or utm_medium=sms on its destination. The tags pass through the 302 redirect exactly as saved, so your web analytics sees the channel, and CTAurl counts each link on its own.
Email counts need one caution. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scans the URLs in an email before delivery and checks them again at click time, according to Microsoft Learn, October 2026, so a raw count for an email link can include security scanners. CTAurl labels its numbers as requests, not people, and its counts include scanners like these.
Build a tagged URLFAQ
How much fits in one SMS?
An SMS using only standard GSM-7 characters holds 160 characters. An emoji or curly quote can cut the limit to 70 characters. Every character saved leaves more room for the offer. The back-half after the slash uses lowercase a to z, 0 to 9 and hyphens on every domain.
How can I check the link before sending?
Text yourself the exact message and open it on your phone. Tap buy-it.now/summer-sale to check that it opens the offer you named in the text.
Can I use the same offer in SMS and email?
Yes. Use a readable action such as buy-it.now/summer-sale in both. Keep the text focused on the offer and put any extra details in the email.