Making custom branded short links

The end of a short link can be one of two things. One is a random code the service picks for you, like linkpado.com/xY3kP9q. The other is a meaningful path you choose yourself, like linkpado.com/spring-sale. Both send people to the same place, but they leave a different impression on whoever receives them.

Random codes versus custom paths

The code linkpado issues by default is a random 7 characters. It draws from a set that excludes easily confused glyphs (0 vs O, 1 vs l), so it's hard to guess and takes no thought to create. You paste an address and a link comes back.

A custom path lets a person set that ending instead. In place of xY3kP9q, you put a word like spring-sale or menu. A reader can roughly tell where it leads, and it's easy to recall and type again later.

In exchange, you take on responsibilities a random code never had.

• You have to choose it. Deciding which word to use takes time.
• Someone may have used it. Good words can already be taken, so sometimes you'll need a different path.
• You have to manage it. With meaningful paths, it's on you to remember or record which link you made where.

In short, a random code is effort-free and unguessable but meaningless, while a custom path is readable and brandable but takes work to choose and maintain.

Why a meaningful path gets clicked more

A link is read before it's clicked. People glance at the address just before tapping it and quickly judge whether it looks safe and leads where they expect.

linkpado.com/xY3kP9q gives them nothing to go on. linkpado.com/2026-handbook, by contrast, tells them what will open. When the destination is easy to guess, there's less hesitation about clicking.

Memorability differs too. A random code is hard to read aloud or copy by hand. In places where people see a link rather than click it — a slide, a poster, a video caption — linkpado.com/talk carries far better than a string of random characters.

Finally, there's consistency. Using similarly shaped paths across channels (/spring-sale, /summer-sale) signals that the links come from one source. That's a trust cue a random code can't give.

Using custom paths in linkpado

In linkpado, custom paths are a Pro feature, and there are rules for what a path may contain.

• Only lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens (-) are allowed.
• The length must be between 3 and 32 characters.

One more thing to know: linkpado warns you when a path was used before. A link made with that path in the past might still be shared somewhere, and if it is, that traffic would flow to your new destination. When you see the warning, it's safer to pick a different path.

Every link responds with 302 and forwards straight to the destination, with no interstitial ad or waiting screen. Custom path or random code, the behavior is the same.

How to write a good custom path

The rules are simple.

1. Keep it short. The limit is 32 characters, but a good path is usually much shorter. One or two words that are easy to copy is ideal.
2. Use the campaign or product name. spring-sale is clearer than promo3 — both to people and to the future you.
3. Lowercase with hyphens. Spaces aren't allowed, so join words with hyphens (new-menu). The rules permit only lowercase, so there's no casing to second-guess.
4. Don't reuse. Recycling a finished campaign's path for the next one sends clicks from old materials to the wrong place. Give a new campaign a new path.

A good path, once set, lasts a long time. If you want to make one yourself, you can try it from the home page.