Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Custom URLs

Published February 22, 2025 · GoTo.now Team

TL;DR - A custom URL is a short link where you pick the ending - Goto.now/spring-menu instead of goto.now/x7Kq2. It takes about a minute to make, it's free with an account, and people click it more because they can read it.

Key points

• Readable links earn more clicks than random letter soup
• Custom back-halves are free with a GoTo.now account
• Good endings are short, specific, and easy to say out loud
• Every custom link gets private click stats and a QR code
• Custom links never expire, so they're safe to print

A random short link works. But goto.now/8fj3k tells nobody anything, while goto.now/free-quote practically explains itself. That difference - A link people can read - Is what custom URLs are about. Here's exactly how to make one, and how to make a good one.

Why the ending of your link matters

People decide whether to click in about a second. A link that reads like a word gives them a reason to trust it: they can see where they're headed before they commit. A string of random characters gives them nothing.

That trust shows up as clicks. It also shows up as recall - Someone can hear "goto now slash demo" on a podcast or a phone call and type it later. Nobody's typing a random hash from memory. If you want to go further, custom domains let the front half of the link carry your brand too, but the back-half alone gets you most of the way.

Crafting your custom URL, step by step

Here's the full process, start to finish:

1. Sign up free. Custom back-halves need an account - That's what keeps your links yours.
2. Paste your long URL into the shortener on the GoTo.now homepage.
3. Type your custom ending. Replace the random suggestion with your own words, like summer-sale or book-a-table.
4. Create the link. If your ending is taken, try a small variation - Add a year, a city, a word.
5. Test it. Click it once yourself before sharing it anywhere.

That's the whole thing. No payment step hiding at the end - Custom endings are free.

What separates a good ending from a bad one

The words you pick do real work, so pick them on purpose. A few rules that hold up:

One more habit worth stealing: name links so you recognize them in your dashboard six months later. podcast-jan beats link3.

Watch what your custom links do

Once a custom link is live, it starts reporting back. Every click gets counted in your private dashboard - Total clicks, where visitors came from, their country, their device. Only you can see these numbers, and they update in real time.

This is where specific endings pay off twice. If you made goto.now/flyer-north and goto.now/flyer-south, you now have a clean A/B test of two neighborhoods. If a link ever seems off, paste it into the link checker to confirm exactly where it points before you share it further.

Take the same link into the physical world

Every custom URL you create comes with a matching QR code, and you can style it with the free QR generator - Your colors, your logo in the middle.

The pair covers everything: the readable link for anywhere people type or tap, the code for anywhere people scan. Put both on a poster and you've handled every kind of visitor. And because the QR code is built on your short link, you can repoint it after printing - The code on last year's flyer can lead to this year's offer.

Your step-by-step guide, put to work

Custom URLs are one of those small upgrades that touch everything downstream: more clicks because the link is readable, cleaner posts because it's short, better decisions because each link reports its own numbers.

The best way to learn it is to make one right now. Take a page you share often - Your booking page, your menu, your portfolio - And give it a name you'd be happy to say out loud. One minute of crafting, and you'll never share the ugly version again.