10 Tips for Maximizing GoTo.now's Free URL Shortening Plan

Published February 06, 2025 · GoTo.now Team

TL;DR - GoTo.now's free plan already includes the stuff other shorteners charge for: custom endings, private click stats, editable destinations, and styled QR codes. These ten tips show you how to actually use all of it.

Key points

• Custom endings make links readable, and readable links get clicked
• Private stats tell you which channel is really working
• Editing a destination beats making a new link every time
• QR codes turn your links into print, packaging, and signage tools
• All of it is free, and your links never expire

Most people use a URL shortener at about ten percent of its power: paste, shorten, share, forget. That's fine - But you're leaving the best parts on the table. Here are ten habits that get you the full value of the free plan.

Make links people can read (tips 1–3)

1. Customize every link that matters. A random ending like x8Tk2 works, but goto.now/spring-menu earns trust before the click. Custom back-halves are free with a GoTo.now account, so use them for anything a human will see.

2. Name links for future-you. In six months, will you know what link-final-2 was? Endings like flyer-north or podcast-ep12 make your dashboard self-explanatory later.

3. Keep endings short and speakable. If you can't say the link out loud comfortably, shorten the ending. You'll eventually read it on a call, a video, or a stage.

Let the numbers do your thinking (tips 4–5)

4. Check your stats weekly. Every link counts its clicks automatically - Totals, sources, countries, devices. These numbers live in your private dashboard, visible to you and nobody else. Five minutes a week tells you which posts, emails, and placements actually pull.

5. Give each channel its own link. Same destination, different links: one for the newsletter, one for Instagram, one for the flyer. Now the click counts become a fair contest between channels. It's the simplest A/B test you'll ever run, and the analytics sort it out for you.

Edit instead of redoing (tips 6–7)

6. Update destinations, don't recreate links. When a page moves or a promo changes, edit where the existing short link points. The link you already shared everywhere keeps working, and its click history stays intact.

7. Recycle retired links. That goto.now/summer-deal link from last year, with its followers-in-old-posts and bookmark traffic? Point it at this year's offer. Since links never expire, old links are assets, not junk.

Take your links offline (tips 8–9)

8. Turn links into QR codes. Every link comes with one, and the free QR code generator lets you add your colors and logo. Suddenly your link works on posters, table tents, business cards, and product packaging.

9. Print with confidence. Because the code encodes your short link, you can change its destination after printing - And scans are unlimited. Print once, repoint forever. This is the tip that saves actual money.

Share safely (tip 10)

10. Verify before you blast it out. Before a link goes into a 10,000-person email or a print run, paste it into the link checker and confirm it lands exactly where you think. It takes ten seconds and catches the typo that would've been very expensive. It also works in reverse: your audience can check your links too, which makes goto.now links easier to trust.

While we're mapping the free plan, it's worth seeing everything in one place - Because on most platforms this column costs money:

No trial clock, no "you've hit your monthly limit" email.

Getting the maximum from the free plan

The theme across all ten tips: treat links as things you manage, not things you fire and forget. Name them well, give each channel its own, read the numbers, edit instead of redoing, and let QR codes carry them into the physical world.

Pick two tips and apply them today - Custom endings and per-channel links are the fastest wins. Shorten your next link at GoTo.now with a proper name on it, and you're already ahead of most people using the tool.