Short links & click tracking

Clicks are the strongest engagement signal you get, and in SMS every character costs money. The links module solves both.

Short links

Create a link once, use it everywhere. Link management requires a dashboard session (a JWT from POST /v1/auth/login), not an API key:

curl -X POST https://api.wezend.com/v1/links \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WEZEND_JWT" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "target_url": "https://shop.example.com/spring-sale?utm_source=sms" }'
# → { "link": { "id": "…", "slug": "x7Kp2", "target_url": "…" }, "short_url": "https://links.yourbrand.com/l/x7Kp2" }

The short_url is built from your verified branded link domain (Settings → Link domain) when one is configured, otherwise the platform's default short-link domain — the path always includes /l/.

When a message containing the link is sent, the platform mints a per-recipient variant — so a click is attributed to the exact contact, message and campaign, not just counted anonymously. Click data is available per link (GET /v1/links/:id/clicks), on the message record, and as a link_clicked event on the contact profile, where segments and journeys can react to it ("clicked but didn't purchase within 24h → follow up").

Email link rewriting & open tracking

In email you don't need to do anything: every link in the HTML is rewritten to a tracking redirect at send time, and a 1×1 pixel measures opens.

Honesty note, straight from how the platform works: open rates are an undercount. Apple Mail Privacy Protection pre-fetches pixels and many clients block images, so treat opens as a directional signal and use clicks for decisions — this is why A/B winner selection defaults to clicks, not opens.

Deliverability tip for SMS

Some carriers distrust public URL shorteners (bit.ly and friends). Using the platform's link domain — or your own branded domain (configure under Settings → Link domain) — keeps your SMS out of URL-based spam filtering and your brand in the link the customer sees.