One of my recent personal projects has been building a link shortening service called vexly.io. As a long-time internet user, I've always been frustrated by the need to share long, ugly URLs, especially on platforms with character limits like Twitter. So I decided to create my own solution.
The idea behind vexly.io is simple - take a long web link, and convert it into a shorter, more manageable URL. But I wanted to take it a step further and add some additional features that I felt were lacking in other link shorteners.
First and foremost, I wanted to allow users to create custom "vanity" URLs. Rather than just getting a randomly generated short link, you can choose your own unique slug or keyword to append to the vexly.io domain. This makes the links more memorable and allows for some branding opportunities.
I also built in detailed analytics tracking, so you can see how your shortened links are performing. The dashboard shows you click-through rates, geographic data on visitors, and even what sites are referring traffic to your links. This is super helpful for content creators and marketers who want to optimize their online presence.
The interface itself is designed to be as clean and user-friendly as possible. You simply paste in your long link, choose a custom slug if desired, and hit "Shorten." Your new short link is instantly generated and ready to share. The analytics are easy to access and interpret as well.
To make the service accessible to everyone, I offer both free and paid subscription plans. The free plan provides basic link shortening capabilities, while the paid plans unlock additional features like custom domains, more advanced analytics, and increased link limits.
If you're looking for a simple, powerful way to shorten your links and track their performance, I'd highly recommend giving vexly.io a try. It's free to sign up, so you've got nothing to lose! Let me know what you think or if you have any feedback.