CU Boulder Short Links Service

Short URLs are very useful when space is essential. This makes them great for print, emailing or displaying on a digital sign. The service may be used to shorten any URL that is relevant to official CU Boulder content and business.

This service will provide a trusted short links service for our community. The CU Boulder Short Links service allows users to create random URLs such as https://buff.link/brf67 and custom ones like https://buff.link/apply. You may use any of the already created links.

Random short links are only allowed to redirect one of these pre-approved domains. You may use your short link immediately once it's been created. Custom short links can redirect to any website and have a custom path name, however, there is an approval process to verify that these links are appropriate for the university. This process may take up to a few business days.

View all the Short URLs

We have several short URLs that have been created. To find a short URL that has already been created, search for a keyword or for the long URL.

You may also see the Short URL stats to see how many clicks it has received.

Request the Short Link Service

You will need to Log in to request a Short URL. 

When you log in you may choose to request a random or custom URL.

Random URLs

Generate a random short link like https://buff.link/c6lln from a URL on either of the university subdomains listed under colorado.edu or cu.edu. The random URL will be automatically generated from lowercase letters and numerals. A random URL is great for events, conferences, articles and short-term use webpages.

1. Select the Random URLs tab.
2. Enter the URL to Shorten in the Shorten my URL field.
3. Click Submit.

Custom URLs

If you need a short memorable URL, sometimes called a Vanity URL for a digital marketing campaign or other service you want to market. You may request a custom short URL. Custom URLs may be created for any website not just pages on the university domains.

Custom Short Links considerations:

• It looks more professional and trustworthy than a Bitly or tinyurl.
• Should accurately describe the destination of the link
• Should be easy to remember, use, & share 
• Should not cause confusion with the name of another university unit or service
• Should not be so generic that others could request the same (e.g. https://buff.link/classes)

Steps to create a Custom Short Link:

1. Select the Custom URLs tab.
2. Enter the Site Title
3. Enter the URL to Shorten in the Link URL field.
4. Enter the Short URL keyword you would like. Note that single words are best. Do not include leading slashes, spaces, or special characters. Dashes are allowed. Keywords are not case sensitive.
5. Reason for applying in case duplicate short URLs are requested.
6. Click Submit.

What if your Short URL is not working?

First recheck to make sure you've entered the URL exactly as displayed. Please make sure you're not substituting similar-looking letters and numbers (such as "1" and the lowercase "L").

If you're still having problems, there is a chance the link you've entered has been removed. Links are removed for a variety of reasons and we are unable to retrieve deleted URLs once they have been removed from the database. Contact the referring site for more information.

Changes to the Long URL

If the long URL changes, you will need to request that a new short URL be created. In the “Reason for Applying” field, please let us know the short URL destination URL needs to be updated.

Tips

Don't use a shortened URL if people must log in. If you are directing people to a page that requires login, let them see the full URL and tell them login will be required.