What are Vanity URLs and How They are Important for You?

8 Min Read

If you are wondering what a vanity URL is, don't worry. We've got you covered. This article will discuss vanity URLs and their importance to your business.

Now, everyone knows how important it is for a business to take an edge over others. Recently, competition has been rising like never before, and businesses are looking for innovative ways to attract consumers. In this era of technology, their main tool is the internet, which consumers and businesses use. That is why businesses are now searching for unique ways to approach their customers.

One such unique way is vanity URL, which has recently emerged as a game changer. Although it can’t replace other marketing tactics, it still plays a significant role. Hence, we are here to discuss what a vanity URL is and what benefits you will get from it. So, without any further delays, let’s dive in.

What is a Vanity URL?

Vanity Url

A vanity URL is a different type of URL that is specially customized for marketing purposes. These are unique web addresses that are used for branding.

These URLs help the users to remember the URL and find a specific website page. Hence, a vanity URL can engage users with your website as they can easily find what they want.

Also, vanity URLs are easy to track regarding traffic and clicks. So, many times, they are also used to assess the success of a marketing campaign. These personalized URLs are specifically beneficial for businesses and marketers as they help with branding, marketing, and SEO.

How are They Different from Normal URLs?

Vanity Url

Source: Bitly

To understand what a vanity URL is, we should also see how it differs from normal URLs. If you are well aware of online things, you should know that there are auto-generated URLs for everything.

Even your social media accounts have URLs that make it easy for others to find your account. Just like if you have an Instagram account, it will also have a URL. When you share that URL, anyone who clicks on it will be redirected to your account page.

What generally happens is that auto-generated URLs are long and difficult to remember. Thus, these URLs are also hard to share just by remembering them. On the other hand, vanity URLs are personalized links that contain the words you want them to. For example, you can use your business name, domain name, or relevant keywords. You can even use the product name in your vanity URL.

In this way, users can remember your URL and share it easily. Vanity URLs are also great for user experience because they are simple and instantly redirect to the desired page.

Why You Should Use Vanity URL?

Pros Cons

This section will discuss the benefits of vanity URLs and why they are important for your business.

Vanity URLs are Easy to Remember

One foremost benefit of a vanity URL is that it is easy to remember. Well, let’s take an example to understand this in a better way.

Suppose you have a clothing business and want to promote your autumn collection. So, what can you do with your vanity URL? You can customize it in something easy to remember and share. It can be https://clothingstorename.com/autumnsale.

Now, it is easy to remember and share. Whenever a user comes across your business and finds the sale interesting, they can easily share it.

Using vanity URLs to leverage consumers is a beneficial tactic for advertising luxury items or events. You can even promote a campaign using a vanity URL.

You can promote your business, campaigns, products, or sales as long as people can remember and share your link. Vanity URLs help in that by providing users with easy terms to remember.

Easy to Track Campaign Success

Experts believe that vanity URLs can increase the success rate of a marketing campaign by up to 35%. Therefore, implementing a vanity URL is one of the best practices that can go a long way to ensure your future marketing success.

With vanity URLs, you can track and measure various metrics related to your marketing campaigns. For instance, you can know what vanity URL derived more visitors to your website, as each link will be different.

Also, through this, you will know what about your website or your business that attracts customers. For example, if you have a shoe business and have designed different vanity URLs for your products.

Now, the link that has more links will be automatically popular among customers. And you can emphasize that product more to leverage customers to your business.

Hence, your marketing team can easily distribute resources based on the data–driven analysis and results. Using vanity URLs not only allows monitoring of links and products but also social media channels.

Let’s take the shoe example again now you have used Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. You have advertised your products there and created vanity URLs for these sites. Now, the site has more clicks and is where you can find your customers. In the future, you can focus on that social media site to approach your customers and generate leads.

Crucial for SEO

Vanity URLs are important not only for your marketing campaigns but also for your SEO. You can add anything you like when you create a customized link for your website.

You can use your business name or product name and even keywords. So, when you submit your URL to search engines, they will know what your content is about.

Suppose you have used 'silver jewelry' in your vanity URL; then, search engines can understand what is in your content. And when anyone searches for silver jewelry, your business will be displayed.

Thus, through vanity URLs, you can improve your search engine rankings and get displayed in front of your target audience. Moreover, with easy-to-remember terms, your vanity URL can be shared more on social media sites and get more backlinks.

Increase User Experience

Vanity URLs are especially helpful when you offer plenty of products or services. For example, let’s take that shoe example one more time.

This time, you have created different vanity links for different types of shoes. Like "shoes.com/boots" and "shoes.com/heel-sandals," just to count a few.

So, now, whenever a person is on your website, they can navigate easily through it. It will save them time, and they can look at all your products easily.

This will enhance the user experience; customers will want to visit your website repeatedly because it will be easy to navigate and find products.

Build Brand Recognition

Branding

When creating vanity URLs for your business, you can make them similar to social media sites. You can use the business name for all sites or your domain name.

When users see your presence on different social media sites, they will remember you. They will want to know more about you. When they find your presence on search engines, they will also trust your business.

In this way, you can build an online presence for your business using vanity URLs. They will help you to create a brand image for your business that is reliable and authentic.

What is the Difference Between Vanity URL and Vanity Domain?

At first, vanity URL and vanity domain may seem the same to you; however, they are not. Both are very different and have their characteristics.

As you already know, Vanity URL includes your business name, domain name, or relevant keywords. On the other hand, a vanity domain is a domain that is named after the owner's name.

In many cases, vanity domain refers to domain names registered for businesses, groups, or organizations. However, it doesn't matter what a vanity domain is registered for; it should represent the owner.

For example, www.samdoe.com is a vanity domain. This represents the owner's name and indicates that the domain is registered on an individual name.

How to Create Vanity URLs?

Now that we know what a vanity URL is and how it is good for your business, we shall discuss how to create it. At first, you may think that creating a vanity URL is simple and easy; however, in reality, it is not.

Above, we have discussed the benefits of vanity URLs, so you can’t just use some terms randomly. You have to plan everything and then create vanity URLs. You can use the following tips:

  • You should choose a unique and easy-to-remember name for your vanity URL. Why unique? There are already plenty of businesses like you out there, and they are also using the same tactics as you are.

  • Hence, you have to choose a name for your vanity URL that is unique, memorable, and directly connects users with your business.

  • Before deciding on any name for your vanity URL, check it on social media sites. This will help you in many ways, and you will know whether your vanity URL will succeed.

  • You can use a link-shortening tool for your vanity URL. Also, various sites offer vanity URL services. So you can use them to create vanity URLs for your business.

  • When considering using vanity URLs for social media sites, you should also know their guidelines. Each social media platform has rules and regulations by which you should abide.

FAQs

What are the Components of a Vanity URL?

A vanity URL contains a domain name, business name, or relevant keywords. Sometimes, they even contain product names or other words that can help in SEO and marketing.

What is a Vanity URL with an Example?

A vanity URL is different from other ordinary URLs because they are personalized. These URLs contain the domain name, business name, or even keywords. For example, let's say your company name is XYZ, so your vanity URL for the Facebook page will be "facebook.com/XYZ."

How Can I Create a Vanity URL for My Business?

Creating a vanity URL for your business is very easy and simple. There are various sites and tools available that can help you create a vanity URL for your business. However, before creating a vanity URL, you should plan it wisely.

Can I Use a Vanity URL for SEO?

Yes, vanity URLs are beneficial for your SEO. Because vanity URLs use domain names and keywords, they can help in SEO optimization. Through this branding effort, you can improve the URL slug for your links and boost your SEO.

Can I Create a Vanity URL in WordPress?

Yes, you can create your vanity URL in WordPress with simple steps. First, you need to log into your WordPress account. Then go to settings, and under General Settings, you can change the WordPress address and site address.

Conclusion

In this article, we have seen what a vanity URL is and how it is helpful for your business. In today's era of high competition, businesses and marketers must be more creative than ever. While there are hundreds and thousands of customers, hundreds of companies have almost the same target audience. So, when it comes to approaching the customers and making them remember you and trust you, it becomes very important.

One way that businesses and marketers have found is to use the vanity URL. This type of URL is different from normal URLs and can be customized. This customization allows businesses and marketers to make their URLs much more effective. They can use their business name or even keywords in the vanity URL.

So, now these URLs help an internet user land on your page and remember key details. Also, when your customers remember your business or product name mentioned in the vanity URL, they can share it easily.

Also, having your business name or a keyword in your vanity URL is effective for SEO and builds trust. When we are talking about online businesses, everything relies on trust. Your consumers are the only ones who trust you; if you gain their trust, they will remain loyal. This loyalty, in turn, will fetch more customers through word of mouth. 

Hence, a vanity URL is not just a way to differentiate your URL from others. Instead, it can do much more than what you think it can do.

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