use self-importance urls for paid advertisements

You probably have the popular '70s song "You're so vain, you probably think this url is about you … isn't it, isn't it?" Belongs. OK, Carly Simon probably didn't sing about vanity urls.

While they're not as catchy as this song, be sure to watch out for vanity web addresses, especially with paid ads.

Whether you're not sure what the heck a vanity url is or just want to find out how to use it, you've come to the right place.

Here's what you need to know in order to use them to drive clicks and get conversions for your paid ads.

What is a vanity URL and how are they used for paid advertising campaigns?

A vanity URL is a custom URL that is pronounceable, branded, or otherwise memorable.

They can contain a keyword that you are optimizing for, a brand or product name, or any other phrase that makes sense for the campaign.

These URLs can be used as the main URL, but are often used to redirect users to another site or page.

For example, a vanity URL could be used in a paid ad to direct users to a landing page or billboard to promote online traffic.

Vanity URLs Vs. Domain URLs for Paid Search

Vanity URLs shouldn't be confused with domain URLs, especially when it comes to paid search.

Here's the difference: a domain url is your actual url, e.g. B. neilpatel.com.

A vanity URL is a branded or otherwise memorable URL that redirects to the actual URL that you want to send ad clicks to.

Why should a vanity URL be used over a domain URL? These URLs can contain any information you want, including calls-to-action, keywords, or really anything else.

Let's say you've created an ad for Ubersuggest, our SEO tool. The domain URL for Ubersuggest is: https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/.

Instead of using the domain url, use: neilpatel.com/FreeSEOHelp.

Why is this important in paid search? That little change could just be the pressure it takes for a viewer to click your ad.

There are several advantages to using vanity URLs that we'll cover in a moment. First, let's take a look at what vanity URLs look like in practice.

Examples of Vanity URLs for Paid Ads

Vanity URLs might sound like a small change. With so many SEO strategies, it doesn't seem like they're worth the effort.

Let's take a look at vanity URLs in the wild so you can see the difference they make.

Here's a Facebook ad from Couch Console, a new couch accessory. You created an ad to promote your Kickstarter campaign.

Take a look at the url:

Example of a Kickstarter Vanity URL on Facebook

It shows that the url goes to Kickstarter and highlights something you should know – the campaign that has just started. It's new and exciting, something you want to be a part of.

Here is the actual url you will be redirected to:

Vanity URL redirect example

It's longer and a lot less fascinating, isn't it?

Here is another example from Tom's interesting finds. The URL in the paid ad is "indigogo.com/popular".

Example of a vanity url

Here is the url you will be redirected to:

Example 2 of vanity url redirection

Nobody would ever remember 14 lines of random letters. Also, you won't learn anything about where the link takes you.

The vanity url is cleaner, shows people where they're going and gives them an idea of ​​what they'll find when they get there.

Why are vanity URLs important?

The most obvious benefit of using custom vanity links is that they are shorter, which looks better, especially on paid ads. This builds trust and avoids showing the tracking parameters to users.

You'd think most people would just click the link. So it doesn't matter what the link looks like.

Well, there are several other advantages of using vanity URLs including:

  • Increase click rates: Users want to know where they are going when they click a link. URLs that contain brand names or catchy terms increase trust and can increase click-through rate by up to 39 percent.
  • Builds trust: Untrustworthy websites can share strange links that lead to spam websites or viruses. A clean, readable link creates trust.
  • Easier to remember and share: Vanity URLs are shorter and contain words or phrases that are easy to remember. Nobody will remember a long string of random letters and numbers, but they can remember a short and snappy URL like: mypodcast.listennow.com.
  • Makes tracking easier: To understand how ads are performing, knowing where your traffic is coming from is important. With custom URLs you can easily keep track of where the traffic is coming from and save customer data like coupon code or cookies. Plus, not all paid ads are online – you can also track print ad traffic.

What impact do vanity URLs have on search engine optimization?

Vanity URLs look better, increase click-through rates, and improve tracking. What about SEO? Can they give you a head start in Google rankings?

You can.

Backlinko analyzed more than 11.5 million Google search results and found that shorter URLs have a small ranking advantage.

Vanity url stats on Google ranking by Backlinko

In fact, they found that rank 1 URLs on Google are typically almost 10 characters shorter than rank 10 URLs.

It is now unclear why shorter URLs rank better. It could be that they tend to have a higher click-through rate or that shorter URLs help Google understand what your page is about. Correlation doesn't always mean causality, after all.

It is clear, however, that shorter URLs can lead to a slight SEO impairment.

Here's another SEO benefit: Using keywords in URLs is a ranking factor. It's a small factor, but it can count.

Note that these benefits are very minor. However, in the highly competitive digital landscape, these tiny bumps can help you outperform your competition.

Just make sure all of your other SEO strategies are in place. A keyword-rich vanity URL doesn't make up for poor optimization, thin, content, or slow loading time.

How to create a vanity url for PPC ads in search engines

Now that you understand the benefits of custom URLs, let's show you how to create them. The easiest thing to do is to build the URL on your website and use a redirect to send users to the correct pages.

The problem is that there are several types of redirects.

In general, you want to use a permanent 301 redirect. This tells Google that the link should always go to the page you are redirecting.

However, there is an easier way than creating a 301 redirect yourself.

The easiest way to create a vanity URL is to use a URL shortening tool. Tools like Cutt.ly make it easy to create shortened URLs.

Go to the Cutt.ly homepage, paste your link and the tool will return a much shorter url:

Vanity url creator cute

This link is shorter but doesn't give the user any information which ruins the point.

However, signing up for a paid account gives you access to branded URLs that you can use to set up vanity URLs.

A similar tool is Rebrandly, which creates custom URLs and also takes care of the redirects.

Here's a simple, step-by-step guide on how to use vanity URLs for paid ads:

  1. Create a custom url, either using the tools above or on your own website.
  2. Set up the redirect from your vanity link to the final destination. This can be a landing page, a checkout page, or even a product page.
  3. Add the custom url to your search ad.

That's it!

Keep one rule in mind: with Google Ads, you can only use vanity URLs that match your root domain. For example, you can use www.neilpatel.com/ListenToMyPodcast but not www.listentoneilspodcast.com.

However, if you are in the pharmaceutical industry, search engines will limit your ability to use vanity links. If this affects your business, you can learn more about it on the Google website.

How to Create Vanity URLs for Your Paid Social Media Ads

Paid social media ads can benefit from vanity URLs for the same reasons. They can create trust and are much easier to remember.

How do you create it?

You may remember a time when you could use Facebook to directly edit the ad display url. You can even use them to create CTAs, which was very useful.

Show the URL editing function Vanity URL Guide

Unfortunately, this is no longer an option.

If you want to use them in social media ads, you need to follow the same process as above.

Use a tool to build the url or create one on your own website, redirect the url, then add the custom url to your ad.

Best practices for vanity URLs used in paid marketing campaigns

Vanity URLs can improve the user experience, optimize tracking, and help you meet your paid ad goals.

However, to improve your chances of success, you need to make sure that you are following vanity link best practices.

  • Keep it short: Shorter URLs are easier to understand. Also, many ad platforms limit the number of URL characters displayed, so longer URLs may not even appear in ads.
  • Keep it simple: Use descriptive language and complete words to describe the content that users can expect. It's not just about shortening the links (although this helps!), It's also about making users feel safe clicking your link.
  • Capitalization of the first letter of each word: You've probably seen hashtags that don't quite work (#susanalbumparty comes to mind). Unfortunately, stringing words together can result in less than ideal word combinations. Capitalizing the letters allows users to read your URL. For example: www.neilpatel.com/ReadMyBook is easier to read than www.neilpatel.com/readmybook.
  • Avoid hyphens: Hyphens are standard in URLs, but you want to avoid them for vanity URLs. They make the URL longer and users are unlikely to remember to enter it.
  • Use keywords whenever possible: Keywords offer a slight ranking boost, but also make it easier for users to understand the purpose of your page. If it makes sense, use a keyword that will help people understand where the ad is taking them.

When creating your vanity link, keep in mind that less is more. Your goal is to create an easy-to-read URL so that it doesn't get too complicated. If you plan to use them on a regular basis, consider using a standard structure such as Keyword then Product to make it easier to organize and keep track of metrics.

Conclusion

When it comes to paid ads, competition is fierce. If you are struggling to get clicks and make sales, make sure you don't make these PPC mistakes before using custom urls.

Vanity URLs are a small but powerful strategy that can help you build trust, increase clicks, and get more conversions. It only takes a few minutes to set up and may just give you the benefit you are looking for.

However, poorly optimized paid ads will not be offset. You should therefore also test your ads A / B.

Have you ever used vanity URLs? Did they help improve your PPC ROI?

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