How to shorten long SendGrid branded tracking links?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 15 Apr 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
7 min read
If you're using SendGrid, you've likely noticed that the tracking links generated in your emails can be quite long. While these links are essential for capturing valuable engagement metrics, their appearance can sometimes be less than ideal. They might look unwieldy, take up too much space, or even raise questions from recipients who aren't familiar with how email service providers (ESPs) track clicks.
The good news is that there are ways to manage and shorten these branded tracking links without sacrificing your analytics or your sender reputation. It's a common challenge, and understanding how SendGrid handles link branding and tracking is the first step toward a cleaner, more professional email appearance.
The anatomy of SendGrid tracking links
When you enable click tracking in SendGrid, it wraps every link in your email with its own tracking domain. This process allows SendGrid to monitor clicks, providing you with data on how recipients interact with your content. If you've also set up link branding, this wrapped URL will use your chosen subdomain, like clicks.yourdomain.com, instead of a generic SendGrid domain. This customization is crucial for maintaining a consistent brand image and building recipient trust, which can significantly impact email deliverability and sender reputation.
The reason these links appear long is that they contain your original URL, encoded parameters for tracking, and the SendGrid tracking mechanism, all nested within your branded subdomain. While this complexity is necessary for robust analytics, it doesn't always make for the prettiest link in an email. Despite their length, these branded links are generally beneficial for deliverability because they align with your sending domain, reducing the chances of being flagged by spam filters.
Setting up link branding involves adding CNAME records to your DNS. This tells internet service providers (ISPs) that the tracking domain is associated with your sending domain, which is a critical step in email authentication and trust. Without proper link branding, your tracking links would use generic SendGrid domains, potentially harming your inbox placement.
SendGrid's built-in short links feature
SendGrid does offer a built-in Short Links feature that can reduce the length of your branded tracking links by about 40%. This can make them look much cleaner in your emails, especially for text-based messages where long URLs are particularly noticeable. This feature is managed by SendGrid directly, meaning you typically need to contact their support to enable it for your account.
While effective in shortening the visible link, it's important to be aware of a significant limitation: the data retention window. SendGrid's short links typically only retain click tracking data for 60 days from when the link is created. If a recipient clicks a shortened link after this 60-day period, the link will still work and direct them to the intended destination, but the click will not be recorded in your SendGrid analytics. This could impact the accuracy of your long-term engagement reporting.
Important limitation
SendGrid's Short Links feature offers a cleaner aesthetic but comes with a crucial trade-off: click data is only retained for 60 days. This means if you need analytics for clicks beyond that timeframe, this feature might not be suitable for all your campaigns. Evaluate your data retention needs before enabling.
Impact on email deliverability and alternatives
The length of your tracking links, in itself, is generally not a direct factor in email deliverability. Mailbox providers are sophisticated enough to parse and understand these links, especially when they are properly branded and associated with a reputable sending domain. However, very long or unbranded links can indirectly affect deliverability by eroding recipient trust and increasing the likelihood of users marking your emails as spam, which then harms your reputation and inbox placement.
Using external URL shorteners like Bitly or TinyURL for links that SendGrid also tracks is typically not recommended. When you include a link from an external shortener in your email, SendGrid will still wrap that shortened link with its own tracking. This results in a double-wrapped URL, which can look even more confusing and may sometimes break the original shortened link's functionality or its analytics. More importantly, using public URL shorteners has its own set of deliverability concerns due to their association with spam campaigns.
Instead of external shorteners, focus on leveraging SendGrid's native features. The primary best practice for email link tracking is to use your own branded subdomain, ensuring that all tracking links clearly belong to your brand. If the length is still a concern, enabling SendGrid's Short Links feature (with its data retention caveat) is the most viable and recommended solution for shortening these specific URLs while maintaining integration with SendGrid's analytics.
Optimizing your branded link strategy
To get the most out of your SendGrid branded tracking links and ensure good deliverability, there are several key practices to follow. First, always ensure your link branding is properly set up and validated. This means verifying your domain and ensuring the necessary CNAME records are correctly configured in your DNS settings. This is the foundation for trustworthy and effective tracking links.
When choosing your branded tracking subdomain, opt for something short and intuitive, such as c.yourdomain.com or link.yourdomain.com. While this won't shorten the entire tracking URL significantly, it helps reduce the initial part of the link that recipients see, contributing to a cleaner appearance. Regularly checking your links for breakage is also important to ensure everything is functioning correctly.
If the overall length of your SendGrid branded tracking links is a concern, and you're comfortable with the 60-day data retention limit, enabling SendGrid's Short Links feature by contacting their support is the most direct way to reduce their visible length. For scenarios requiring longer data retention, focus on maintaining a strong sender reputation and clear, concise call-to-actions, as these factors contribute more to positive recipient engagement than minor variations in link length.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always use branded link tracking with a dedicated subdomain for improved deliverability and trust.
If link length is an aesthetic concern, enable SendGrid's native Short Links feature.
Ensure your DNS CNAME records for link branding are correctly configured and validated.
Common pitfalls
Using generic, unbranded SendGrid tracking links can negatively impact recipient trust.
Applying external URL shorteners (like Bitly) on top of SendGrid's tracking often breaks analytics or creates confusing URLs.
Ignoring the 60-day data retention limit of SendGrid's Short Links feature can lead to incomplete analytics.
Expert tips
Consider how the visible length of your links affects mobile users and email client displays.
A shorter, memorable subdomain for link branding can subtly enhance your brand's professionalism.
Test your emails with various clients to see how tracking links render before sending to your full list.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says that long tracking links have caused significant issues with Gmail filtering in the past, suggesting a potential deliverability impact.
2019-12-19 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that requesting SendGrid's Short Links feature will shorten URLs by approximately 40%, but the tracked data is only retained for 60 days.
2019-12-19 - Email Geeks
Final thoughts on SendGrid links
While long SendGrid branded tracking links can be a minor aesthetic concern, their functionality for collecting valuable click data outweighs the visual drawback for most users. The key is to leverage SendGrid's features correctly.
By ensuring your link branding is properly configured and utilizing SendGrid's Short Links feature when suitable for your data retention needs, you can maintain professional-looking emails without compromising on crucial analytics or email deliverability. Focus on a holistic approach to email health, where branded links play a part in building trust and engagement with your audience.
