Free · No signup · Made in South Africa

The short way to send
a long link is yxl.co.za

Paste any URL, get a short yxl.co.za link back in under a second. Comes with a free QR code and a link history that never leaves your browser.

100% free No account Unlimited links SEO-safe 301s

Recent links 0

    Your shortened links appear here. Stored only in this browser — never on our servers.

    Features

    Everything a short link needs, nothing it doesn't

    Built for marketers, creators and small businesses who share links every day — fast enough for one link, reliable enough for thousands.

    Instant

    Links go live in under a second and redirect fast, even on slow mobile data.

    Free QR codes

    Every link gets a downloadable QR code — for print ads, menus, flyers and packaging.

    Private by design

    Your link history stays on your device. No account, no email, no tracking to sign up.

    Unlimited

    No daily caps, no premium wall. Shorten as many links as your campaigns need.

    Shortest links around

    A 10-character domain means yxl.co.za links stay short even with a code attached.

    Click counting

    Links run on our own redirect engine, so every click is counted automatically.

    How it works

    Three steps to a short link

    No dashboard, no learning curve — long messy URL to share-ready link in seconds.

    Step 1

    Paste your long URL

    Product pages, articles, videos, documents, affiliate links — we validate it automatically.

    Step 2

    Click Shorten

    A unique code is generated and stored with a permanent, fast 301 redirect to your destination.

    Step 3

    Copy, share or scan

    Copy with one click, grab the QR code for print, and find it again in your private history.

    The complete guide

    Short links: what they are, and how to use them well

    Every day, billions of links are shared across social media, messaging apps, email newsletters and printed materials. Long URLs — full of parameters, tracking codes and deep paths — are hard to read, easy to mistype, and often break when pasted somewhere with a character limit. That's the problem short links solve.

    What is a short link?

    A short link is a compact URL that redirects to a longer web address. Instead of sharing a 120-character address full of query strings, you share a small, clean link. When someone clicks it, the shortening service instantly forwards them to the original destination — usually in under a second, using a permanent 301 redirect.

    Why use a URL shortener?

    • Cleaner sharing: short links look professional in posts, bios, emails and ads.
    • Higher click-through: compact, readable links earn more trust and more clicks.
    • Fewer errors: no broken line-wraps in print, no truncated links in SMS.
    • QR-ready: short links produce simpler QR codes that scan faster and more reliably.
    • Easy to say aloud: works well for podcasts, radio, live presentations and word of mouth.

    How short links work

    When you shorten a URL, the service stores a mapping between a unique short code and your long address. When a visitor clicks the short link, the server responds with a 301 redirect and the browser loads the destination. Because 301 is the standard "moved permanently" signal, search engines treat the destination as the canonical page.

    Do short links hurt SEO?

    No. A 301 redirect passes ranking signals to the destination page. In practice, short links can help indirectly too: cleaner URLs earn higher click-through rates in search and social results, and they're more likely to be shared and cited correctly. The key is using a shortener with fast, permanent redirects, and avoiding chains of multiple shorteners on one link.

    Best practices

    • Preview a link's destination before sharing one you didn't create yourself.
    • Use QR codes for anything printed — menus, posters, packaging, business cards.
    • Use one short link per channel so performance is easy to compare.
    • Prefer permanent redirects over expiring ones for evergreen content.

    Ready to try it? Scroll up, paste your first URL, and get your first short link — free, private and unlimited.

    FAQ

    Frequently asked questions

    Quick answers about short links, privacy, pricing and SEO.

    A short link is a compact URL that redirects to a longer web address, making it easier to share, read, remember, print and scan.

    Yes. Unlimited shortening, no hidden fees, no premium tier, no account required.

    No. Paste your long URL, click Shorten, and you're done. Your link history is stored only in your own browser and never on our servers.

    No. Links created here are permanent and use fast 301 redirects that search engines trust.

    Yes. Every shortened link includes a free downloadable QR code — perfect for print materials, menus, posters and packaging.

    Yes. Permanent 301 redirects pass ranking signals to the destination page, and short links improve click-through rates in search and social results.

    From the blog

    Guides on links, QR codes and SEO