How to Migrate From One Link Shortener to Another Without Breaking Links
Switching link shortener vendors is riskier than switching most SaaS tools because old links live everywhere you can't easily update. Here's how to migrate without link rot.
Devon Clarke
Head of Marketing Operations
Link Tracking & Short Links Blueprint Guide
Why switching link shorteners is riskier than it looks
Most SaaS switches involve exporting data and importing it elsewhere, with the old tool simply going unused afterward. Link shorteners are different because every old short link you've ever created is potentially still live somewhere you don't control: printed on business cards, embedded in years-old emails sitting in someone's inbox, referenced in a PDF, baked into a QR code on physical signage. If those old links stop resolving, you get link rot, and there's often no way to notify everyone who might click one.
This guide walks through migrating deliberately, with the goal of zero broken links, rather than treating it as a simple export-and-switch operation.
Step 1: audit what you actually have before touching anything
Before initiating any migration, export a full list of every existing short link from your current provider, including creation date, click count to date, and destination URL. Most tools support this as a CSV export from account settings or a reporting dashboard; if yours doesn't offer a clean export, contact support directly and ask, since this data is foundational to everything that follows.
Flag any links with meaningfully high historical click volume or recent activity separately, since these deserve the most careful handling and testing during migration, while low-activity or clearly dead links may not be worth migrating at all.
Step 2: decide whether to keep the old domain alive
The cleanest migration path, if your budget allows it, is keeping your old provider account active in some minimal capacity purely so existing short links keep resolving, even if you stop creating new links there. Many providers offer a reduced-cost or legacy tier for exactly this situation, since it's a common enough need that vendors have learned to accommodate it rather than lose the account entirely.
If keeping the old account alive isn't feasible (the vendor is shutting down, pricing changed unfavorably, or the account is genuinely being closed), you'll need the more involved redirect approach in the next step instead.
Step 3: set up redirects if you can't keep the old account
If you control the old provider's custom domain (meaning you weren't using their generic shortener domain like bit.ly), you may be able to point that domain's DNS at a new redirect service that maps each old short code to its final destination, effectively recreating the old links' behavior under new infrastructure. This requires exporting your full link list (from step 1) and setting up a redirect rule for each one, which is straightforward for a few dozen links and considerably more involved for thousands.
If you were using the old provider's own generic domain rather than a custom one, you generally can't redirect those links yourself since you don't control that domain; this is precisely the scenario where keeping a minimal legacy account active (step 2) becomes the only real option, reinforcing why using a branded custom domain from the start, as covered in branded versus generic short links, pays off during any future migration.
Step 4: preserve analytics history separately
Click analytics tied to old links generally don't transfer to a new provider automatically, and in most cases can't transfer at all since the new tool has no record of clicks that happened before you switched. Before fully decommissioning your old account, export whatever historical reporting you might need for year-over-year comparisons or campaign retrospectives, and store it somewhere durable (a shared drive, an internal reporting tool) rather than assuming you can pull it later.
This step is easy to skip in the rush of a migration and is the one most commonly regretted afterward, typically when someone asks for a comparison to a campaign from before the switch and the historical data is simply gone.
Step 5: migrate new link creation gradually, not all at once
Rather than an abrupt cutover, run both tools in parallel for a short overlap period, creating new links exclusively in the new tool while old links continue resolving through whatever mechanism you set up in steps 2 or 3. This gives your team time to adjust to the new tool's workflow and catch any issues (a UTM tagging habit that doesn't transfer cleanly, a saved taxonomy that needs rebuilding) before fully committing.
If your new tool is UTM-focused, like UTMLoop's UTM builder, this overlap period is also a good time to rebuild your saved campaign taxonomy properly rather than recreating old inconsistencies in the new tool by habit.
Step 6: update everything you actually control
Go through your own channels methodically: email templates, website links, social media bio links, printed materials still in circulation, and any automated systems (a CRM, an email platform) that reference old short links. This is the one category of link you have full control over, so there's no excuse for these lingering on the old system past your migration window.
Keep a simple checklist during this step, since it's easy to update the obvious places (your website) and forget less visible ones (a signature line in a shared email template, an old automated welcome sequence) that still reference the old links.
Step 7: monitor for broken links after the cutover
For several weeks after migration, keep an eye on error rates or support inquiries related to broken links, since this is the most direct signal that something in your redirect setup or legacy account wasn't configured correctly. If you're using a redirect service for old custom-domain links, spot check a sample of old short links periodically rather than assuming the initial setup remains correct indefinitely.
A migration is genuinely complete only once you've confirmed, through actual testing rather than assumption, that old links still resolve and new links behave as expected across every channel you use. Set a calendar reminder to re-check a sample of old links again a few months out, not just in the first weeks, since a redirect service or legacy account can silently lapse (an expired card on the legacy account, a redirect rule quietly removed during unrelated maintenance) well after everyone has stopped paying attention to the migration.
Preventing this problem for your next migration
The single biggest lesson from any painful migration is that using a custom branded domain from the very start, rather than a provider's generic domain, is what makes a future migration possible at all without total link rot. If you're setting up a link shortener for the first time, or evaluating a switch right now, treat domain ownership as a non-negotiable requirement precisely because of the migration scenario covered in this guide.
For a broader framework on evaluating a new tool before you commit to it, our business buyer's guide covers migration cost as one of several criteria worth weighing upfront rather than discovering the hard way later. It's a small extra step to ask a prospective vendor directly how they support customers migrating away later, and a vendor's willingness to answer that question honestly is itself a useful signal about how they'll treat you if you ever need to leave.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I redirect old short links to a new provider automatically?
Only if you control the domain those old links used. If you were on a custom domain, you can typically repoint it at a redirect service. If you used the provider's own generic domain, you generally cannot redirect those links yourself.
Will my click analytics history transfer to a new link shortener?
Usually not automatically. Export any historical reporting you might need before decommissioning your old account, since most new tools have no record of activity that happened before you switched.
How long should I run two link shorteners in parallel during a migration?
A few weeks to a month is typical, long enough to update your own channels and confirm redirects work correctly, without dragging the transition out so long that it creates ongoing confusion about which tool is the source of truth.
What's the best way to avoid this problem on my next tool choice?
Use a custom branded domain rather than the provider's own generic domain from the start. This is what makes a future migration possible via DNS redirect instead of requiring you to keep an old account alive indefinitely.
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