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Hi Dan,Bitly is a great URL shortener, but probably is not the best to customise your links.here are some of the limitations you may find in the free version:1) Changing the destination URL2) Connect more than one custom domain3) Keep your data for more than 30 days4) Make your links private5) Easily and automatically add UTM parametersRead more here: https://support.rebrandly.com/hc/en-us/articles/227131707-Alternatives-to-BitlyFull disclosure: I'm the founder of Rebrandly (https://www.rebrandly.com)

Awesome thanks. Do you believe there is any additional SEO value from using a keyword-oriented URL slug for the short link, instead of a random URL slug?

So "/utm-parameters/" instead of "/t4Eo9/" for example.

Or is the shortlink just basically treated like it doesn't exist and literally just used to link the 2 pages?

Hi,

I'm looking for an example/use case of someone whose site has been linked to from another using a Bitly, or other generic URL shortener link. I'm specifically interested in proving/disproving the value of the backlink in terms of boost in SEO rankings.

Ideally you somehow got a juicy backlink from a reputable site, but they accidentally linked to you using a Bitly or something, yet you saw a noticeable increase in your pages search rankings, thus proving the value of a Bitly link still passing all SEO value.

Or alternatively, you got that juicy backlink and noticed nothing at all, or not much, and are frustrated that they used a BItly.

I'm launching a study on this soon to identify the possible value behind short links as backlinks.

Yes, I know that Matt Cutts says all short links are 301 redirects which passes something like 99.9% of link juice. I'd just like to see some use cases on this.

Thanks!