SlugURL — Link Shortener

A service that shortens long links, counts clicks, and lets people tune the interface to their own needs.

The challenge

Link shorteners attract abuse: phishing links, spam, automated signups. At the same time the redirect has to be fast, because nobody expects to see a page in between.

The solution

The redirect was reduced to a single cached query. Click logging was deferred until after the response, so counting never slows the redirect down. An accessibility panel hands theme, font size, line height and motion preferences to the user.

The outcome

Redirects are fast, the analytics are trustworthy, and the interface adapts to whoever is using it.