If you're inviting guests to Plan a Visit, sharing a Connect Card, or sending out a follow-up email, I would say that links are essential to your communication. But long URLs can clutter your message—and in some cases, even get blocked.
That’s where the Text In Church Link Shortener comes in. It’s built right into your Message Builder, helping you streamline your communication, keep messages within character limits, and enhance deliverability. Here’s how to use it effectively.
Why Not Use Bitly or TinyURL?
Let’s start with the “why.” While services like Bitly and TinyURL are widely used, they’re also commonly blocked by mobile carriers, especially in mass messaging. That means your messages might not reach the intended audience. Text In Church’s link shortener is explicitly designed for churches and optimized for SMS deliverability—so your links are more likely to go through.
How to Access the Link Shortener
You can access the Link Shortener from two places:
Inside the Message Builder
Within a live conversation thread
Just click on the “Links” button and you’ll see several options:
Connect Cards
Landing Pages
Link Shortener (the one we’re focusing on here)
Creating a Shortened Link
Paste Your Full URL into the field at the top.
Give It a Title to help you organize it later (e.g., “How to Launch Text In Church”).
Choose a Default Root Domain
Add an Optional Prefix (optional but helpful for grouping links, like “how-to” or “event”).
Set the Slug – This is the tail end of the link that identifies the page
Once you’ve entered your details, a preview of your shortened URL will appear. Click Save, and the new short link will:
Auto-populate into your message
Be saved in your Link section for easy reuse
Final Tips
Use This Every Time You Share a Link in a message. It protects your deliverability and keeps things tidy.
Reuse Links you've already created without needing to build them again.
Stay within character limits—especially for SMS—so your messages get delivered as one clean text.