URL Shortener for Agencies Client Links, Team Workspace and Campaign Reporting in 2026

An agency creates links for clients.
The client's brand should be in those links — not the agency's tool vendor's domain.

A digital agency managing campaigns for multiple clients simultaneously faces a link management challenge that individual users do not: every client needs their own branded domain, their own organised link library, their own campaign reporting — all managed within a single tool that multiple team members access simultaneously.

This guide covers how agencies use Cuttly to manage client links professionally — from branded domain setup and team workspaces to campaign reporting and API automation.

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Why Agencies Need a Different Approach

Individual marketers use a URL shortener for their own links. Agencies use one for their clients' links — which creates requirements that personal or small-team setups do not address:

• Multiple branded domains simultaneously. Each client needs short links on their own domain, not the agency's domain and certainly not a generic shared domain. An agency with eight active clients needs up to eight different branded domains configured simultaneously in the same account.
• Team creation in a shared space. A social media manager, a paid search specialist and an account manager all create links for the same client. Without a shared workspace, links end up scattered across individual accounts with no central visibility.
• Client-level reporting. The agency needs to report campaign link performance per client. Without a way to separate client activity in a shared dashboard, analytics are impossible to disaggregate.
• Verifiable performance data. Clients increasingly want to verify performance claims rather than accept screenshots. Independent click data from a neutral platform — not the agency's own analytics — provides this.
• Continuity when staff change. Links created by an account manager who has left the agency should remain accessible and manageable. Personal account links disappear when someone leaves; team workspace links do not.

These requirements point to the Team plan as the appropriate agency configuration — not because individual features are different, but because the collaboration and multi-domain infrastructure is only available there.

Branded Domains Per Client

Every short link an agency creates for a client should use that client's branded domain — not cutt.ly, not the agency's own domain. When a client's email campaign carries a link like go.clientbrand.com/summer-sale, the client's brand identity is in the link. When it carries agency.link/aBcDeF, the agency's name is in the client's campaign.

In Cuttly, each client's branded domain is configured once (DNS A record + DNS TXT record at their registrar, taking 10–30 minutes) and then available for all team members to use when creating links for that client.

The Team plan supports up to 10 branded domains simultaneously. Team Enterprise supports up to 99. For agencies with many clients, domain slots can be rotated — removing a former client's domain and adding a new one — without affecting existing short links on that domain (they continue to redirect until deleted).

Full setup guide: URL Shortener with Custom Domain.

Team Workspace — Shared Link Creation

The Cuttly Team plan provides a shared team dashboard where every link created by any team member is visible to the whole team. This solves the most common agency link management failure: links scattered across individual accounts that the agency cannot access if the employee leaves, cannot search across, and cannot report on as a unit.

Team workspace capabilities:

• All team links in one dashboard. Every link created by any team member appears in the shared link list. Search, filter and manage any link regardless of who created it.
• Role-based access. Admin and member roles. Admins can manage domains, create and delete links, and access all analytics. Members can create and view links within their permissions. Sensitive client links are not accidentally modified by junior team members.
• Shared branded domains. All team members can create links using any configured client domain. No domain is siloed to one person's account.
• Team API. A workspace-level API key enables automated link creation from campaign management platforms, CRMs and content tools — with all created links appearing in the shared team dashboard.

When an account manager creates links for Client A on Monday and is out sick on Tuesday, any other team member can find, edit or extend those links from the shared dashboard without needing to ask for access or login credentials.

Campaign Tags for Per-Client Reporting

Campaign tags are the key to separating client activity in a shared agency dashboard. Every link created for a specific client campaign is tagged with a consistent client-campaign label. This creates a searchable, filterable layer on top of the shared link library.

Recommended agency tagging structure: #[client]-[campaign]-[period]

• #clienta-summer-sale-2026-q2
• #clientb-trial-launch-2026-04
• #clientc-easter-email-2026

With this structure, filtering the link library by #clienta shows every link ever created for Client A. Filtering by #clienta-summer-sale-2026-q2 shows only this campaign's links.

Campaign tag analytics (Team plan) go further: all links tagged with the same campaign label are aggregated into a single campaign view — total clicks across all campaign links, top-performing links, device breakdown, country distribution and hourly engagement patterns. This is the agency's campaign performance report for a client, auto-generated from real click data.

Sharing Performance Data with Clients

How an agency shares link performance with clients affects trust as much as the numbers themselves. Screenshots of analytics dashboards can be edited. Data from "our own tools" can be questioned. Independent, verifiable click data cannot.

Cuttly provides three mechanisms for sharing performance data with clients:

The public stats link is particularly powerful for client trust: the client can check their campaign's performance independently, at any time, without asking the agency. Proactively sharing this access — rather than waiting for clients to request performance data — signals transparency that distinguishes professional agencies from those who prefer their clients to be in the dark.

Link Naming Conventions for Agency Environments

In a shared team dashboard with multiple clients and multiple campaigns running simultaneously, a consistent link naming convention is essential. Without it, the link library becomes unnavigable within months.

Recommended slug format: [client-code]-[campaign]-[channel]-[variant]

Because each client has their own domain, the client identifier does not need to appear in the slug — the domain already identifies the client. The slug describes what the link is for within that client's context. The combination of domain + slug is globally unique and immediately descriptive.

UTM Parameters in Agency Campaigns

Every client campaign link should carry UTM parameters so the client's Google Analytics shows correct campaign attribution. Without UTMs on agency-managed links, email clicks appear as direct traffic in the client's GA4, and social clicks are misattributed or unattributed.

Recommended agency UTM structure for client campaigns:

The UTM campaign value should match the campaign tag used in Cuttly — creating a consistent naming layer across both platforms. When a client asks "how did the summer-sale campaign perform?", both Cuttly (clicks) and GA4 (conversions) show data for the same campaign name.

Full UTM guide: How to Use UTM Parameters in 2026.

API Automation for High-Volume Campaigns

For agencies running campaigns that require link creation at scale — personalised links per recipient, dynamic landing page links, automated campaign setup — manual link creation in the dashboard is a bottleneck. The Cuttly Team API removes it.

Agency API use cases:

• Personalised campaign links. A client campaign with 10,000 personalised email recipients each needing a unique tracked link — generated programmatically via API, each appearing in the shared team dashboard.
• CRM integration. Links automatically created when a new deal or campaign is initiated in the client's CRM. The CRM triggers the API call; the short link is created and returned to the CRM record.
• Social media scheduling. Campaign links created automatically when content is scheduled in a social media management platform. Each post gets its own tracked short link without manual intervention.
• Reporting automation. Analytics data pulled via API for inclusion in automated client reports — click counts, device data and country breakdowns retrieved programmatically and formatted into client-facing dashboards.

The Team API uses a workspace-level authentication token — not tied to any individual team member's account. This means API integrations continue to function when staff change, and all links created via the API appear in the shared team dashboard alongside manually created links.

Full API documentation: URL Shortener API Guide.

Client Offboarding — What Happens to Links

When a client relationship ends, the agency needs a clear process for link continuity. Short links shared in the client's campaigns, on their social media, in printed materials and on their website continue to be clicked long after a campaign ends — sometimes for years.

Offboarding checklist:

• Inventory all active client links. Filter the team dashboard by the client's campaign tags or domain to see every link created for them.
• Identify which links remain publicly shared. Links in emails already sent, on social posts, in printed materials and on the client's own website will continue to receive clicks. These are the high-priority links for continuity planning.
• Transfer or document destination URLs. Ensure the client has a record of every short link and its corresponding destination URL. If the short links will be maintained by the agency for a period after offboarding, document the arrangement clearly.
• Agree on domain management. The client's branded domain was connected to Cuttly for the duration of the relationship. When removed from Cuttly, all short links on that domain stop redirecting. If the client wants to maintain the short links independently, they need to either keep Cuttly access or migrate to their own account.
• Consider transitional access. Some agencies provide clients with a Cuttly account handoff at offboarding — transferring link ownership so the client can manage their own links after the relationship ends.

The safest approach: when creating links for clients, use the client's own branded domain (which the client owns regardless of which tool manages it) and document destination URLs in a client-accessible location. This gives the client full continuity regardless of what happens to the agency relationship.

Which Cuttly Plan Fits Agency Needs

The transition from Single to Team is driven primarily by the need for shared team access and campaign tag analytics. If multiple people are creating client links and campaign-level reporting is expected, the Team plan is the appropriate tier regardless of link volume.

Full plan comparison: cutt.ly/pro-pricing.