## Bitly

Bitly creates short redirect links for campaigns, social posts, SMS, QR codes, and offline materials. It is useful for cleaner sharing and click tracking, but it is not a direct authority backlink.

- URL: https://bitly.com
- Guide: https://backlinkbadger.com/provider/bitly/
- Link type: nofollow
- Free option: yes
- Domain authority: 3/100
- Spam score: 3/100
- Difficulty: 15/100
- Estimated time: 10 minutes
- Requirements: Submit the destination URL you want to track, Create or sign in to a Bitly account, Choose a standard bit.ly shortlink or branded domain

Bitly does not give you a normal backlink. It gives you a public short URL that redirects to your site.

That can still be useful. Use Bitly when you need a short, measurable link for campaigns, social posts, SMS, print, QR codes, or offline materials. Do not treat the shortlink as an editorial citation from Bitly.

## Steps

1. Open Bitly's [short-link panel](https://bitly.com/#link-panel).
2. Keep **Short Link** selected rather than **QR Code**.
3. Paste the canonical URL you want to track into **Paste your long link here**.
4. Click **Get your link for free**. Bitly may ask you to create or sign in to an account before the link is saved.
5. Copy the generated `bit.ly/...` URL and publish it only where a short, trackable redirect makes sense.
6. If you use a branded domain, verify the destination and analytics settings before sharing the link publicly.

[Image: Bitly short-link form showing the field where a user pastes a long destination URL]

Example: [https://bit.ly/SFLivingShop](https://bit.ly/SFLivingShop) is a public Bitly shortlink. It returned a `301` redirect to its destination and included `X-Robots-Tag: noindex`, so treat links like this as tracking redirects, not SEO placements.

## Link quality notes

A Bitly link is not the same as a contextual link from an article, directory listing, profile page, or product page. Search engines and SEO tools may see the redirect path, but you are not getting a dofollow citation on a Bitly content page.

If your goal is click tracking or cleaner sharing, Bitly is useful. If your goal is direct SEO authority, choose a provider where your URL appears on a crawlable page with surrounding context.