This website uses necessary cookies to ensure that our website is ideally usable. We do not use cookies that process personal data without your prior consent. Read our Cookie Policy

What is a shortened or vanity URL in a QR Code?

book reader icon
1 Minute
facebook logo gray
linkedin logo gray
mail logo gray

Anatomy of a shortened URL

If you create a dynamic QR Code, a shortened URL in the QR Code will be used, so fewer characters must be encoded in the QR Code and the QR Code will be easier to scan. Thus, the QR Codes is smaller in size, and you need less space when you print the QR Code.

The shortened URL in the QR Code is also called a custom URL or vanity URL. 

Shortened URL of a dynamic QR Code
On the left you see the shortened URL of the dynamic QR Code

Please note, that you can change the target URL on the right side any time, however, you should not change the shortened URL after creation. If you change the shortened URL anyway, all printed QR Codes will stop working.

Short URL versus regular URL

The following example shows a regular URL versus a shortened URL with the same destination:

QR Code with Full URL encoded
The very moving farewell speech at Stanford University by Steve Jobs in 2005 can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
QR Code with shortened URL
The smaller QR Code with the shortened URL looks like this: https://qr.vc/4a

Create shortened URLs with your custom domain

The link from the previous example is short and easy to remember. However, when you create a dynamic QR Code the shortened URL will contain the  domain from our website. If you want to brand the QR Code, you can also assign your own domain.

This is possible with our white label platform, which you can operate under your own domain or sub-domain. You can use it to construct any link and are no longer tied to our domain.

Last update 7 months ago

What is the difference between a static and a dynamic QR Code?

When scanning a QR code the user is either being linked to your website directly (static QR Code) or he is redirected through a tracking URL (dynamic QR Code).

What is the difference between a static and a dynamic QR Code?

How can I preview the URL behind the QR Code?

Apple iPhones already display the domain of the URL encoded in the QR Code when scanning. To preview the whole URL use a third party QR Code Reader App.

How can I preview the URL behind the QR Code?