In 2011, I needed an easy way to promote one of my online projects on Information Technology to smartphone users, and to do this, I needed to research how to create custom short URLs for a website.
Domain Name
My first task was to register a shorter domain name (sipyl.us) and then insert the following code into the .htaccess file in the root of the site.
# [ Custom Short URL ]
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^/?$ https://www.sipylus.com [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://bitly.com/$1 [R=301,NC]
# [ Custom Short URL ]
Bitly Pro Account
With the domain name registered, active, and loaded with the .htaccess file, it was time to register for a Bitly account so I could track stats and receive the API information to tie into my domain. Now, when a user types in sipyl.us/ZXMMS4 in the browser, they are redirected to this article, and without having to pay the enormous fees that Amazon, Pepsi, and news agencies would typically pay.
