Getting Started With MiniSnip: Your First Short Link, QR Code and Bio Page in 10 Minutes

The short version: sign up with Google or a code sent to your email, paste a link and press Shorten, open the link's page to style and download its QR code, then build your bio page under Link-in-bio. That's about ten minutes, and all of it is on the free plan.

This guide goes through each step with the names you'll see on screen, plus a few habits that make your numbers more useful from day one.

Step 1: Create your free account (1 minute)

Go to minisnip.com/sign-up. You have two ways in:

• Continue with Google: one click, using your Google account.
• Email: type your address, and MiniSnip emails you a 6-digit code. Enter it and you're in. The code expires after 10 minutes; if it does, ask for a new one.

There's no password to create or forget. The first 500 people to sign up get Pro free for a month, which unlocks custom domains, targeting and A/B tests to try. If a friend sent you their invite link, use it to sign up and you both get a month of Pro.

Your dashboard opens on Overview, with a short Get set up checklist: create your first short link, share it and get your first click, make your link-in-bio page, and (on Pro) use your own domain and invite a teammate. Ticking these off is the quickest tour of the product.

Step 2: Shorten your first link (1 minute)

Open Links. At the top you'll see two fields:

1. Destination URL: paste the long link, such as a product page, a form or a video.
2. Alias (optional): the ending of your short link. Type something people can remember, like summer-sale, or leave it blank for a short random code.

Press Shorten. Your link appears in the list below, ready to copy. You can change where it goes at any time, so don't worry about getting the destination perfect.

Useful options before you share

Press Show advanced options to see the rest. On the free plan you can set:

• Title, Tags and Notes, to find links again later.
• Starts at and Expires at, for offers that run on set dates, and a Click limit.
• Expired redirect URL, where people go after the link ends, instead of an error.
• UTM parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign and more), so Google Analytics credits the right campaign. You can change them later without changing the link.
• Public stats page, a read-only page of the link's numbers you can share with a client or colleague.

On Pro you'll also see a password, an iOS destination and Android destination for app links, Geo destinations and Allowed countries, Allowed referrers, A/B test Variants, and the Preview title, Preview description and Preview image URL shown when the link is shared.

Step 3: Get a QR code that matches your brand (2 minutes)

Every link already has a QR code: the QR icon next to it in the list opens a plain one. To style it, click the link to open its page and find the QR code section:

• Pick a Foreground and Background colour. Keep the dots darker than the background so every camera can read it.
• Press Add logo to place your logo in the middle (under 300 KB). MiniSnip switches to the highest error correction so the code still scans.
• Choose a size and download it as PNG for screens or SVG for print.

Because the code opens your short link, you can change the destination later without reprinting. Scans are tagged automatically, so they show up as "QR code" in your sources, separate from clicks. Read more in QR codes you can edit and track.

Step 4: Share it the smart way (1 minute)

Where you share a link decides what you can learn from it. Two habits help:

• One link per place. If the same offer goes to Instagram and to a newsletter, make two short links. Each gets its own numbers.
• Tag apps that hide their source. WhatsApp doesn't say where clicks come from. Add ?src=wa to the end of the link you share there (for example minisnip.com/summer-sale?src=wa), and those clicks are labelled WhatsApp. Other tags include ig (Instagram), tg (Telegram), fb (Facebook), li (LinkedIn), tt (TikTok), yt (YouTube), email and sms.

Step 5: Read your first clicks

Open the link's page. At the top you'll see Human clicks, Unique visitors, Bot clicks filtered and Top country. Below are Clicks over time, Countries, Cities, Sources, Devices, Browsers, Operating systems and a list of Recent clicks.

Don't be surprised if Bot clicks filtered isn't zero, even before anyone has tapped. That's the preview bots from the apps you shared in, and email scanners. The Bots section shows each one by name with the reason it was flagged. How MiniSnip tells people from bots explains the checks.

For all your links together, open Analytics. Dates and charts follow your own time zone, and you can pick a custom date range.

Step 6: Build your link-in-bio page (5 minutes)

Open Link-in-bio and fill in Your page:

1. Handle: your page's address, minisnip.com/u/yourname.
2. Display name and a short Bio.
3. Avatar image URL: a link to your profile photo.
4. Theme: Midnight, Sunset, Forest, Paper or Ocean.
5. Your Instagram, X / Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Website, shown as icons.
6. Tick Visibility to publish, and press Save.

Then add your Links: a title, the address and an optional emoji for each. Free accounts can add 10. Switch a link off for a while without deleting it, and watch the page preview update as you go.

Paste your page's address into your Instagram, TikTok and YouTube bios. Views and taps are counted the same honest way as clicks. For ideas on what to put on the page, see our link in bio guide.

Step 7: Shorten from anywhere

Under Settings, the Quick shorten card has a bookmarklet: drag it to your browser's bookmarks bar, and you can shorten the page you're on with one click, without opening the dashboard first.

Use it on your phone

The whole dashboard works in your phone's browser: create links, download QR codes, edit your bio page and read reports. Add minisnip.com to your home screen for one-tap access. There's no app to install.

Five mistakes to avoid in your first week

1. Sharing one link everywhere. You'll know how many people clicked, but not where they came from. Make one link per place, or tag them with ?src=.
2. Renaming a link that's already out there. Changing the alias changes the address, so printed and posted copies of the old address stop working. Change the destination instead; that's always safe.
3. Deleting a link that's still in use. A deleted or archived link no longer reaches your page. If it's printed or posted somewhere, point it at something useful instead.
4. Judging a link on day one. Bot visits arrive first; people often arrive over the next few days. Look again after a week.
5. Forgetting the expiry page. If a link has an end date, set an Expired redirect URL so late visitors still land somewhere helpful.

What to do next

• Invite a friend. Under Invite friends you'll find your personal link. When a friend signs up with it, you both get a month of Pro (up to 12 months for you).
• Use your own domain (Pro). Under Domains, add something like go.yourbrand.com and follow the DNS steps. See custom domains.
• Bring your team (Pro). Under Team, invite admins, editors and viewers to share links and reports.
• Connect your tools (Pro). Create an API key under Settings and see the API documentation, or send click events to Slack and Discord with Webhooks.

Not sure what to use it for yet? 8 ways to use MiniSnip has ideas for creators, shops, marketers and teams. If UTM tags are new to you, Wikipedia's page on UTM parameters explains where they came from.