Guidelines for sending links in SMS to the U.S.

To get customers to click a link, consider adding a clear “Call to Action” (CTA) sentence. When customers fully understand a link’s purpose, they’re more inclined to click on it. Often, a single sentence will convey your message’s objective and increase the likelihood that customers will click on it. Mobile carriers do not allow posting links without a clear purpose or shortening links with a public service (e.g., bit.ly) and may result in your message being blocked.

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On the one hand, using a link-shortening service reduces the number of characters in a text message. On the other hand, phone carriers will block publicly shortened links when businesses use them.

To prevent your link from being blocked, use your existing company domain URL or register a new and secure URL to generate shortened links for your forms, schedulers, etc.

In some situations, businesses may need to send a custom link that only a specific customer can fill out. Custom links can be useful for managing mobile orders, providing instant quotes, sending personalized one-off discount codes, etc.

SMS messaging doesn’t offer a way to transmit sensitive information securely. TELUS Business Connect® suggests that you direct your custom link to a sign-in page or other “gateway,” where the recipient would be required to verify their identity.

By using your company’s main domain or a related domain, you can shorten your link and have it direct a customer to a specific page where they can fill out or view information.

You should avoid using redirects in your text-message links. Phone carriers may block messages if a shortened link uses too many redirects before resolving at the intended page.