A random short link says temporary. A custom alias says ours. The difference shows up in click-through, in trust, and eventually in search behavior — not because the alias itself "passes SEO", but because branded links change how people treat the URL before and after clicking. This guide covers how aliases work, how to name them, and how they interact with search.
What a custom alias changes
Consider two links to the same landing page:
https://yas.sh/Xk92a1 (random code)
https://yas.sh/black-friday (custom alias)
The second link tells the recipient what's behind it, who sent it, and that it's safe to click. That reduces friction at the exact moment friction costs conversions. For SMS, print, and spoken media — where a URL is read before it's clicked — the alias is the entire message.
Naming rules that scale
Aliases accumulate fast in a busy organization. Rules prevent chaos:
| Rule | Example | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ≤ 20 characters | launch not summer-2026-product-launch-event |
Typable, memorable, scannable |
| Lowercase, kebab-case | black-friday not BlackFriday |
Uniform, no case ambiguity |
| One concept | menu, apply, sale |
Mirrors real-world mental models |
| Avoid lookalikes | rn-2026 not rn-2O26 |
0/O and 1/l/I collisions kill print links |
| Reuse per campaign family | sale-spring, sale-summer |
Consistent structure aids analysis |
The platform enforces the mechanics: ^[a-z0-9-_]{3,30}$, lowercase normalization, and a reserved-word blocklist (api, admin, login, docs, dashboard, _next, …) so aliases can never shadow platform routes or brand names.
The SEO interaction: what actually matters
Three mechanisms connect short links to search performance:
1. 302 preserves the destination's SEO. Because the shortener responds 302 (temporary), search engines attribute the page to the destination URL. The destination's own canonical tag, meta data, and backlinks do the ranking work. Using 301 for short links would risk the destination's equity being viewed through the redirect — the 301 vs 302 guide explains the full semantics.
2. Click-through is a ranking signal by proxy. Google ranks pages people engage with. A branded alias on a printed flyer or SMS increases branded-search volume ("yas.sh black friday"), and branded search queries are among the strongest intent signals a site can earn.
3. Shareability compounds. Memorable links get shared more, and shares produce backlinks and visits. The alias is a small asset that compounds — which is why the naming matters as much as the destination.
Working with aliases via the API
Create, update, and check availability without touching the dashboard:
# Check availability before committing
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer yas_live_..." \
"https://yas.sh/api/v1/links?search=sale-spring"
# Create with alias
curl -X POST https://yas.sh/api/v1/links \
-H "Authorization: Bearer yas_live_..." -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"originalUrl":"https://example.com/sale","customAlias":"sale-spring"}'
# → 201 { "shortCode": "sale-spring", "url": "https://yas.sh/sale-spring" }
# Retarget later (PATCH)
curl -X PATCH https://yas.sh/api/v1/links/<id> \
-H "Authorization: Bearer yas_live_..." -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"customAlias":"sale-summer"}'
Alias changes are atomic: the uniqueness check and update happen in one operation, so two clients can't race to claim the same slug.
Aliases vs custom domains
Aliases live in the path (yas.sh/launch); custom domains live in the hostname (go.yourbrand.com/launch). They compose: a custom domain makes every link branded, and aliases make each one meaningful. If you control the domain, the hostname upgrade is the highest-leverage branding move — the custom domain setup guide is a 5-minute walkthrough.
Measuring alias performance
Because aliases are links, they inherit full analytics: clicks, devices, referrers, daily series. Compare alias families:
sale-springvssale-summer→ which season's creative landed?menuvsmenu-v2→ did the redesign help?- printed
applyvs digitalapply→ channel comparison on the same slug
The analytics overview endpoint returns per-link totals and breakdowns, so alias performance reviews are a query away.
Conclusion
Custom aliases are a marketing asset with engineering rules: short, lowercase, unique, reserved-word-protected, and fully measurable. They don't rank pages by themselves — but they earn the clicks, shares, and branded searches that ranking is built on. Choose them like the assets they are: create your first branded link or via the API in seconds.