Short links for printed materials: a brochure people can type from

A facilities manager keeps your pump-maintenance brochure in a supplier folder. Months later, they open it beside a laptop to check which equipment you service and request a quotation. The address has to be readable while the brochure sits half-open on the desk. The page it opens has to match the service they are considering.

For a business preparing that brochure, choosing short links for printed materials means deciding what customers will type and who will keep that address working after the next website update.

Use words that describe the service

Grundfos provides a real example. The first page of its Aftermarket Services brochure prints grundfos.com/campaign/aftermarket beneath “Learn more at.” The address uses the company’s domain and descriptive words. It gives readers an address they can enter independently of the PDF’s clickable links.

Your brochure can use the same principle with fewer words. For an illustrative pump-service business, consider these endings on its existing domain:

Address ending	What the reader should find
/pump-service	Service coverage, specifications and a quotation option
/pump-specs	Detailed service specifications and downloads
/pump-quote	A quotation request for pump servicing

These are examples to configure and test, not live addresses. Use the first option if the brochure needs one destination for both research and an eventual enquiry. Print “See pump service details” beside it; make “Request a quotation” the main action on that page.

A slightly longer, familiar word can be easier to copy than an unexplained abbreviation. Avoid random characters, dates that will age, and combinations such as O0 or l1. Choose lowercase words and test the exact capitalization you print. Keep punctuation to a minimum. If a hyphen separates two words, make it clearly visible.

Keep the whole address on one line, including the domain. Don’t shrink it to fit a footer after the layout is finished. Give it enough room to read at the brochure’s actual size, with strong contrast against a plain background.

You can omit https:// from the printed text after testing that shortened display on your readers’ devices. Keep HTTPS working at the address itself. Leave tracking parameters out of the printed address; they can go on the destination behind a redirect.

Keep control of the address and the destination

Start with your existing business domain. Ask your website maintainer whether they can create a short service page address or a redirect. A redirect sends a visitor from one address to another, which lets a maintained address continue serving readers when content moves. MDN explains this use of redirects.

That may require no extra software subscription, although setup and existing hosting still cost time or money. A maintained /pump-service page can stay at the same address while its specifications change.

If staff need to replace the destination themselves, a managed short link can provide that control. For example, you could redirect it from an old service page to a replacement after a website rebuild, keeping the address on every brochure unchanged.

A Graklink permanent short link includes an editable destination and basic activity counts. Check the complete address before committing it to artwork.

Ownership still has limits: a purchased Graklink link gives you rights for the lifetime of the service, not ownership of its domain or infrastructure. Included, unpurchased links have separate inactivity rules. For a brochure intended to remain in circulation, check that you are using the permanent product. See the terms.

Put the domain account, link account and destination page under business control. Record the printed address, current destination and responsible staff member with the brochure’s production files. Make sure another authorized person can maintain them if the original designer leaves. Keep the domain renewed and preserve printed paths during website migrations.

Make the destination useful before printing

For the pump-maintenance example, the page should identify the equipment covered, work included and exclusions. Give downloadable specifications a visible revision date. Let readers view them without first completing an enquiry form.

Place a quotation action next to those details. Ask for information the service team needs to respond, such as equipment model, quantity, site location and contact details. Check that attachments work if customers need to send equipment photos. A successful submission should produce a confirmation and arrive where the service team actually handles enquiries.

If the brochure’s service is discontinued, explain the change on its service page and provide the closest relevant alternative or a contact option.

Reuse the service page in a follow-up email

After a conversation about the brochure, the service team can send the facilities manager back to the same pump-service page. The recipient may have the brochure on a desk, the email on a phone, or both. One maintained destination gives them the service coverage, current specifications and quotation action in either place.

Use descriptive link text that says what will open, such as “Review pump service details and specifications.”

For example:

Here are the pump service details we discussed. You can review the current specifications and request a quotation from the same page.

Link “pump service details” to the maintained service page and make the quotation action clear on that page. A managed short link behind the descriptive text lets staff update the destination if the service page moves, while saved copies of the email and printed brochures continue to point to the address they already carry.

The same address combines visits from typed brochures and email. Use separate short links when you want to compare those channels, and check quotation submissions separately.

Type from the folded proof

A clickable PDF proves that its embedded link works. It does not prove someone can read and type the printed text.

Use the printer’s template for the chosen fold. Start inexpensively with an office printout at 100% scale, trimmed and folded to the finished size. For production approval, request a physical proof or sample with the intended stock and finish. Ask what it reproduces: paper, coating and folding may differ from the final run.

Printing for Less describes a hard-copy mock-up that includes cutting and folding for checking composition and content; it also notes that hard proofs add cost and time. Ask your own printer for an equivalent option and its price.

Then run this check:

1. Hand the folded proof to someone who hasn’t worked on the design. Ask them to find the service details online without explaining where the address is.
2. Have them type it into a phone’s address bar, then repeat on a computer. Use a fresh browser session so saved suggestions don’t complete the address. Don’t let them scan or copy from the PDF.
3. Watch for pauses and corrections. Check whether the fold hides a character, the finish reflects light across the text, or the lettering makes a hyphen disappear. Revise the address or layout where necessary.
4. Follow the specifications link and submit a clearly marked test quotation through your own form. Confirm receipt and remove the test from live enquiries afterward.

Repeat the test from the revised proof if anything changes. Keep one approved folded copy with the production files and compare it with the delivered brochures before distributing them.

A short, readable address lets the facilities manager keep working on the laptop already open beside your brochure. You’ve made the information easy to reach on the device they’re using.

Count visits without confusing them with quotations

A managed link’s counts can show activity even when you never change its destination. They do not establish how many people requested a quotation. Check actual form submissions separately.

If you add an optional QR code pointing to the same short address, its visits can mix with typed visits in that link’s count. Use separate addresses if you need to distinguish them. One address repeated across several printed materials cannot identify which item someone read. For a mailed postcard, our direct-mail QR guide shows how to record both routes and check responses after delivery.

A dynamic QR code gives the brochure its own scan count alongside the typed short-link activity. With distinct addresses, you can compare which route readers use to reach the service details. A free static QR code can also open the page and work with website analytics; choose it when that setup supplies the measurement you need.

Before approving the print run, have someone type the address from the closed-and-reopened brochure and reach the correct service details unaided. Keep that physical test in the approval process for every reprint.