How to request a vanity URL

We're happy to help! Before submitting your request, please ensure that you have the following information ready:

1. Any particular vanity URLs you have in mind (5-6 characters in length is ideal)
2. The destination page’s URL 
   • Destination page is published (even if not complete) 
3. The campaign timeline 
   • Campaign start 
   • Campaign end (if applicable) 
4. Campaign objectives 
5. Target audiences 
6. How it will be used (Print, radio, word of mouth, etc.) 
7. How it will support the CTA
8. NOTE: we do not create or grant vanity URL's for the following:
• Soft documents (eg. PDF's, DOC, XLS, Ggl Doc, GSheet, etc) 
• Individuals (including business cards) 
• Groups (e.g. student, faculty, staff, alumni) 
• Websites using a URL structure other than www.ualberta.ca/  
• Destination URL's that use acronyms (e.g. .../research/dirf) 
• Wordpress sites or other non-Sitecore websites 
• Forked versions of uab.ca (eg. name.uab.ca, uab.ca/name/zyx321)  

What is a vanity URL?

• A custom short URL is meant to support offline to online marketing campaigns 
  • Example: uab.ca/ggday to support Green and Gold Day 
• Aligns with institutional branding 
• Needs to be tracked - University Relations Digital (UR Digital) puts tracking in place to help measure usage and interaction 

Guidelines

• The vanity URL supports a Call-To-Action (CTA) and is not by itself the CTA 
• Short (5 or 6 characters) and to the point to maximize the potential for it being used  
  • It needs to be easy to use on a mobile device 
  • It does not include a year reference (eg. uab.ca/xyz2021) 
• Should not be so generic that others could request the same 
• examples: uab.ca/golf, uab.ca/course, uab.ca/tuition 
• The destination page should be mobile and tablet friendly 
• The destination page should be a campaign-specific page - not a site homepage