Links in cold email: why fewer is better and why to avoid URL shorteners

Links are one of the things spam filters inspect most closely. Every link adds a domain the filter has to judge, and links are how most phishing and malware spreads. In cold email, fewer links usually means a cleaner message and a better chance of reaching the inbox.

Why fewer links is better

• Each link is a reputation check. Filters look up every linked domain. One poor-reputation domain can drag down the whole email.
• Many links look like marketing. A personal note from one person to another rarely has five links in it.
• Links compete with your call to action. In a first email, the goal is usually a reply, not a click.
• Link tracking adds a redirect to every link. See Open and click tracking explained.

Practical guidelines

• First email: aim for no links, or one at most. Ask a question people can answer by replying.
• Follow-ups: add a link only when it helps, such as a short case study once someone shows interest.
• Link to your own domain, ideally the same domain you send from. A link that matches your From address is more trustworthy than a link to an unrelated site.
• Show the real destination. If the visible text looks like a web address, make it the same address the link actually opens.
• Plain text links in a natural sentence read better than buttons or banners.
• Signature links count too. Keep your signature to your name, role, company and perhaps one website link.
• Calendar links are fine when someone is ready to book, but they are often better in a reply than in the first cold email.

Why to avoid URL shorteners

Public link shorteners are a bad idea for cold outreach:

1. Shared domains with abuse history. Spammers and phishers use the same shortener domains to hide malicious links, so filters treat those domains with suspicion. Your email inherits that reputation.
2. They hide the destination. Recipients and filters cannot see where the link goes. That is exactly what phishing relies on, so it lowers trust from both people and machines.
3. An extra redirect. The link bounces through the shortener before reaching your site. With click tracking on, that becomes two redirects in a row.
4. You lose control. If the shortener changes its rules or shuts down, your links can break or be flagged.

Use the full link to your own site instead. If you need campaign analytics, add tracking parameters to your own URL or turn on Distro's click tracking.

How Distro checks links

• Before launch: Distro blocks a campaign if an email contains an unsafe or malformed link, and tells you which step it is in.
• In templates: the Checks tab in the template editor flags an email with more than 8 links, links with unsafe or blocked URL schemes, and other quality issues such as mostly-uppercase text, "!!!" and common spam phrases. These checks are guidance, not a deliverability guarantee.
• With click tracking on: Distro rewrites web links through its tracking address and redirects to the exact original destination. Unsubscribe, email and phone links are left untouched.

Attachments and images

Treat these like links: use them sparingly. A first cold email with attachments or large images looks more like bulk mail and is more likely to be filtered. Share files later in the conversation, once the person has replied.