How to send a link in a text message (2026)

SMS has a 160-character limit, so the question is how to send a link in a text without eating into so many characters that you leave room to say little else.

Automation is the answer, with your SMS tool shortening links and enabling the flows that earned Omnisend customers a fivefold increase in revenue compared to 2025 campaigns.

You can still send one-time messages to your audience manually, but you can’t personalize SMS at scale or track clicks and revenue without a tool.

This article is a complete guide to sending links in texts in 2026. You’ll learn about link types, how to create them, add them to your messages, and best practices for marketing success.

Why send links in text messages

Without links, your texts are only awareness messages. Your subscribers can’t take any next step you want them to unless they open a browser or your app manually. Links provide engagement points across your customer journey.

You may want to add message links to these SMS campaigns:

• Welcoming new customers to your store: Welcome text messages encourage shopping sessions with links to products
• Abandoned cart messages: These offer links to whatever item the customer left behind and work well for SMS marketing
• Order confirmation details: Customers gain peace of mind knowing their items are safe and on their way
• Order delivery details: Your customers feel more at ease when they receive transactional texts with tracking information

Add links to your texts, and you’ll be able to:

• Generate revenue from your texts: Links to your landing pages, products, and abandoned carts are paths to purchase. Your customer will take these when they are contextual to their experience.
• Track what’s working: Campaign URLs for each of your target pages help you see which links get the most clicks, monitor conversion rates, and track onsite engagement.
• Attract qualified direct traffic: Your subscribers trust your text messages. They wouldn’t be opted in otherwise. Any direct traffic sent your way from these messages is motivated and high-intent.
• Add a clear next step: Your text message links are actionable, giving your customers a way to continue the conversation and complete what you want them to

In 2025, automated texts generated $0.74 per send compared to $0.15 for campaigns, with contextual links, such as cart recovery URLs, being crucial to those results.

Links vs. hyperlinks vs. short links

You can use 160 characters in your texts before they are segmented and cost you additional messages. Traditional links will eat up around 10% of that character count easily, so it’s best practice to use shortened ones in your texts.

The table below breaks down each option:

Regular links

A full URL like https://www.omnisend.com/blog/sms-marketing/ leaves nothing to guesswork. Recipients see the destination upfront. 

The tradeoff? Character consumption. Seventy characters vanish before you’ve said anything meaningful, leaving you 90 characters to craft your message.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks require HTML, which SMS doesn’t support natively. The only way to use hyperlinks in texts is to use RCS (Rich Communication Services), which not all devices support.

Only raw URLs are supported by SMS messaging, so it isn’t possible to embed a hyperlink in one of your texts, but you can add a URL.

Short links (best option)

Shortened links strip characters from the URLs you provide. They are created by shortening services, such as Bitly, and redirect visitors to your pages. Their point is to save characters and provide anonymity in marketing materials.

Omnisend automatically creates shortened links once you enable link shortening in your campaign settings. It’s worth toggling to preserve character counts in your text messages and avoid using third-party link shortening services:

Branded short links

Branded versions of shortened links, such as sms.yourbrand.com/spring-sale, go further than generic shortened links by maximizing engagement and preserving your brand name in the link, so recipients trust the link before tapping.

Another advantage of branded links is that they are more descriptive. Whereas shortened URLs strip out identifiers, such as /sale, your branded ones can maintain them.

How to send a link in a text message on iPhone

There are two ways to send a link in iMessage on iPhone:

Option 1 — Share button method

• Open Safari or the app containing your link
• Tap the share icon (it’s a square with an upward arrow)
• Choose Messages
• Select a recipient thread at the top of the compose sheet
• Tap the send arrow to send

Option 2 — Manual copy and paste

• Find the URL you want
• Long-press it and grab “Copy”
• Jump into Messages
• Long-press the message field, select “Paste,” and send

iMessage shows preview cards

iMessage pulls in a preview for iMessage-to-iMessage conversations. The preview includes an image, a headline, and a description. 

However, when recipients use Android or another app to access iMessage, they see the raw URL instead. When texting outside iMessage, add a line explaining the link, such as “Tap this link to visit your saved cart: (link).”

The above steps are suitable for sending individual text messages with links, but not for sending at scale to your lists and segments. An SMS tool, such as Omnisend, lets you create standalone campaigns and SMS automations to reach your customers at optimal moments.

How to send a link in a text message with an Android device

These steps will help you send links in texts on Android:

• Open your messaging app
• Pick your recipient and tap a thread or hit + to start fresh
• Type your message into the message field with the link in it (remember that URLs need http:// or https:// to turn clickable)
• You can also copy and paste your link into the message field > long-press your link, tap “Copy,” then long-press the message box and tap “Paste”
• Tap send or the send icon to send your text message

How Android handles link previews

SMS displays URLs, including full and shortened links. It isn’t possible to add previews unless you deliver via RCS, which Google Messages supports on most devices in 2026. 

RCS offers features like iMessage and is a more interactive form of text messaging, but RCS support varies by device, carrier, and app today. Most recipients see plain text, so even if you use RCS, it’s still best practice to describe the destination before including the link.

How to send multiple links in one text message

You could throw caution to the wind and add as many links as you want to texts. The risk is that you’re flagged as a spam sender by carriers, overloading your recipients with information, and segmenting your texts, which costs you twice.

It’s only worthwhile to add multiple links when sending two messages is cost-effective, and that moment in your customer journey calls for it. The pointers you need:

• Prioritize your primary link: it’s the one you want your customers to click, such as the cart recovery or subscription renewal link.
• Separate your URLs: It’ll eat into your character count, but giving your links their own lines improves readability. Example:
  • Track your order: [link]
  • Need help? [link]
• Describe your link in the sentence before it: “Download the app >” and then adding your link provides enough context for recipients to trust the link.
• Shorten your URLs as much as possible: A necessary extra step for character count, more than anything else.
• Spam risk: Some carriers flag messages with multiple URLs. One way around that is scarcity. Add multiple URLs to only a small percentage of your texts.
• Include opt-out language: The TCPA and GDPR require opt-out language in texts. It’s also good practice to avoid recipients blocking your number. Omnisend adds opt-out language to your texts by default.
• Switch to MMS when appropriate: MMS costs more per send than SMS, but also allows 1,600 characters per message versus the 160 characters you get with SMS. You can then effectively add as many links as you like.

How to send automated messages with links using Omnisend

Automated texts outperform scheduled and one-time campaigns because they trigger for customers based on their engagement, segment activity, and behavior. They then receive texts that are contextual to their experience at high-intent moments.

Omnisend’s 2026 Ecommerce Marketing Report shows that SMS automations achieved five times the revenue per send compared to campaigns.

Build your first automated SMS in Omnisend with these steps:

• Create a free Omnisend account
• Go to Automations and select your workflow type (Omnisend has 28 pre-built flows, and each supports multichannel messaging)
• Drag an SMS block to your sequence if it doesn’t already have one. You’ll find the SMS block within the left-hand sidebar:

• Select the SMS message in your flow and write your message in the right-hand sidebar. It has settings for message text and lets you add personalization:

• Omnisend shortens the link automatically and adds UTM tracking

• Set the delay for your text to suit the interaction
  • For instance, a welcome text should arrive within five minutes, whereas an abandoned cart text should go out within 30 minutes, so it isn’t pushy
• Click Start workflow

What happens next

Your recipient will receive the text message you wrote according to the triggers set in your flow. The example above for a welcome series goes out when they subscribe to marketing, and it has a delay of one minute. You can set a custom delay if you like.

Personalization options

Insert your customer’s name, abandoned product links, and unique discount codes to make your messages feel as if they are conversational texts. For instance, your text could name the product your customer was browsing.

Automation opportunities for your store

Your automated text messages will typically include:

• Confirmations. For orders, shipping, delivery, and account changes, you’ll need an SMS tool for these, since ecommerce platforms only handle email confirmations by default
• Notifications. Covering the likes of renewals and policy changes
• Reminders. For payments, account actions, and submissions
• Promotional content. Announcing sales, events, and handling invites
• Re-engagement tactics. Such as offers for those who haven’t engaged in 90 days

Best practices for SMS links

Follow these best practices to optimize your SMS links and their placement:

Keep messages under 160 characters

Standard text messages provide 160 characters, after which your texts will be segmented and cost you an additional message from your quota.

Links take up between 40 and 70 characters on average, and any description you add will eat into additional characters. Opt-out language also takes up 20 to 30 characters. Omnisend’s SMS length and pricing calculator will help you stay on track:

Shorten and brand your links

A shortened URL might use 17 characters, compared to a standard URL’s 70. It makes sense to shorten all your links. Omnisend shortens links automatically to a 0snd.com/c/XXXXX format, which is helpful for character count, but not trust.

For optimal trust, you can use branded versions. Branded shortened links require you to connect and verify your domain. Any links you add to your texts will then get shortened branded URLs.

Here’s how to set up branded links in Omnisend:

• Navigate to Store settings > Domains > Add Domain and pick the SMS branded short links option. Add two CNAME records from your DNS provider. It takes around 48 hours for verification. Check back then.

Place links strategically

These three best practices will ensure your SMS links maximize clicks:

• Put your links at the end of texts. Your recipients expect to see them there, as it’s the natural progression from the message to their next step.

• Add a description or CTA before the link. Something as simple as “We saved your cart, tap the link to complete your purchase >” is perfect.
• Priority ordering for multiple links. If you’re adding two or more links, then order them by the importance of your customer’s actions.

Track SMS link clicks in Google Analytics 4

Your SMS tool, such as Omnisend, will track clicks and CTR for your text messages, but you probably use GA4 for your website analytics and want to bridge them. You can track links in GA4 using UTM parameters and track revenue with the right configuration.

Tag every link with UTM parameters

Any shortened links that Omnisend creates for you do not need tagging because they are appended automatically. However, you should add these UTM parameters to links you shorten manually using a third-party tool:

• utm_source=sms
• utm_medium=sms
• utm_campaign={your_campaign_name}
• utm_content={audience_segment} (for testing variants)

Check performance in GA4

Open Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition and set Session medium = sms as your filter to see the performance of your links. 

You’ll see session counts and engagement rates, with your conversions and revenue appearing once you configure key events and ecommerce tracking.

GA4 doesn’t track revenue by default, so ecommerce tracking bridges the gap between what your recipients click and the purchases they then make. To do this, connect GA4 to your store, such as with the Google and YouTube app for Shopify SMS.

3 examples of how to send a link in a text

Check out these text message examples to inspire your own use of links in SMS:

1. Cart recovery link

Automated SMS messages earned an average of $0.74 per send in 2025, with abandoned-cart texts generating a significant share of that revenue. The cart recovery text message above links to the customer’s cart and does a few things well:

• Uses the sender’s name to introduce the brand, a helpful addition for customers who might have only just discovered the brand
• The sentence leading up to the cart link names the action, “tap to continue,” making it obvious what recipients should do
• There’s an urgency tactic to encourage clicks with a 48-hour limitation

2. Re-engagement link

The re-engagement text above is suitable for customers who haven’t purchased or interacted with your brand for up to 90 days. Here’s why it works:

• It uses the customer’s name to create a connection
• It gets to the point about the new product range
• It references the customer’s previous jeans purchase 

Overall, this text feels more like a personalized recommendation than a generic automation and is highly likely to encourage clicks.

3. Order confirmation link

Adding tracking or account management links to your order confirmation texts helps to reduce support requests. The text above has some fantastic elements:

• It thanks the customer and mentions their name
• It sets expectations for the next text in the series
• It includes a shortened tracking URL for customers to click

You can replicate all these elements and build an SMS series in Omnisend. It makes sense to create a series for multiple interactions in your customer journey.

Start sending SMS links that increase click-throughs

The obvious answer for how to send a link in a text is to write or paste a URL into the message field in your smartphone app. But that isn’t scalable for bulk text campaigns or the SMS flows that trigger automatically across your customer journey.

You need an SMS marketing tool to create automations for a welcome series, abandoned carts, re-engagement, and other high-intent touchpoints.

With Omnisend, any links you add to texts convert to short URLs to preserve character count, and you can connect your domain to use branded links. Branded links are best because they are authoritative and trustworthy to your customers.

Omnisend customers achieved a $79 ROI for every $1 spent across SMS, email, and web push notification marketing in 2025, and it gives you the same multichannel tools in all plans.

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