Build a Custom URL Shortener with Analytics Dashboard

While URL shorteners like Bitly are widely used, many businesses and individuals prefer owning their own branded short links and having access to complete click analytics. Managing URL mapping, redirection, tracking metadata like device, location, and browser type makes it an exciting technical project.

Users shorten long URLs into branded short links (e.g., domain.ly/abc123), optionally customize the slug, and access real-time link performance dashboards showing total clicks, geographic distribution, referring websites, browser types, and devices used.

Users input a long URL, optionally choose a custom slug, and generate a short link. When users click the short link, the system records metadata like IP address, location, browser type, device type, and redirects them to the original destination. Analytics are visualized on the dashboard in real-time.

• User pastes a long URL and generates a short one with a random or custom alias.
• Clicks are tracked with associated metadata like IP, country, browser, and device.
• Users view detailed analytics dashboards with filters like date ranges, location maps, device pie charts.
• Admin panel allows managing abusive links, setting link expiration rules, and enforcing custom branding policies.

• How Bitly Works: A Technical Overview
• Building a Custom URL Shortener in Node.js
• IP Geolocation API (IPinfo.io)
• Parsing User Agents for Device Analytics
• Using Chart.js for Analytics Dashboards
• Securing Public APIs with reCAPTCHA (Google reCAPTCHA Docs)