Telegram in 2026 is no longer just a messenger for those who have “switched from WhatsApp”. It is a full-fledged media platform, a tool for business, communities of interest, corporate channels, news aggregators and a million other things at the same time. Channels are growing, audiences are gaining, and every second entrepreneur, marketer or just an active person has their own channel – or plans to start one.
And then comes the moment when you need to share the link to the channel. It would seem like a simple task. But Telegram knows how to make even this interesting in its own way.
A public channel with a username is nothing: t.me/mychannel. In short, of course, you can dictate. But if you have a private channel or use an invitation link, you get something like: https://t.me/+AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz or a classic of the genre:
https://t.me/joinchat/AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz1234567890
Forty-odd symbols of random chaos. Try dictating it over the phone, writing it on a flyer, or pasting it into an SMS. URL shorteners exist for just such cases – and today we’ll look at how and why to use them specifically for Telegram.
Three types of Telegram links and their problems
Before we get started, let's take a look at what Telegram has in terms of links. Because different types of channels generate different URLs, and each has its own situation.
1. Public channel with username
If your channel has a public name, the link looks like t.me/channelname. That's not bad - short, readable, reflects the name. But there's a caveat here: if the channel name is long or difficult to write in Latin, the link is still inconvenient. t.me/mycoolmarketingchannel2026 is not something that's easy to dictate.
2. Private channel with invitation link
This is where the real horror begins. Telegram generates a unique token for each invite link, and it looks like abracadabra. You can't change it - you can only reset it and get a new abracadabra. No control over the appearance of the link.
3. Closed group or channel with a link to join
A similar situation is an automatically generated token that cannot be made readable by Telegram itself.
In all three cases, an external shortener solves the problem and adds bonuses that Telegram doesn't have at all.
Why shorten a Telegram link if it's already clickable?
A logical question. If links are clicked anyway, rather than entered manually, why bother? There are several reasons, and each of them is sufficient in itself:
Offline distribution. Business card, flyer, banner, laptop sticker, coffee shop sticker – anywhere where the URL needs to be read and entered manually. t.me/joinchat/AbCd... on a business card looks like a layout error. surli.cc/my-channel – like a sensible choice.
QR codes. If you generate a QR to jump into a channel – a long Telegram token creates a thick, hard-to-read code. Short link = simpler QR = better scannability = more followers.
Oral communications. In speeches, podcasts, videos, in conversation – you call the link out loud. surli.cc/kanal can be said once and everyone will understand. It is impossible to even read the Telegram invitation token without stuttering.
Analytics. Telegram doesn’t show where subscribers came from. Not at all. You don’t know how many people clicked on a link from an email newsletter, how many from an Instagram page, how many from a flyer at a conference. A shortened URL through Surli gives you this analytics – a separate link for each distribution channel, and you know exactly what’s working.
Branding and trust. Links are the first impression. surli.cc/prostir-it looks like a channel with a person behind it who thinks about the details. The random token looks like an automatically generated technical artifact – because it is.
How to shorten a link to a Telegram channel: step by step
Nothing complicated, I promise. Five steps and you're done:
Step 1: Get a link to the channel. For a public channel, simply copy the URL from your browser's address bar or find the "Links" section in the channel settings. For a private channel, go to the settings, "Invitation Links" section, and copy the main one or create a new one.
Step 2: Open Surli. Go to surli.cc . If you have an account, log in to access analytics and the ability to edit links later. If not, signing up takes a minute and gives you a lot more options than using anonymously.
Step 3: Paste the URL and set a custom slug. This is the key point. Don’t settle for an automatically generated slug – come up with a readable alias. Channel name in Latin, topic, or just something understandable: it-novyny, marketing-ua, dev-tips, prostir-community. Slug is the face of your link.
Step 4: Save and test. After saving, immediately check that the link goes where it should. Open in another browser or in incognito mode. Make sure that Telegram opens correctly and offers to subscribe to the channel.
Step 5: Use it everywhere. Now you have one short link that you can insert in any context – online and offline, text and QR, newsletters and business cards.
Lifehack: different links for different distribution channels
This is something that experienced marketers do and almost never everyone else does. If you promote a channel through multiple sources – make a separate shortened link for each. For example:
For Instagram bio – surli.cc/channel-ig.
For email signature – surli.cc/channel-email.
To speak at the conference – surli.cc/channel-conf.
For the event flyer – surli.cc/channel-flyer.
They all lead to the same thing – your Telegram channel. But in Surli analytics you see clicks on each separately. A month later you see that 400 clicks came from Instagram, 80 from email, 12 from the flyer. And then you make a logical conclusion, Instagram is working well, the flyer is not so good, something needs to be changed.
This is free marketing analytics that would cost money in any paid tool. And here it is simply a consequence of properly organized links.
QR code for Telegram channel: a separate issue
If you are going to promote your channel offline, QR is a must. And it is important to do everything right so as not to get a code that cannot be scanned.
The long Telegram invitation token in QR is a code with a very high pixel density. Such a code is difficult to read in poor lighting, at a distance, or if it is slightly blurred. The shortened URL via Surli generates a much simpler QR - fewer characters, less density, more reliable scanning.
The convenient thing is that Surli allows you to generate a QR code directly from the interface when creating a link. That is, you get both a short link and a ready-made QR code at the same time - without the need to go to a separate QR generation service and then synchronize them manually.
Save the QR in SVG or PNG format with sufficient resolution – at least 300 dpi for printing. And be sure to test the scanned QR on several different phones before sending it to print. Reprinting flyers because the QR is not readable is expensive and frustrating.
Common errors when working with links on Telegram
While you're at it, let's look at the typical tricks that are most often encountered:
Reset the invite token after the link has already expired. Telegram has the ability to reset the invite link and generate a new one. People sometimes do this for security reasons or just by accident. If the link is direct, all previous QRs and mailings are instantly broken. If the link is shortened via Surli, you simply update the destination in the settings, and all old links and QRs continue to work, leading to the new token.
Using one link for all channels and then not understanding where the traffic is coming from. Classic. As described above – a separate link for each source, and you always know what is working.
Not testing links after creation. It seems obvious, but it happens. You paste the wrong URL, save it, send it, and the link leads to the wrong place. Two seconds to check saves you from awkward situations.
Random slug instead of readable. If you accept the automatically generated surli.cc/x7K2p, you've lost half the value of customization. Always set the slug manually.
Forget about links after publishing. Analytics are there – but only if you go into them. Once a week, look at the numbers: where the traffic comes from, how many clicks, what worked in the last campaign. It takes five minutes and gives you an understanding of where to invest your efforts.
When reduction is particularly critical
There are situations where a short link is not just a convenience, but the real difference between "it worked" and "it didn't work."
Speaking at a conference or webinar – you show a slide with a link to the channel, and people have 10-15 seconds to record or enter it. surli.cc/your-channel will have time. Telegram token – no.
Podcast or video – you say the link out loud. Something short and readable can be repeated twice and everyone will remember. A random token is a waste of airtime.
Merch and branded materials – T-shirts, mugs, stickers with QR or URL to the channel. These are things with a long shelf life. A short link with the ability to change the destination allows you to update where the merch leads without re-issuing.
Partner integrations – when another channel or publication mentions your Telegram, it’s better to give them a short branded link than a technical token. It looks more professional and gives separate analytics for that source.
Bottom line: a channel link is also part of the brand
A Telegram channel is content, a community, and regular work. A link to it is the first point of contact between the channel and a potential subscriber. And the first impression depends on how this link looks.
