Vanity URLs

Example

www.va.gov/trust takes users to https://www.va.gov/initiatives/veteran-trust-in-va/

A “shortened URL” is also a short URL, but is generally made up of a randomized set of characters. VA doesn’t currently provide a URL-shortener service. We don’t recommend using external URL-shortener services (like bitly.com or tinyurl.com) as they’re often blocked and not always trusted.

About vanity URLs

• Vanity URLs at VA always begin with “www.va.gov.”
  • We don’t use or create sub-domains for vanity urls (like education.va.gov).
  • We don’t use or create custom top-level domains for vanity urls (like www.va.apply).
• The “vanity” segment of the URL should be short, easy to type, and easy to remember, and should follow the general URL standards in formatting.
• We don’t maintain the visibility of the vanity URL in a user’s browser. Once they enter the vanity URL, they’re immediately redirected to the appropriate landing page and the browser will display the actual canonical URL for that page.

Usage

When to use a vanity URL

• To provide a short and memorable URL for campaigns that meet the following criteria:
  • The campaign is for Veterans or their family members and caregivers, and
  • The campaign has a national level focus (not just for a local facility or single area), and
  • The campaign has a campaign landing page that the vanity URL will point to

When not to use a vanity URL

• For content that exists external to VA.gov
• For files or documents such as a PDF
• For general benefit content or tools (like www.va.gov/health-care).
• For content in Resources and support
• To “claim” a URL that doesn’t have content

Guidance for choosing a vanity URL

• Vanity URLs must be easy to say and type because they are often used in print, video, and audio campaigns where users have to understand, remember, and sometimes manually enter them into their browser.
• Consider how well assistive technology can read and speak the URL.
• Use keywords that match the meaning and context of the landing page and ensure the meaning is upheld when shortening titles to just a few keywords. For example, shortening a campaign called “Eligibility for disability compensation” to just www.va.gov/eligibility results in an overly broad URL that can be misunderstood outside of the campaign messaging.
• A vanity URL should not include sensitive or alarming keywords that could create confusion when seen out of context on it’s own (like www.va.gov/evacuation).
• Follow all general URL standards to ensure it’s unique, accurate, readable, and properly formatted.

Vanity URL requests and implementation process

Vanity URL requests must be submitted to VA.gov Information Architecture for validation, approval, and implementation.