BL.INK is ecstatic to announce the rollout of a new feature: Market Domains.
Market Domains allow BL.INK users to add a base domain AND the market prefix as a separate domain in their account. For example:
Corporate: example.com
France: example.com/fr
Spain: example.com/es
Germany: example.com/de
Each of these variations is added as a separate domain in the BL.INK dashboard and can be used to create short links under each domain.
We noticed a growing need from our clients to utilize the same domain name to operate in multiple markets with a structured segmentation pattern for consistency and governance.
In our example above, let’s say BL.INK needed to utilize the BL.INK short domain name across multiple markets while still reserving the base domain for corporate needs. Market Domains allows BL.INK users to add all of the domains (even though they’re technically the same domain) to the BL.INK account.
So BL.INK can create short link like this:
example.com/shortlink
And BL.INK can also create short links like this:
example.com/fr/shortlink
example.com/es/shortlink
Each of the above links routes to a different location based on the needs of the particular market.
Following this structure, BL.INK is able to create short links on the base domain (example.com). Each separate market can create and manage links utilizing the same base domain, OR with their market prefix (example: /fr or /es ) as a mandatory part of the base domain.
Every link created follows the same naming conventions, markets can manage their own links, users, and access, and corporate also has visibility to the market-level domains for insight and compliance.
Each market prefix is treated as a separate domain within BLINK so that access is allocated for each specific market which simplifies access controls while maintaining corporate governance.
These domain names behave just like a regular domain name except the domain name is followed by a slash and a two-character language code.
When choosing a domain name from the list, the page refreshes exactly as it does today with a different domain/market but everything that’s created with the prefix with the two-letter country code/keyword.
So these links are two unique destinations:
example.com/fr/abc123
example.com/es/abc123
It is also possible for BL.INK to use the root domain (example.com) to create short links or create our own market-specific domains by adding a language prefix to the short link.
Another benefit of this segmentation is that each market has the autonomy to manage its own access rights, individual campaigns, and integrations, while corporate still maintains the full oversight and governance required.
This organizational structure provides the best of both worlds – giving the necessary freedoms to each market while not losing key management capabilities for consistency and compliance.
In a large, global organization with multiple brands under management, it is necessary to create key governance rules so that data taxonomies are aligned and can be analyzed across segments, markets, and brands.
Market Domains gives BL.INK customers the opportunity to further organize and implement structures designed to support these mandates while allowing the markets the autonomy they need to quickly deploy and manage campaigns.