Migrating 50,000 links without losing a click
Switching link providers feels risky: every printed QR code and every old post keeps pointing at the old domain. A staged migration makes it boring — in the best way.
Inventory before anything
Export everything: slug, destination, status code, creation date, click volume. The long tail will surprise you — in a typical 50k-link estate, 5% of links carry 95% of traffic. Those hot links get white-glove treatment; the tail gets bulk import.
Run both systems in parallel
Import the full estate into the new system first, verify with an automated diff (same slug → same destination, same status code), and only then move DNS. The cutover becomes a single record change with an instant rollback path — repoint DNS back and nothing was lost.
Own the domain, own the exit
The real lesson: links on your own custom domain survive any provider change invisibly. Links on a shared domain (bit.ly/xyz) are the ones that break. Whatever tool you use — make the domain yours first.
Written by the rii.link team.
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