Link Analytics Backend — PHP/MySQL Developer

A URL shortener might seem like a simple product, but building one with enterprise-grade analytics, branded domain support, and a reliable REST API is a genuinely challenging engineering task. We need a self-hosted tool that gives our marketing team full control over link management — from creating branded short URLs with our own domain to drilling down into click analytics by geography, device type, browser, and referral source. The goal is to replace our current dependency on third-party services with a system we fully own and can extend.

The core challenge is performance and reliability: short links must resolve in under 50ms globally, analytics must be processed asynchronously to avoid adding latency to redirects, and the system must handle traffic spikes during campaign launches without degrading the user experience. We also need UTM parameter passthrough so links integrate cleanly with our existing analytics stack, link expiry and click-limit controls for time-sensitive campaigns, and a REST API that lets us create and manage links programmatically from our marketing automation tools.

Features required:
— Branded short URLs with custom domain support and SSL
— QR code generation per link with download options
— Click analytics: geo, device, browser, referrer, UTM passthrough
— Link expiry dates and click limit options
— REST API for programmatic link creation and management
— Admin dashboard with exportable reports (CSV/PDF)
— Link grouping and tagging for campaign organisation

Tech stack: PHP 8 or Node.js backend, MySQL/PostgreSQL, React or Vue.js frontend, Chart.js or equivalent for analytics visualisation.