Troubleshooting Common Problems
Link not working, clicks missing, imports skipping rows, sign-in trouble, and other quick fixes.
Find the symptom that matches what you are seeing, then work through the checks in order. Most problems come down to one of three things: DNS not finished, a path typed differently than it was saved, or a date range that does not include the clicks you are looking for.
My short link does not load at all
The browser shows a connection error, a "site can't be reached" message, or someone else's page.
- Give DNS time. If you added the domain recently, this is the usual cause. Changes are often live in minutes but can take a few hours.
- Check the A record. Where your domain is managed, confirm there is an
Arecord whose value is exactly the IP address shown in the app, with the prefix (for examplego) in the name field. If the app shows a newer IP than the one you configured earlier, update the record to match. - Check the domain is Active. On the Domains page, the Active column must be on. Inactive domains stop serving links.
- Try a different network. Testing on your phone's mobile data rules out your own computer caching the old DNS answer.
I get a "not found" page instead of my destination
The domain is working — the specific link is not being matched.
- Open Links and compare the Path value to what you typed, character by character. Dashes, underscores, and plurals are the usual culprits.
- Use the Full link URL column and click the link there. If that works, the address you shared was wrong, not the link.
- Check 404 Log. If you see the path with several hits, real people are hitting it — create a link using exactly that path so the traffic is rescued.
- Set a 404 redirect URL on the domain so future mistakes land somewhere useful instead of on an error.
The link works, but no clicks show up
- On the Dashboard, click 1d or 7d so the range includes today, then click Refresh. An old custom date range is the most common explanation.
- Check your time zone on the Account page. If it is wrong, today's clicks can appear on the wrong day.
- Click the link yourself and re-check. A fresh click should appear under Recent activity.
My click numbers look too low compared to my email or ad platform
Some difference is normal and expected. Other tools count differently — some count a click when the email is opened by a scanner, some count every tap including repeats, and some visitors abandon before the page loads.
- Compare Clicks to their click figure, not Unique. Unique counts people, not clicks.
- Make sure both tools cover the same dates and the same time zone.
- If your numbers are near zero while theirs are large, that is not a counting difference — test the link yourself and work through the two sections above.
Click numbers spiked but I did not promote anything
This is usually automated traffic (bots) rather than customers.
- Compare Total clicks with Unique IPs. Many clicks from very few addresses points to automation.
- Look at the Referrers panel for sources you do not recognize.
- Use the Clicks drill-down to find the repeated IP address, then add it on the Blocked IPs page with a note explaining why.
I cannot save a link because the path is taken
Paths must be unique per domain. Either pick a slightly different path, or edit the existing link that already uses it. The fastest way to find it is the Search box on the Links page. Note that sct is reserved and cannot be used as a path.
My import skipped rows
Skipped rows are normal and the summary tells you why. Open Import notes and skipped rows in the Import complete box and read it before trying again.
- Path already exists — you already have that link. We never overwrite your existing links.
- Invalid row — something required was missing or malformed, most often the destination address.
- Nothing imported at all — usually the wrong tab. A file from the old WordPress plugin must go on the Legacy WP SCT tab, not the plain CSV tab.
Fix those rows in your file and import just them. Re-running an import does not create duplicates.
My split test has not picked a winner
- Check that your conversion script is installed on each destination's thank-you page. Without it, conversions are never recorded and a winner can never be chosen.
- Compare your traffic with your thresholds. If Min total conversions or Min days has not been reached yet, the test is deliberately still waiting.
- Check the Test type. On Manual, nothing is ever chosen automatically — you pick the winner yourself.
- Lower the Confidence % only if you accept more risk of picking the wrong page.
My standard link shows zero conversions
- Save the link, then copy the Conversion script from the Destination card and paste it on the thank-you page (before
</body>). - Open the short link yourself, complete a conversion path, and confirm the thank-you page loads with the script.
- On the link's Reports page, check the date range and look for Conversions on the Click report.
The wrong image or title appears when I share my link
Social networks decide what to show, and they keep their own copy of it for a while.
- Set Facebook / OG title, description, and image on the link.
- Re-share into a fresh post or message to check.
- If the old preview persists, that platform is showing its cached copy — it typically refreshes on its own after a while.
I cannot get into my account
- Password: use the password reset link on the sign-in page.
- Two-factor code not working: check that your phone's clock is set automatically. Authenticator codes fail if the device clock has drifted.
- Locked out completely: contact support rather than creating a second account, so your existing links stay intact.
I installed the standalone SCT script but links still 404
You uploaded the sct folder, but short links on your domain still show a not-found page or your normal site 404.
- Open
https://yoursite.com/sct/pingin a browser. You should see a plain number (a timestamp). If that fails, the folder is not in the public web root or PHP is not running for that path. - Confirm
sct/config.phpexists and theapi_keymatches a Connect (WordPress or standalone script) key from Account › Integrations. - Re-run
https://yoursite.com/sct/install.phpso the site root.htaccesscontainsErrorDocument 404 /sct/index.php. On nginx hosts, Apache’s installer cannot help — you need an equivalent rewrite, or use DNS pointing instead (see Using Your Own Domain). - On the Domains page, confirm the domain is listed and Active. Create a test link and use the exact path from the Links page.
I lost my API key
Full API keys are shown only once when created, and cannot be retrieved afterwards. Create a new key, update whatever was using the old one, then delete the old key.
Still stuck?
Note down the short link you are testing, what you expected, what happened instead, and roughly when it started. Having those four details ready makes any support conversation much faster.
You can also use the Help button in the bottom-right corner of the app to search these articles or send a message to support.