A Telegram link is the fastest way to move a customer from a website, an ad, an email or a printed flyer straight into a chat with you. There are several link formats, and each one does a slightly different job. This guide lists all of them, shows where each one is useful, and explains how to track which link actually brings conversations.
If you only need the link right now, use the free Telegram link generator: it builds every format below, adds a start parameter and gives you a QR code.
The basic Telegram link: t.me/username
Every public user, group, channel and bot in Telegram has a username. The link is simply:
https://t.me/username
It opens the profile or the chat in the Telegram app on a phone and in Telegram Web or Desktop on a computer. The older form https://telegram.me/username still works and points to the same place, but t.me is shorter and is what Telegram itself uses.
Use it for: a “Write to us on Telegram” button, an Instagram bio, an email signature.
Links to groups and channels
Public groups and channels use the same format as users: https://t.me/mycompany_news. Private groups and channels have no username, so Telegram generates an invite link that looks like https://t.me/+AbCdEfGh123. Invite links can be limited by time or number of uses and revoked at any moment, which makes them a good fit for paid communities and closed customer groups.
Bot deep links: t.me/bot?start=parameter
This is the format that matters for business. A bot link can carry a start parameter:
https://t.me/mycompany_bot?start=summer_sale
When the customer taps it, Telegram opens the bot and sends the parameter to your backend together with the /start command. The bot then knows exactly where the conversation came from and can react: greet with the right offer, attach the lead to a campaign, hand the dialogue to the right team.
The parameter accepts letters, digits, underscores and hyphens, up to 64 characters. Typical uses:
- Source tracking:
?start=fb_ads_september,?start=flyer_kyiv,?start=site_pricing. - Personalised entry: a different welcome message for a returning customer than for a new one.
- Order or ticket context:
?start=order_48211opens the chat with the order already known. - Referrals:
?start=ref_12345credits the person who shared the link.
For groups there is a sibling format, ?startgroup=parameter, which asks the user to pick a group to add the bot to.
Links to a specific message
Any message in a public channel or group has its own URL: https://t.me/channel/1234, where 1234 is the message number. Use it when you want to send someone to a particular announcement instead of the top of the channel. Comments under a channel post can be linked too: https://t.me/channel/1234?comment=56.
Links that pre-fill a message: t.me/share/url
If you want people to share your page in Telegram with a ready-made text, use the share link:
https://t.me/share/url?url=https://example.com&text=Look%20at%20this
Telegram opens the “choose a chat” dialog with the link and the text already in the message.
Phone number links
A link to a phone number, https://t.me/+380501234567, opens the chat with that number if the person has Telegram and allows being found by phone. It is less reliable than a username link, because privacy settings can block it, so use it only when there is no username.
QR codes
A QR code is just one of the links above turned into an image. It belongs on packaging, receipts, menus, exhibition stands and anywhere else people hold a phone rather than a keyboard. The generator produces the QR code together with the link, so a printed code with ?start=stand_expo2026 tells your bot exactly which stand the visitor scanned.
Which link format to use where
| Where the link lives | Format |
|---|---|
| Website “Contact us” button | t.me/username or bot link with ?start=site |
| Facebook or Google ad | bot link with ?start=campaign_name |
| Email newsletter | bot link with ?start=newsletter_september |
| Print, packaging, stands | QR code of a bot link with a location parameter |
| Sharing your content | t.me/share/url?url=...&text=... |
| Sending someone to an announcement | t.me/channel/1234 |
Tracking which links bring conversations
Username links tell you nothing about the source. Bot links with a start parameter do, but only if the bot records the parameter. In SMSBAT the parameter arrives with the first message of the dialogue, is saved as a tag on the contact and is visible in the inbox and in reports, so you can compare “flyer” against “Facebook ad” by the number of started conversations and by the number of orders that followed.
If you do not have a Telegram bot yet, the no-code bot builder creates one in an afternoon, and the same bot can be connected to the shared team inbox alongside Viber, WhatsApp, Instagram and the website chat widget.
Common mistakes
- Uppercase letters and spaces in the parameter. Telegram allows only
A-Z,a-z,0-9,_and-. Anything else is dropped or breaks the link. - Using the same parameter everywhere. The whole point is to make every placement distinct.
- Linking to a private group with an expired invite. Check the invite settings before printing anything.
- Expecting a phone number link to work for everyone. It depends on the other person’s privacy settings; a username link always works.
Summary
t.me/username is enough for a contact button. For anything you pay for, use a bot link with a start parameter and a distinct value per placement, then read the results in your inbox. Build the links and QR codes with the free Telegram link generator, and if you also work in Viber or WhatsApp, the Viber and WhatsApp generators follow the same logic.