diff --git a/assets/custom.css b/assets/custom.css
index 4bb6083..c6ca2d6 100644
--- a/assets/custom.css
+++ b/assets/custom.css
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@
     @apply bg-background text-foreground;
   }
 }
-
+.error-message {
+  color: red;
+}
+.error input {
+  box-shadow: 0 0 3px #cc0000;
+}
 .animate-in {
   animation: animateIn 0.3s ease 0.15s both;
 }
diff --git a/src/routes/link_routes.rs b/src/routes/link_routes.rs
index fb216cf..86a1aae 100644
--- a/src/routes/link_routes.rs
+++ b/src/routes/link_routes.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use crate::{
 use axum::{routing::post, Extension, Form, Router};
 use rand;
 use rand::Rng;
+use serde::Deserialize;
 use sqlx::{Error, PgPool, Row};
 
 pub fn get_routes() -> Router {
@@ -15,18 +16,31 @@ async fn add_link(
     ctx: Extension<ApiContext>,
     Form(payload): Form<LinkRequest>,
 ) -> Result<String, String> {
+    if payload.original_url.is_empty() {
+        return Err("<div class=\"p-2 animate-in text-red-900 bg-red-300 border-2 border-red-600\">Please enter an URL</div>".to_string());
+    }
+    if payload.path.len() > 0 && payload.path.len() < 5 {
+        return Err("<div class=\"p-2 animate-in text-red-900 bg-red-300 border-2 border-red-600\">Path must be at least 5 characters long</div>".to_string());
+    }
+    if payload.original_url.len() > 200 {
+        return Err("<div class=\"p-2 animate-in text-red-900 bg-red-300 border-2 border-red-600\">URL must be less than 200 characters long</div>".to_string());
+    }
+    if !payload.original_url.starts_with("http://") || !payload.original_url.starts_with("https://")
+    {
+        return Err("<div class=\"p-2 animate-in text-red-900 bg-red-300 border-2 border-red-600\">URL must start with http:// or https://</div>".to_string());
+    }
     // Store the links in the database
     let link = match insert_link(&payload, &ctx.db).await {
         Ok(link) => link,
         Err(err) => {
             eprintln!("Error inserting link: {}", err);
-            return Err("<div class=\"p-2 animate-in text-red-900 bg-red-300 border-2 border-red-600\">Something went wrong</div>".to_string());
+            return Err("<div class=\"p-2 animate-in text-red-900 bg-red-300 border-2 border-red-600\">Something went wrong. Try a different path</div>".to_string());
         }
     };
     //return html
 
     Ok(format!(
-        "<div class=\"p-2 text-green-900 animate-in bg-green-300 border-2 border-green-600\">Your link: <a href=\"http://lurl.es/{}\" target=\"_blank\">https://lurl.es/{}</a></div>",
+        "<div class=\"p-2 text-green-900 animate-in bg-green-300 border-2 border-green-600\">Your link: <a href=\"https://lurl.es/{}\" target=\"_blank\">https://lurl.es/{}</a></div>",
         link.short_url, link.short_url
     ))
 }
@@ -38,14 +52,18 @@ async fn insert_link(payload: &LinkRequest, pool: &PgPool) -> Result<LinkRespons
     };
 
     let insertion = sqlx::query(
-        "INSERT INTO links (original_url, short_url) VALUES ($1, $2) RETURNING short_url",
+        "INSERT INTO links (original_url, short_url) VALUES ($1, $2) RETURNING id, short_url ",
     )
     .bind(&payload.original_url)
     .bind(&path)
     .fetch_one(pool)
     .await?;
+    sqlx::query("INSERT INTO linkclicks (LinkID,ClickCount) VALUES ($1, 0)")
+        .bind(insertion.try_get::<i32, _>("id")?)
+        .execute(pool)
+        .await?;
     let link = LinkResponse {
-        short_url: insertion.try_get("short_url")?,
+        short_url: insertion.try_get::<String, _>("short_url")?,
     };
     Ok(link)
 }