Have you noticed that websites’ URLs seem to be getting shorter every year? Shortened URLs, or Uniform Resource Locators, are taking over the web...and for good reason. Not only do they condense long, ugly URLs into easy-to-read ones, but they also track a lot of useful information for marketers to collect.
The business began with TinyURL launching in 2002. Originally, the idea of shortened URLs was for email: the character limit on email systems was 80 characters, and anything beyond the limit was simply broken off. Can you use only part of a whole URL to get to the right destination? Absolutely not, and so a way around it was discovered. Many competitors have popped up since, and even prominent companies such as Twitter, Google, and Hootsuite have made their own. One URL shortening service, however, that faces interesting obstacles is Bit.ly: because .ly is a Libyan domain, the American company is required to follow Libyan law and Islamic morality - and a violation on Bit.ly’s end of either gives the Libyan government rights to terminate their business. It’s about much more than just shortening URLs!
Advantages
Consider the two URLs below:
1. https://www.herosmyth.com/blog/when-should-you-pass-marketing-torch
For campaign purposes, shorter URLs are much easier to memorize or read than long ones; they’re simply more catchy. They could be used for print or situations where copying and pasting isn’t available, such as ads, coupons, or thank-you notes. While longer URLs sometimes help describe where you are headed, like example number one, many are filled with characters and numbers that look clunky, ugly, and overwhelming. Shorter URLs are much cleaner and manageable.
For campaign purposes, shorter URLs are much easier to memorize or read than long ones; they’re simply more catchy. #marketingtips
The SEO, or search engine optimization, factors of the original URL are also preserved in the shortened version - which means you don’t lose any of the precious data you were tracking. What’s even better is that some URL shortening services collect more information than otherwise would be at your disposal. The only caveat, however, is that your shortened URL must utilize a 301 redirect, or the page rank and anchor text will be lost. Short URLs also have the capacity to track the who, where, when, and what interests of the user who clicks the URL - for instance, Bit.ly tracks shortened URLs in real time, anywhere in the world. Data about geolocation, number of times a link has been clicked, and more is highly useful for optimizing engagement.
Though the sample URLs in the above example direct to the same site, the second version can easily fit in an email, Twitter post, or even text message. This also promotes sharing since the URL takes up less space and is easy to copy and paste in full. However, Twitter automatically shortens URLs in their own way...but rather than creating an alternate, short URL, the original is cut off with an ellipse when it hits 22 characters in length, which does not look as neat. If you would like a nice, short URL in your Twitter post instead, the company does allow third party services to work in a Tweet context. A benefit to using Twitter’s version, conversely, is that it protects from malicious sites by providing a warning to the user who clicks the URL before directing them to the final destination.
Customization is another great advantage. Bit.ly, specifically, allows users of their service to customize their shortened URLs to provide context so the user isn’t just clicking a link with random letters and numbers. You can also create a custom domain with a shortened version of your company’s name, often referred to as a vanity domain when used in an expressive and individualistic sense. The benefits in doing so are that you can maintain a consistent presence as a brand within the shortened URL, track CTR (click-through rates) as well as engagement, and promote trust: users will know where they’re headed via context within the URL itself.
The final - and possibly biggest - advantage to shortening your URLs is the classic bandwagon idea of “everyone’s doing it.” Yes, sometimes it’s better to be unique and therefore stand out, but in the case of URLs, where it’s increasingly common to see shorter ones, not making the switch could be perceived as being behind on the times.
Bottom line: shortening your URLs is usually more helpful than harmful as long as it endures as common practice.
Disadvantages
There is a short list of disadvantages, as with many things in life. Firstly, as I mentioned earlier, redirects are important to preserving the tracked data. The flip side is that it takes a user longer to get to their desired destination because of having to go through so many redirects, which could get frustrating and increase bounce rates on your site. An easy way to test for this factor is by running a speed test on your shortened URL; this redirect speed testing tool delivers a good, comprehensive report to help you know where your URL stands.
The most dangerous possibility with shortened URLs is the mysterious final destination factor. Spammers love that they can hide their URLs’ true intentions and sneakily send users to spammy sites, which increases distrust of redirects. Luckily, some link shorteners that experience heavy spammer use get picked up and placed on domain block lists. Besides spamming, users must also be wary of phishing, where cybercriminals pretend to be reputable companies in order to steal users’ personal information. However, as mentioned in the advantages section, creating a custom, or vanity, URL to establish credibility and ensure a safe destination is an easy solution to the issues above.
In terms of convenience, creating shorter URLs, for most, means going through a third party service. This requires heavy reliance on the URL shortening companies to remain in business; it also means putting trust into the service to properly shorten and redirect your link without any problems. If a URL shortening service shuts down, the link is lost forever - which, if you use a service for many links - will make your collection virtually disappear. Luckily, the Internet Archives has a project called 301 Works which aims to preserve the link database if the service does shut down. Even so, it’s important to do thorough research and run some preliminary tests when using a third party URL shortening service - and potentially have a backup plan for if the service shuts down.
Choosing a link shortening service
There are so many link shortening services out there that it’s virtually impossible to list them all, so here’s a list of the top-rated ones and what they do. The best fit for your objective can be determined based on the features each service offers, so let’s delve into the details to get started.
Bitly: the most popular and easy-to-use URL shortening service also has the ability to track real-time data from anywhere. It also allows customization of your domain name and URLs.
Google URL Shortener: it’s from a well-known company and easy to use, but the data collected is publicly available - something important to keep in mind when handling important data. Without signing in, Google allows you to use the URL shortening service for free and anonymously; conversely, signing in allows for data collection and campaign insights.
TinyURL: the original URL shortening service also allows customization of URLs. If you’re looking for a URL shortener that’s simple and to the point, this is the one for you.
Buff.ly: this service combines social media scheduling, analytics, and automatic URL shortening. If you’re looking for an all-in-one service for planning and sending out social media posts with shorter URLs and then tracking the engagement, you may consider this one - especially since the basic version is free.
Others include: Digg, Pagetweet, Fur.ly, DyingLinks, Bag.gy, Ow.ly, YOURLS, J.mp, Is.gd, Tr.im, Shorte.st, 3.ly, ClickMeter, Clk.im, Branch.io, Snip.ly, Trks.it, Post...the list goes on. There are so many of these URL shortening services out there, free and paid, including analytics or not, that it really comes down to whichever resonates most with you and your business goals.
Custom Domain Tools
If you think back to the section where the advantage of having a custom, or vanity, URL was discussed, you may have found that as an enticing possibility for your company. If that’s the case, you can try IWantMyName, Domainr, or Name.com.
Now that you know all the basics of what URL shortening is all about, go forth and create a fruitful abundance of super-short, all-star links!
