What is a URL shortener? And when should I use one?

A custom, or branded URL shortener, is when you've connected your own custom domain to a URL shortener which acts as a base for all the short ... Skiptocontent LinkedinTwitterFacebookRedditStumbleUponDiggPrintemailTheUltimateGuidetowhen,how,andwhyyoushoulduseaURLshortener. It’safairquestion… AsaURLshortenerandacompanythatspecializesineverythingtodowithlinks,it’ssomethingwegetaskedquitealot. Sowethoughtwe’dgiveyoutheentirebreakdownonthissecretlyevolvingindustry.Findouthowyoucanusealinkshortenertoyouradvantage. Let’sjumprightin… WhatisaURLshortener? AURLshortenerisasimpletoolthattakesalongURLandturnsitintowhateverURLyouwouldlikeittobe. HowtoplugaURLintotheRebrandlyURLshortener Itcouldn’tbeanysimplerthanthat. IwanttoclarifythataURLshorteneristhesameasalinkshortener…isthesameasalinkshrinker…alinkcompressor…aURLcondenser…a vanityURL creator…Ithinkthat’sthemallcovered.Theyarealldifferentwaysofsayingthesamething,whichisthatwewanttotakesomethinglongandugly,thenmakeitshortandcute.Tokeepitsimple,IwillstickwiththetermURLshortenerfromtodayuntilthedayIdie. WhatisaCustomURLShortener? Acustom,orbrandedURLshortener,iswhenyou’veconnectedyourowncustomdomaintoaURLshortenerwhichactsasabaseforalltheshortlinksyoucreate.Insteadofusingagenericdomainsuchasbit.lyorrebrand.ly,youcanpickyourown. It’sperfectlyexplainedinthisgif: Wealwaysrecommendusingyourowncustomdomainwhensharinglinksonlineasitleadstoincreasedlinktrust,brandawareness,andclick-throughrate. Ifyouwanttofindoutmoreaboutthedifferencebetweenbrandedandgenericshortlinks,youcancheckoutthevideobelow: ABriefHistoryofURLShorteners Sincethedawnoftheinternet,linkshavebeenthewaytogetfromoneplacetoanotheronline.Thinkaboutit,youeitherstartbysearchingforsomethingandthenclickingalink,orbytypingalinkdirectlyintoyourbrowser’saddressbar.There’snootherwaytogetaround. Sincethedawnoftheinternetlinkshavebeenhowyougetfromoneplacetoanotheronline. ClickToTweet Youcansharelinksdirectly,embedthemin“anchortext”likethis,oruseacustomlinkshortenertomakeyourlinksbrandedandcoollikethis: Derric.link/Twitter(hey…followmeonTwitterwhileyouareatit.) WiththeadventofTwitterandothersocialsharingplatforms,lengthyURLsstartedtobecomeaproblem.OriginallyTwitter–whousedtolimitmessagesto140characters–countedallcharactersinalink.(Nowitmakesalllinkscountas23characters),whichmeantsharingaURLlike: http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2016/29075/the-state-of-social-media-marketing-infographic WouldeatuptheentireTweet…UnlessyouusedaURL shortener. AndTwitterdid… OriginallyTinyURLwastheURL shortenerofchoiceforTwitter,beforetheplatformswitchedovertoBitlyinNovember,2009. ThenTwittereventuallycameoutwiththeirownURLShortener:t.co.DesignedtobothprotectusersfrommaliciouslinksandshortenlengthyURLs. Googlefollowedsuitbylaunchinggoo.glinDecember2009,anddozensofURLshortenershavefollowedinsincethen,allwithvaryingfeaturesandrevenuemodels.(Though,it’sworthnotingthatearlierthisyearGoo.glannounceditwillbewindingdownitsservice). ButasidefromthisearlynecessityofURLshortenersforTwitter“backintheday”whatcanURLshortenersdoforyourightnow? WhatCanaURLShortenerDo? URLShorteninghascomealongwaysinceitsinceptionintheyear2000. HereareahandfulofprettyslickthingsyoucandowithyourURLshortenertoday: LinkMasking ObviouslyshorteningaURLallowsyoutomasktheoriginalwebaddress. Thisisbadforusasconsumersinthesensethatitallowsforspammersandhackerstohidemaliciouslinksfromus.Thankfully,withsecurityprotectionfeaturesfromChromeandotherbrowsers(youuseChrome,right?Youshould…)wenolongerhavetoworryaboutmaliciouslinkmasking. ProperlinkmaskingmightbewhereyoutakeaURLfromastrongpieceofcontentthatyouarelookingtoshare,andsimplifyittoportrayakeypointinyoursocialmessage.Forexample: Neverhuntforarticlesagain.Usethese#Top100#SocialMediablogs:https://t.co/dAq0M23vdn #Bloggingpic.twitter.com/uLy8nLnOgv —Rebrandly(@RebrandlyBuzz)June28,2016 Theoriginallinkis:https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-top-100-social-media-blogs,whichisn’ttoouglytobeginwith–butistoolongtoshowonTwitter. SoIcreatedashortlinktoportraythesamemessageinashorterspace whilemaskingthefactthatthepostisfromBuffer.I’mnotmaskingitformaliciousreasons.Infact,IsharemanyotherTweetsthatreferencethemandlinktothesamepieceofcontent.ButIammaskingthedestinationURLfromtheuser. Othergoodreasonsformaskingalinkmightinclude: Hiding,“beautifying,”orbrandinganuglyaffiliatelink. Shorteningalengthydomainsuchasmyupcomingbooktitle:“playyourbusinesslikeapokerplayer.com”tosomethingsimplerlike“bizpoker.link” Tracking–maybeyouarejustmaskingthelinksothatyoucantrackhowmanypeopleclickonthisonespecificlink.Thisisadigitalmarketingbestpracticewhensharinglinksonline. Anddon’tconfuselinkmaskingwithlinkcloaking–whichispresentingfalseinformation,mostspecificallytosearchengines– calledspidersorbots–whileredirectinghumanstoadifferentURLthathasnothingtodowiththeforgedcontent.ThisisablackhatSEOpracticethatcangetyourwebsitebannedfromGooglesearchresults.Don’tdoit. LinkShortening It’smuchsimplertoshareashortandmemorableURLthanalengthyone,especiallywhenthoselengthyURLscontainrandomnumbersinthem. WhichURLareyougoingtoshouttoaroomfullofpeoplewhilegivingatalk?Theshortone,orthelongone? WhichURLwouldyoulinktoinyourpresentation? WhichURLwouldyouwanttotellpeopleatanetworkingeventwhenyouranoutofbusinesscards?Me,IuseDerric.link/card.It’sthatsimple. WhichURLdoyouwanttoputintoaforumwhensharingsomenewideas? Wheneveryouaresharingalinkinapublicsetting,youshouldbeusingalinkshorteningtooltohelpprettyupthelinkandtrackthenumberofclick-throughs. LinkTracking Linktrackinghasgottobethenumberonereasontoshortenalink.We,asdigitalmarketersandsocialmediamanagers,needtoknowthefruitsofourlabors… Andweprobablyhavetodomonthlyreportsonoureffortstoo. Ifwecan’tproveourclicks–andhopefullyconversions–thenwehaveverylittlejobsecurity. Theabsolutebesttechnologytotracklinksfromclicktoconversionhasgottobeoursistercompany ClickMeter.(YesI’mbiased,butI stillhaven’tseenanythingclosetothisgood–though, Rebrandlyislaunchingsomesuavenewanalyticsfeaturesthissummer). Youcanseehowmanyrealvisitorsclickedonalinkversusthenumberofbotsorspiders.Thisgivesyouamoreaccurateideaofrealvisitorscomingtoyoursiteandtheconversionrate.Youcangetadailybreakdown,orevenageographicalone(notshown).Andthereareahundredotherfeaturesworthcheckingout. ClickMeterisnotforeveryonethough.It’smoreforheavydigitalmarketersorsocialmediamanagerslookingtotracklargeorongoingcampaignsingreatdetail. Butsimplelinktrackingisveryimportantforallmarketingefforts,whetherit’spersonalorprofessional…ForcuriosityorforROI…WhichiswhyTinyURLiskindofuselessnow.Buttoolslikebit.ly,snip.lyand,ofcourse,Rebrandly arethepreferredURL shorteners. ClickReportinRebrandly LinkRetargeting Haveyouheardofretargeting? It’swhyyougethitwithAmazonadsrightafterviewingaproductonitswebsite. Retargetingisessentiallytheactofaddingalittlepixel,orpieceofcode,toyoursite,sothatwhenpeoplevisit,youcanserveadstothemlater. It’scrazyprofitableformarketersandadvertisers,andIfrequentlyrefertoitasthelowesthangingfruitforanybusiness. Butwait,there’smore… Nowusersdonotevenhavetovisityourwebsitetogettaggedwiththispixel,theysimplyneedtoclickonalink.It’scalledlinkretargeting. Retargetinglinkscanexpandyourmarketingreachtooutsideofthe“awareness”stageofthefunneltomoreofa“pre-awareness”stagethathelpsfine-tuneyourtargetingwhenadvertisingonline. YoucanuseatoollikeRebrandly or ClickMetertoaddretargetingpixelstoyourlinksandexpandyourcustomaudiencesinsideplatformslikeFacebook,GoogleAdWords,andTwitter. LinkRotating EverwantedtorunanA/Btestbutweren’tsurehowtodoit? Withadvancedlinkingfeaturesyoucanactuallysplittraffic50/50–or75/25,orwhatever–fromwithinthelinkitselfandthusperformasimplelandingpagetest.Nowthisisn’tnecessaryforadvertising,asyoucanjustruntwoads,andthereareothertools,likeOptimizely,thatletyouhandlethisonthepageinsteadofwithinthelink,buttherearesomeopportunitiesfortestingsplittrafficforyourlinks. Youcanalsodosomethinglikerunacontestandhavethefirstclickgotothe“winner”page,whileeveryotherclickgoestoa“tryagain”page. LinkSwappingorChanging It’ssosimple,yetmostofthelinkshorteningservicesdon’tletyoudoit… Youcreateashortenedlinkandshareitacross12differentnetworks,thenonedaydowntheroad,thepageyourlinkpointstoistakendown.Goodluckfindingandchangingallthoseoldlinks…You’rescrewed! Notanymore.WithRebrandly,youownyourlinks.IfyouwanttochangeoutthedestinationURL,youcan.Ittakesjustacoupleofsecondsand those12linksyousharedallthosemonthsagowillautomaticallyupdate.Crisisaverted. Here’sagreatexampleofhowtouselinkswappinginconjunctionwithyourInstagrambiosoyoucandirecttraffictoyourlatestblogpostwithouthavingtochangetheInstagramwebsitelinkeverytime: WhentouseaURLShortener Obviously,thereisacosttoopeningupanewbrowserwindow,plugginginthenameofyourfavoriteURLshortener(that’sus,right?),andcopy-pastinganewlinkin,justtoshareitonce. Igetit,it’salittleannoying.Buttherearewaystospeedthisup,suchasaChromepluginoriPhoneapp. Nonetheless,therearetimeswhenyoushoulduseaURLshortener–andtimeswhenyoushouldn’t. UseaURLshortenerwhenyouneedtotracktheeffortsofasocialpostorcampaign.Thisisworthwhilewhenalinkissendingtraffictoyoursite,butespeciallywhenit’snot. Forexample,maybeyousendout100tweetslinkingtocuratedcontenteachmonth.Thisiscontentwhichpointsfollowerstosomeofyourfavoriteindustryresources.Didanyonelikethatcontent?YoucanfindoutsimplybycheckingthestatsinyourURLshortener.You’llbeabletoeasilyspotyourtopperformers. YoushoulduseaURLshortener: Whenpostingalinkacrossmultiplesitesontheweb.Asdiscussedearlier,it’saloteasiertotrackandchangeonelinkinoneplace,ratherthanhuntdownallversionsofitpostedacrossyourmarketingchannelsandmakethenecessarychanges.Andthat’sassumingyoucanevenmakethosechanges. Youshoulduseshortlinksinallsocialprofilebio’s–forthesamereason. YoushouldnotuseaURLshortener: Whenlinkingfromonepageofyourownsitetoanother.Especiallyifyouareusinganchortext–whichyoushouldalmostalwaysdo.There’snoneedforadditionaltrackinghere,asyoushouldbeabletoseeyourresultsclearlyinGoogleAnalytics.YouareusingGoogleAnalytics,right?. Whensendinganemailorchatmessagetofriends.There’snoneedtoshortenyourlink.Youcanembedthelinkinanchortextorjustpasteitrightinthere.YourfriendtrustsyousothereisnoneedtoworryaboutthemnotclickingduetoafunkylookingorlengthyURL. FinalThoughts Ifyou’reontheinternetatall,you’vegottobeusingaURLshortener.Whetherit’sforpersonaluseasaproductivityhack,ortotrackandreportonresultsforyourbusiness…UseaURLshortener. Ifyoudon’tchooseRebrandly,sobeit.Iwillmissyou,butthat’sOK.Dowhat’srightforyouandyourbusiness.Youcancheckoutsomeofyourotheroptionshere. IfyoudochooseRebrandly,I’llloveyouforeverandsendyou(invisible)chocolateinthemaileverymonthtoremindyouofhowawesomeyouare. Nomatterwhat,Ihighlyrecommendgettingyourowncustomdomain,asIdidwithDerric.link.Therearesomanycoolthingsyoucandofromtheretoimpressyourfriends, saveyoutimeandboostyourmarketingstrategy. Whatdoyouthink?What’syourfavoritelinkshortener?Areyoustillstrugglingtotrackyourlinksproperly?I’dlovetohearyourthoughtsinthecommentsbelow. FurtherReading: ThesixbestURLshortenerandhowtochoosetherightone TheentirehistoryofURLshorteners 101waystouseacustomURLshortener URLshortenerAPI:Howtointegratewithalinkshortener ThisArticleisAbout: URLShortening URLShorteners LinkRetargeting LinkTracking OriginallyPosted:July05th,2018. PostUpdated:November2th,2021. SaveSave SaveSave Related DerricHaynie HeadofGrowthatRebrandly.Derricisalifelongentrepreneurandpassionateabouthelpingstartupsandmarketersnotsuck.Hespeaks,practices,andblogsaboutgrowthanddigitalmarketingonRebrandlyandacrosstheuniverse. Searchfor: Categories AboutRebrandly(22) BrandedLinks(56) ContentMarketing(13) DigitalMarketing(80) DomainNames(13) OnlineBranding(78) SEOandAnalytics(16) SMSMarketing(6) SocialMediaMarketing(39) RecentPosts Thesimplescienceofeffectivesocialmediaposts November26,2021 Howtobuildabrand:AguidefromRebrandlyandHubSpot November19,2021 ZapierwithBrandedLinks November12,2021 WhatisaURLShortener? November2,2021 Top10BrandingInfographics October25,2021