12 of the Best Link Shorteners That Aren't the Google URL ...

A URL shortener is a tool that creates a short, unique URL that will ... Business card using a short link generated by Bit.ly URL shortener Skiptocontent AgoodURLshortener(akalinkshortener)letsyoudotwothings:1.Sharelinksthatdon’tusetoomanycharacters.2.Measureperformance. WithURLshorteners,anylongandunwieldywebsiteaddresscanbereducedtojustafewcharactersintheclickofabutton. Anyonewithaninternetbrowsercanuselinkshorteners:socialmediamanagers,regulareverydayFacebookmoms,smallbusinessowners,TikToktweensofallheights—andyou! Here’severythingyouneedtoknowabouthowtouseURLshorteners,andwhytheyshouldbeanessentialpartofyoursocialmediatoolkit. TableofContents WhatisaURLshortener? WhyuseaURLshortener? HowdoURLshortenerswork? 10URLshortenerstotrybesidestheGooglelinkshortener Bonus:Getafreesocialmediastrategytemplate toquicklyandeasilyplanyourownstrategy.Alsouseittotrackresultsandpresenttheplantoyourboss,teammates,andclients. WhatisaURLshortener? AURLshortenerisatoolthatcreatesashort,uniqueURLthatwillredirecttothespecificwebsiteofyourchoosing. Basically:theymakeaURLshorterandsimpler. Yournew,shorterURLwilltypicallyincludetheshortenersite’saddress,plusacombinationofrandomletters. Forexample,ifIpunchedinaURLlikeanimalplanet.com/tv-shows/puppy-bowl/full-episodes/puppy-bowl-xviintotheHootsuiteOw.ly linkshortener,itwouldgenerateow.ly/uK2f50AJDI6.Thiscutsthelinkdownby48letters,butstillgivesyouaccesstocutedogsdoingabadjobofplayingfootball. Insomecases,youcanevencustomizethisminiURLwithacustomphrase.Oh,thepower! WhyuseaURLshortener? TherearealotofgoodreasonstouseaURLshortenerifyou’regoingtobesharingalink. Long,unrulylinkslooksuspicious Ifyou’relinkingtoaspecificpageburieddeeponyourwebsite,orareusingUTMparameterstotrackyourvisitors,youmightfindyourselfwrestlingwithalengthyURL. Source:Twitter AnoversizedURLwilllookclunkyprettymuchanywhereyouuseit—insocialposts,sharedviatext,pastedintoanemail. Butworsethanthat,longURLsalsolooksupersuspicious.Withsomanylettersandbackslashesandnumbersandquestionmarks,anythingcouldhappenwhenweclickthatlink!Anything! Keepthingslookingneat,tidyand,well,friendlywithaURLthat’sasshortaspossible. AcustomURLshortenerletsyoubrandyourlinks Ifbrandawarenessispartofyoursocialmediastrategy,acustomURLshortenerisonemoretooltohelpspreadtheword. URLshortenersthatallowyoutocustomizeyourshortlinkofferachancetonamedropyourbrand.Hootsuite’slinkshortener,forexample,letsyoucreateavanityshortlinkinjustafewclicks. Especiallyifyou’reusingafreewebhostingservice,orhaveanISPthat’slessthanexciting,acustomURLshortenerisawaytokeepyourbrandfrontandcenterwheneveryou’resharinglinks. Linkshortenersallowyoutotrackperformance Mostlinkshorteningsiteswilloffertrackingmetrics.Thisisinformationaboutwhoclickedyourlink,where,andwhen—informationthatwillhelpyoucalculatethecampaign’sROI. Toeasilytracksourcetraffic,createavarietyofshortlinksusingdifferentUTMparameters.Combinethiswithotheranalyticstools—likeGoogleAnalytics—andyou’resettingyourselfupformarketingsuccess. Source:Bitl.ly ShortURLsallowyoutogetthemostoutofcharacterlimitsonsocialmedia Twitterhasastrictcharacterlimitof280,sokeepingpostsconciseiskey.ShortenedURLsgiveyouthatmuchmoreroomforthatpoignantobservationaboutpolitics,ortheperfectpunctuatingemojiforyourkillerjokeabouthotdogs. Source:Twitterscreenshot EvenforpostsonFacebookorInstagram,wherethecharacterlimitsareinthethousands,it’sstillbestforreadabilityandengagementtokeepthingsshortandsweet.ShortURLshelpavoidTL;DRsyndrome. Anotherbenefitofshorterlinks:they’realsousefulforIMoremail,wherelongerlinksmaybehardtoread,ordisruptedalltogetherbylinebreaks. Shorterlinksaremorememorable BeyondthefunctionalbenefitsofashortenedURL,they’rejustsnappierandeasiertoremember. IfaweddingpublicationistryingtocollectsubmissionsonaGoogleForm,forexample,directingfollowerstodocs.google.com/forms/d/1ezpZnYSA08L3nlsLzgjKToA76qKYgFpKzW5FMaKLoxIisabitofamouthful.Acustomshortlinklikebit.ly/submitRW,ontheotherhand,iseasytounderstandandrecall. Tryoutashortlinkonbusinesscards,printads,orphysicalsignage.Ifpeoplecanactuallytypeintotheirbrowserwithjustafewkeystrokes,you’remorelikelytoearnsometraffic. Source:UnsplashplussomecreativeworkonCanva HowdoURLshortenerswork? URLshortenersworkbycreatingaredirecttoyourlongURL. EnteringaURLintoyourinternetbrowsersendsanHTTPrequesttothewebservertopullupaspecificwebsite.ThelongandtheshortURLsarebothsimplydifferentstartingpointsforaninternetbrowsertogetthesamedestination. ThereareafewdifferenttypesofredirectHTTPresponsecodes,butlookforonesthatusea301permanentredirect:theothervarietiesmayhurtyourSEOranking. 10URLshortenerstotrybesidestheGooglelinkshortener TheGoogleURLshortenerwasshutdownbackinspring2019,butonthebrightside,therearedozensofalternativeoptionsoutthere. Onthedownside…therearedozensofalternativeoptionsoutthere.Howdoyouknowwhichtochoose? Ouradvice:lookforshortenerservicesthatallowyoutocustomizeyourlink,orthathavebuilt-inanalytics.AURLshorteningsitethat’sbeenaroundawhilemightalsobemorereliableandreputable,likelytoavoidserviceclosureordisruption. URLshortener#1:Ow.ly OwlyisintegratedrightintotheHootsuiteplatform,andisincludedwitheveryplantype(includingthefreeversion). Thebenefitsherearethatyoucanseeyourshortlinkmetricsrightalongsideyourothersocialanalytics,soyoucanviewtheperformanceofyourbrandholistically. Source:Ow.ly URLshortener#2:T.co Twitterfeaturesabuilt-infreeURLshortenerthatautomaticallyreducesanylongURLdownto23characters,leavingyouplentyofroomtoexpressyourself. Anylinkyoushare—evenanalreadyshortenedone!—willbetransformedintoat.coURLsothatTwittercanrecordmetrics,andsiftoutanyspammyordangeroussites. URLshortener#3:Bitly There’satonofdatatochewonifyouuseBitly.Here,youcanseeeachlink’sperformancewithmetricslikedemographicdata,referralsources,andclick-throughsviatherobustBitlydashboard. Afreeaccountoffersanalyticsandcustomizationforoneindividual,butBasicandEnterprisesubscriptionsareavailabletoo,whichofferbrandedlinks,QRcodes,richerdataandmultipleusers. Source:Bit.ly URLshortener#4:TinyURL Thesiteitselfisn’tgoingtowinanydesignawards,butwhocares?Itdoeseverythingyouneed:createatinynewURL.Customizationispossiblewithoutloggingin,makingitanefficientoptionwhenyou’reinarushtosharethelatestepisodeofyourMasterChefJuniorpodcast. Onecoolfeaturehere:youcanaddTinyURLtoyourbrowsertoolbar,soyoucancreateshortlinksforwhateversiteyou’recurrentlyon. Source:Tiny.url URLshortener#5:Rebrandly WithRebrandly,youcancreateabrandedshortlinkofyourownwithacustomdomain—evenwithafreeaccount. SujindersCookiePalace.commightbeagreatmainURLtohave,butwhenitcomestoshareonsocial,thatcharactercountaddsup.Ashort,brandedURLjustforlinksharing,likesu.jinders,stillgetsyourbusinessnameinthere,withouttakinguppreciousspace. Plus,Rebrandlyfeaturesbothtracking,optimization,andscalingtoolsintheirvarietyofpackages(paidoptionsstartingfrom$29monthly). Source:Rebrandly Bonus:Getafreesocialmediastrategytemplate toquicklyandeasilyplanyourownstrategy.Alsouseittotrackresultsandpresenttheplantoyourboss,teammates,andclients. Getthetemplatenow! URLshortener#6:Hyperlink Getreal-timenotificationswhenlinksareclickedwiththehelpofHyperlink,orchangethesettingstohourly,daily,orweeklysummaries. Hyperlinkalsoprovidesper-clickdetails:findoutthedevice,location,andreferralinfoforeveryvisitor,andalivetrackingdashboard. Theapp(foriOSandAndroid)isanicecomplementtotheChromeextension,forthosewhoneedtosharelinksonthego.(You’rebusy!Wegetit!) Customdomainsareavailablewithpaidplans,whichstartat$39permonth. Source:Hyperlink URLshortener#7:Tiny.CC Shorten,track,andmanageyourURLsquicklywithTiny.CC’ssimpleinterface. CustomURLslugsareavailable,andifyouregisteranaccount,youcantrackthestatsfortheshortlink. Source:Tiny.cc URLshortener#8:Bit.Do Bit.Doisanothersimpleandsweetoptionthathasallyouneed:theabilitytocustomize,trafficstats,andevenanautomaticQRcodegenerator. Shortbrandeddomainsareavailableheretoo,butthepricingisabitmorethantheothersonthislistat$85amonth,soyoumightbebetteroffchoosinganotherserviceifbrandedshortenedURLsarethewayyouwanttogo. Source:Bit.do URLshortener#9:ClickMeter ClickMeter’snicevisualdashboardmakesithandytogetthemostfromyourlinks. Ataglance,youcanmonitorbrokenlinksandlatency,findthevisitorsyieldingthebestconversionrates,trackviewsandclicks,andmore. Withpackagesstartingfrom$29amonth,it’safavoriteofagenciesandpublishersforitsrobustofferings—andhandylinkshorteningfunctionality,ofcourse. Source:ClickMeter URLshortener#10:Shorte.ST Dataisvaluableforyourinsights,right?Well,third-partycompaniesareofteninterestedinthatinformation,too,whichiswhyacottageindustryhaspoppedupofbusinessesthatactuallypayyoutoshortenyourlinkswiththem. Shorte.STisoneofthehigherpayingURLshortenersofthemanyontheweb,withpayoutratesvaryingdependingonyouraudience’sgeography.(Forexample,Shorte.STpays$14.04CPMforU.S.traffic.) Inadditiontocoldhardcash,Shorte.SToffersadashboardofthoroughstatsforreview. Source:Shorte.St URLshortener#11:Cut.Ly Youdon’tneedanaccounttouseCut.Ly,oreventocustomizetheURL,butanaccountwillgetyouaccesstoreal-timeanalytics,includingclick-throughsandsocialmediareferrals. Cut.LyalsohasafreecustomURLshortenerbuttonyoucanaddtoyourbrowsertoolbar,soshorteningyourlinkjusttakesoneclick. Source:Cuttly URLshortener#12:Clkim ThesmartredirectsofClkim’ssystemare,well,smart.Basedoncontextualtriggers,theURLcanredirectusersbasedonmobileoperatingsystemorgeography,sothey’reaccessingyoursiteinawaythatworksbestforthem. There’salsotheoptiontododestinationA/Btestingtolearnwhichlandingpageconvertsbetter.Plus,Clkimoffersretargetingbasedoncustomlistsofpeoplewhohaveclickedonyourshortlist. Source:Clkim Thebottomline:Whatevercombinationofspeedanddetailyouneed,there’saURLshorteningserviceoutthereforyourlengthylink.Tryafew,trythemall—justmakesuretokeepitshortandsweet. DrivemoretraffictoyourwebsiteandsavetimewithHootsuite.Fromasingledashboardyoucanmanageallyoursocialmediaprofiles,shortenlinksinoneclick,measuresuccess,andmore.Tryitforfree. GetStarted EasilymanageallyoursocialmediainoneplaceandsavetimewithHootsuite. TryitforFree ShowComments x Wellthisisawkward. WecouldhaveSWORNyouweresomeonewhowantedtoblowyourcompetitionoutofthewateronsocialmedia.Ourbad.We’lljustleavethis60-dayfreetrialhereforsomeoneelsethen… StartYourFree60-DayTrial Normally,thefreetrialwouldbefor30days Offerexpiresin04m 20s Norisk,allreward.Cancelanytimewithin60days TryitforFree TryitforFree ThankYou