Bit.ly is a free online tool that is known as a simple URL shortener. With this tool, besides shortening your links, one of the big advantages for internet marketing, is the ability to track your URLs as well.
Why Use A URL Shortener
There are a few possible reasons why you might need to shorten a URL, such as:
1. You don’t have enough space for your long URL.
2. You don’t want to initially reveal where your user will be sent.
Space Limitations
Space limitations for a URL are a consideration when using microblogging tools, status updates, etc. For people who follow you as well as mobile users, a short URL allows you more room to convince people that your link is worthy of clicking.
Keeping The Destination Hidden
There are a few reasons for keeping the destination of the URL hidden. For one, perhaps you want the element of curiosity, for another you might not want the user to realise, before clicking, that the link is an affiliate link.
There are quite a few options for shortening your URL out there. The Bit.ly URL Shortener is one that offers one of the shortest URL options, allowing you extra digits for status line updates and has another benefit, too. It helps you track your clicks.
URL Tracking
You can often track when a URL is clicked on your own website but when you post an update on something like Twitter, Friendfeed, MySpace, Facebook, etcetera, it can be helpful to get an idea of how many people clicked on your link. Bit.ly offers this. When you login, you can see recent history of URLs shortened and how many times they have been clicked.
Other Features Of Bit.ly
When using the Bit.ly URL Shortener, you can add a bookmarklet to your browser so that you can quickly and easily shorten your links from the browser window, rather than having to visit the website each time. And, there is a preview tool that allows you to preview a Bit.ly link before you visit it so that when you’re considering visiting other people’s links, you can determine what the site is before you click.
A lot of internet marketers have their favourite tools and there are new tools that could benefit your internet marketing efforts being developed all the time. It is definitely advantageous for you to keep checking out new tools like the Bit.ly URL Shortener to see what they can do for you.
About Sean Rasmussen
The great thing that convinced me to switch over to bit.ly from other URL Shortening tools was the fact that you can integrate your bit.ly API Key with things such as update services for your blog. So every time you post a new article your twitter and/or facebook is updated with a message and your bit.ly URL – saves so much time.
Glad to hear you are making the most of bit.ly Cemil. I have certainly found it to be one of the most versatile URL shorteners available.
Regards – Sean
What I like about Bitly is the ability to provide detailed stats that other shorteners don’t. I am going to look at the other options it has
I remember as a newbie, I wondered, what the hell are these shortened URLs? When I learned it, I realised how helpful it is! And it takes 2 seconds to get one.. Maybe even less that that! There are some clever people out there coming up with cool things to make our lives a lot easier, that’s for sure.
I use bit.ly often and agree that it is a terrific tool.
However, I have been told (by those people who are anxious to tell me everything particularly the negatives) that a lot of people won’t click on a shortened URL because they fear spam and unsavory sites and such things. I have been advised not to use them but to use my proper URL so that people will trust and believe.
However on the other side I have also been advised (by a different group of well meaningers) that using the whole URL is an invitation to having your identity stolen and all sorts of terrible things that can happen to you in cyberspace.
So, I do both and hope I pick and choose the right mediums for each.
Thanks for the article.
There is no need to cloak your own URL’s Dobbs, unless you need to shorten them for places like Twitter.
Hi Sean,
I use the Bit.ly URL Shortener to shorten my links. I love being able to check and see how many clicks I am getting from my link. I will have to use Cemil’s suggestion and hook up my Bit.ly account with my API key so it updates Twitter and Facebook each time I add new content to my blog.
the url shortener is magic and Cemil’s tip is golden- oddly enuf just had a discussion with someone about this exact thing, if it could be automated to just shorten, so I will make sure he gets a fb, tweet and txt on bit.ly– just magic!
Hi Sean
This is a good article on using the Bit.ly URL shortener for internet marketing.
I would be inclined to do this on my affiliate marketing link to keep the destination hidden.