Nowadays, we deal with URLs everywhere in the digital era. There are 101 ways a marketer can use their URL in a marketing campaign, from sharing links to get blog traffic to selling products on an e-commerce website to helping the audience download your latest content or resource.
You have seen that many URLs are lengthy, unfriendly, or ugly. Here, URL shorteners come into play. It is a process that makes it easier to share across the board when linking up your URLs. It makes links much more manageable, looks better, and is simple, clean, and easy to share. But the question remains: When you have plenty of choices at hand, how can you choose the best of them?
So, below, we have written the ultimate guide to the best URL shorteners. You can easily choose from all the products currently on the market.
Table of contents
What is a URL Shortener?
A URL shortener is an online solution that will reduce URL (Uniform Resource Locator) size. And switch it to a shorter, more controlled webpage link. Below, we have given an example which might be helpful to you to understand:
Actual URL: https://example.com/some-really-long-and-complicated-url
URL Short: https://short.ly/abcd
See, it is quite a shorter, friendlier link. You can share it with people on social media sites, send messages, emails, and whatever you want. The most interesting part is that it has character limits. And your post’s overall setup or view looks clean and simple. Many people think creating a short URL is rocket science, but it is easy. And you can find many tools that can help you create your URL in a few seconds.
Why Use a URL Shortener?
So, before moving on to the next one. We will understand why you or anyone else needs URL shorteners and the advantages of using them.
Let’s walk through some of the reasons that would make you look into URL shorteners in your daily work.
Sharing short URLs on social media, especially on Twitter because of the word limit, is easy and useful. You can enter your URL without using many characters.
You have practically felt that short links look good and professional.
- It is easy to track clicks and analytics
- Using short URLs adds credibility and trust
- Helps to recall and type in URLs more easily
What are Best URL Shorteners?
Here are some of the best URL shorteners available on the internet.
Bitly
Pros:
- It allows users to create custom URLs in short format.
- You can track the number of clicks, geographical locations, sources of referrals, and many more.
- It is easy to integrate into loads of third-party apps and social media tools
- Bitly has a good interface, and it is easy to navigate.
Cons
- You cannot use many features in the free version
- There are few Custom URLs with the free plan
- Users are unable to delete short links once created.
TinyURL
Pros:
- It is Easy to use, and no account is required to use the service
- TinyURL Gives the option to create a custom alias
- Your Link will never expire
Cons:
- It has a Very basic analytics tool to monitor.
- Many features are missing that other tools provide
Rebrandly
Pros:
- You can create your custom domain
- It has a Historical analytics feature.
- It has detailed Analytics like another tool (Bitly)
- You can easily manage or edit your links with Rebrandly
- Users can create unlimited short links without any expiration dates.
Cons:
- It has advanced features that are available for advanced paid plans.
- It is not user-friendly for many users.
- There is less tracking information.
Ow.ly
Pros:
- If you are using Hootsuite for your business, then Ow.ly is a great option. It is particularly useful if you have a team of social media managers using it so that they can easily benefit from it.
- Users can add more detail tracking, which is better for complex social media accounts.
- Users can use its spam and dangerous links feature to avoid suspicious links.
Cons:
- You must have a Hootsuite account to use.
- If you do not have a Hootsuite account, its use is limited.
- It is not a pure URL shortening tool because the collaborative features sometimes get in your way.
BL.INK
Pros
- It is built for enterprise with full analytics because you can make team collaboration and use tracking features.
- You can create custom links for brand control and branded short links as well.
- It is the right choice for large and small businesses.
Cons
- It does not come cheap; it means you have to pay more compared to other tools. Especially for small organizations or individuals.
- It is too complex for its good, and overall, it is advanced for small-scale use.
T2M
Pros
- You can create unlimited Links, short URLs, and redirections.
- It has one of the best Analytics and monitoring tools.
- You can create a QR link to seed anywhere or share with any group or person.
Cons
- If you want to access advanced features, you will need to purchase its paid version.
- It has a basic interface, so you might find other tools that are more attractive than it.
- They do not offer Premium Consulting/Integration Services with free plan.
Pros and Cons of URL Shorteners
Every tool has two faces; it might be possible that you can make your job easy with it, but remember, it has some disadvantages as well. They are the same as URL shorteners, but they have two sides to them. Here are both the good and bad to give a more balanced look:
Pros
- Easy Shareable: It has the feature of sharing URLs easily. And managing social networks or messaging platforms are more convenient with short URLs.
- Simplicity: It has a professional and clean look.
- Branding: Users can use useful link analytics to optimize marketing strategies.
- Tractability: It strongly improves brand recognition and trust.
Cons:
- Uptime: For a reason, if a service goes down, short links could become inaccessible.
- Security: Sometimes shortened URLs can disguise malicious links. And they are working on them.
- Third-Party Dependency: They have Third-Party Dependency. So, there are risks if the service changes terms or shuts down.
- Trust Issues: It may be possible that users have trust issues when clicking on shortened URLs.
- Free Analytics Limitations: Their basic plans have similar limitations to paid versions. But you can use extra features in the paid version.
How to Choose the Right URL Shortener
The best URL shortener varies based on specific requirements. Consider the following:
- Goal: You must have an idea about your main goal behind using a URL shortener. The main reason you need a URL shortener could be anything. Including personal, business, or marketing campaigns.
- Features: Please cross-check what features the tool provides, such as Custom domains, analytics, link management, and desired features.
- Price: Always check and compare pricing plans. It helps get you the best and allows you to check free ones with basic functionality.
- User-Friendly: It does not matter which tool you should use. It must have a customer-friendly interface.
- Security: Kindly keep supporting security threats to save against harmful URLs.
- Integration: Kindly check if the URL shortener is Compatibility with other platforms and tools.
Conclusion
Indeed, URL shorteners are beneficial for simplifying links and tracking performance. And promoting your brand. Be it Bitly, which offers in-depth analytics. TinyURL for its simplicity, or Rebrandly for custom domains, you have many different options. You can choose among them to safely and efficiently share your links. Only some tools offer all the features, but you must select them per your needs. So, always check their features and compare prices before using or purchasing the URL shortener tool. Till then, take care of yourself. Happy shorting.
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