What are URL Shorteners?
A URL shortener is a tool or service that lets you create unique, short URLs for redirection to a particular website or webpage. You can identify a shortener link as it mentions the tool’s name along with a combination of random alphabets.
How do URL Shorteners Work?
URL shorteners basically redirect a created link to your website. When a link is entered into a browser, it sends out an HTTP request to a particular website. The shortened URL serves as a starting point to a website in the same way a lengthy URL would.
4 Main Benefits of URL shorteners
- Clean and trustworthy URLs: URL shorteners help you convert a lengthy link into a shorter one. When you’re linking a website or a buried webpage of a website, the original links can often turn out to be extremely lengthy. They also come with a combination of random letters, symbols, and numbers that might make a link look suspicious, thus making people hesitant to click on it. URL shorteners help you take a cleaner approach to share links and also make it feel more trustworthy, so there are increased chances of people clicking your link.
- Create branded links: Some URL shortener tools let you create customized URLs to include your brand name. If you’re looking to bring more attention towards your brand and promote your business, using a branded link can help you drive better traffic towards your brand.
- Maximize social media character counts: Social media platforms like Twitter have a character limit on each written post. With the numerous characters present in a lengthy URL, it is difficult to express your relevant content along with it due to limited space. URL shorteners help reduce the number of characters and symbols present in a link and give you more area to pen down your thoughts while sharing a post on social media.
- Track link performance: Some URL shortener services also provide you with the tools that help you track link performance. You can track the number of clicks, how many page visits, the location of clicks, and much more.
Top 8 URL Shorteners for Brands to Track Marketing Operations
- Bit.ly: It is one of the most famous URL shorteners that provides you with numerous features to help you track brand engagements. You can access data such as the number of clicks, who is clicking, the demographic of the people who have visited your links, and also the source of the click. Bit.ly is a free tool that also has paid plans if you want access to more in-depth features.
- Pixelfy.me: A URL shortener tool that allows you to create custom URLs for your brand. It is perfect to use for marketing campaigns as it lets you track link performance, responses, detailed analytics, and more. Pixelfy comes with paid plans but has the option of free trials, so you get the chance to use and understand all its features before jumping in.
- Rebrandly: This URL shortener tool is highly functional as it comes with numerous features that help you boost link performance. The tool lets you create branded URLs that you can further optimize for better reach. It also allows you to track each click and view, and has collaborative features as well. Rebrandly comes with paid plans, but you can also sign up for a free account to understand how it works.
- Sniply: It is a URL shortening tool that allows you to add a call to action (CTA) to your links. It lets you customize links with the needed message, such as signing up or registering for a particular service. Sniply has features that allow you to track link engagements and responses and can also integrate with other tools.
- Cuttly: This URL shortening tool allows you to create custom links without having to sign up for an account. An account is required when you want to access data such as link analytics, referral data, etc. Cuttly lets you create QR codes and gives you analytics about click sources, devices, browsers, etc.
- BLI.NK: It is a URL shortener designed especially for enterprises and teams. BLI.NK lets you create custom URLs with your brand name, track click, and get real-time metrics, which makes it perfect for brand marketing campaigns.
- Short.io: This URL shortener lets you create target links for your audience in different locations using different devices. For example, you can send app links for android and iOS devices with custom links for each. Short.io provides features to track responses and engagement with each custom link that you create.
- ClickMeter: This URL shortener tool provides you with a clean visual dashboard to monitor broken links, track clicks, latency, etc. It comes with reasonably paid plans which makes it reasonable for agencies or publishing houses.
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