Member Avatar for Mark121

Hi,
Many peoples using url shorten except of original url path of sites in micro blogging like twitter, identi.ca, facebook. I want to know that use of url shorter is better except original url link of site in micro blogging or not and why ?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by qlipboard

Dani AI

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Quick expert summary that builds on the points raised by and others: URL shorteners are a practical tool for microblogging but they are not just "space savers." They can add measurement, campaign control and convenience — and they also introduce tradeoffs around trust, longevity and privacy. Several replies here already flag important angles: on SEO, on hidden destinations, and on using your own domain. Those are good starting points; this clarifies what to check and how to use shorteners responsibly.

What you gain (beyond a shorter string): analytics and click attribution, the ability to attach campaign tags consistently, simple A/B or redirect testing, and sometimes link-editing after creation. What you risk: users being wary because they cannot see the final domain, shortened links being blocked by filters, tracking or privacy concerns, and dependency on a third party (link rot if the service shuts down). Branded short domains or a self-hosted shortener reduce the trust and dependency problems.

Practical, low-effort checks and mitigations:

  • Verify the redirect type and headers before relying on a service (this confirms how search engines will treat the link).
  • Prefer services that support HTTPS and custom domains for trust.
  • Add visible context in the microblog post (page title or short note) so readers can judge a link before clicking.
  • Keep an exportable copy of analytics and a plan for link continuity if the provider changes policy.

Quick test (run from a terminal or ask a colleague who can): 

curl -I -L https://short.example/abcd

This shows the redirect chain and status codes. Use that result to confirm permanence, SSL and final destination before rolling short links into campaigns.

Recommended Answers

All 7 Replies

Member Avatar for Dani

People use short URLs for twitter because there is a low character limit and in most cases full URLs are too long to fit. If you care about SEO, make sure that you use a URL shortener that does a 301 Permanent Redirect to the full URL so that "seo juice" gets passed appropriately. I like the bit.ly service because it has nice performance tracking tools.

Member Avatar for joelchrist

Definitely, you could not use full links on micro blog. So it is more helpful.

Member Avatar for mackone

URL shortening done wrong is bad. Don't use anything besides those that are really serious. Right now, bit.ly is the best option.

Member Avatar for Mark121

Is there any other use of url shorter except it that it's convert link in short form ? If there are any other benefits to use url shortener so please share here.

Member Avatar for DavidB

People use short URLs for twitter because there is a low character limit and in most cases full URLs are too long to fit. If you care about SEO, make sure that you use a URL shortener that does a 301 Permanent Redirect to the full URL so that "seo juice" gets passed appropriately. I like the bit.ly service because it has nice performance tracking tools.

Hmmnnn . . . I have never tried bit.ly. This is good advice.

Have you ever tried snipurl.com? I am curious to know how the two services compare.
There is also a Plug-in for WordPress blogs that allows you to base a shortened URL on your own domain. However, if you are using Twitter, and are sensitive about character limit, I suppose site names don't get much shorter than bit.ly.

Member Avatar for qlipboard

The main argument against URL shortening services is that users don't know which domain they are being redirected to.

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