What is a URL Shortener?
We’ve compiled the top URL shorteners in this post so you may create short links that lead consumers to larger connections. Some of these solutions also let you employ tracking pixels to retarget visitors and track links through click reports and campaigns.
A URL shortener is a tool that generates a brief, distinctive URL that directs users to a certain website of their choice.
In essence, they simplify and shorten URLs. Your new, shorter URL will typically contain the URL of the URL shortener website along with a string of random letters.
A URL like animalplanet.com/tv-shows/puppy-bowl/full-episodes/puppy-bowl-xvi, for instance, would produce the link ow.ly/uK2f50AJDI6 when entered into the Hootsuite Ow.ly link shortener. The link is reduced by 48 letters as a result.
The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address is a fantastic tool for finding online information and navigating the internet. Sending crucial information to others quickly through the Internet involves sharing links to files and web pages.
Although links are quite helpful, some of them can grow lengthy and be challenging to distribute across several platforms. Long links are not only difficult to read and ugly but they also cannot be shared on networks with character limits like Twitter and Microsoft Teams.
Which is a characteristic of a shortened URL?
A shortened URL will make your tweets look less cluttered and will not require your followers to guess what the link is about because you have room to talk about it in brief. Posting too many lengthy URLs without descriptions will no doubt get you unfollowed.
Pros:
- Attractive: Using URL Shorteners on Online Social Media exactly started or we can say became popular due to Twitter
- Link Analytics: Nowadays the majority of URL Shortening services provide a new feature, Tracking
- Customization: URL Shortening services also provide another feature that helps the user to customize the shortened link
Cons:
- Abuse: URL Shortening services are a great source for spammers and hackers to get a hold of the victim’s computer
- Dead Link: If the shortening service, that was used to shorten the URL is discontinued, Link will stop working
- Blocking: Some Social Media Platform do not accept shortened Links
List of Top 10 URL Shortener in 2022:
If you’re going to share a link, there are a lot of solid reasons to utilize a URL shortener.
1. JotURL:
Check out JotURL’s capabilities if you’re seeking a versatile URL shortener that will be a valuable addition to your marketing arsenal. Making branded short links and viewing insightful data is simple with JotURL. Additionally, it will eliminate bots so that your data is not distorted. You may A/B test short links, add calls-to-action, route traffic according to geographic regions, and more.
JotURL is fantastic for teams as well. You can organize your content and links into teams and projects so that you can keep track of them independently. You can then quickly compare these projects on your analytics dashboard by using filters for keywords, brands, channels, sources, etc., and sharing or exporting these data to your team, clients, and partners.
Bots are blocked out so that your analytics are not distorted, which is another excellent function. InstaURL, a tool for linking your Instagram bio, and WhatsURL, which gives you a special link for WhatsApp users, are additional features.
2. BLINK:
Another popular URL shortener is BLINK, whose clientele includes organizations like Target, Coca-Cola, UPS, and the Seattle Seahawks. Link management and branded URLs are two of this tool’s most notable capabilities.
You can use the Firefox and Chrome extensions provided by BLINK to shorten URLs directly from the dashboard. Additionally, you may use tags to group particular links and refine searches to find them quickly. Branded URLs are available to all premium users, and the keywords you use after the forward slash can be changed.
As you use BLINK to shorten URLs, you’ll see a tonne of data accumulating in the dashboard. The most common of these are click counts, with outputs that include total clicks, location, browser, and device type. The maximum number of link clicks that can appear in these reports varies depending on the plan. Fortunately, even when you reach these limits, the application will continue to reroute users to your page.
3. Sniply:
Sniply may be the right solution for you if your goal is to use content curation to significantly increase conversion rates. Sniply allows you to make brief, personalized links to articles, blog posts, and websites. It’s simple to post these links on social media. Users are directed to the pertinent content when they click on these succinct “Snips,” but the web page also features the Snip you prepared beside your Call-To-Action.
Not only that. The CTA can be used as many times as you like, or you can make new CTAs for various campaigns. On the analytics dashboard, you can see the numbers for clicks, conversions, and campaigns.
4. T2M:
T2M is another intriguing competitor on our list of the top URL shorteners. The ease of use of this link-shortening service will win you over. They offer two distinct dashboards to make URL tracking simpler. The first is for location analytics, and the second is for a platform or device. In addition to the brief URL, a QR code is also generated.
Because T2M uses dedicated instances, each user will receive a server response that is entirely focused on them. This guarantees a quick redirect to your desired URL. You can choose where the link should go or make short, customized URLs that will attract more hits.
You can build more sophisticated URLs with the premium subscription, including vanity URLs and password-protected URLs. It’s the ideal option for online businesses looking for flexible, brief URLs.
5. Goo.gl:
Another URL shortener that may be used to acquire a shortened link rapidly is Goo.gl. You can go to the app and copy and paste the link you want to shorten if you have a Google account. Tracking and analytics services are also provided by Goo.gl, however, you should be aware that the data is posted publically for everyone to see. The data will appear at the bottom of your screen after you submit the URL to be shortened. This is a cool method to view a list of all the shortened links in one location. To keep track of the links you’ve shortened, this can be useful.
Goo.gl also gives you the chance to benefit from the knowledge you have gained via the analytics tool. You may determine what your audience wants from you in your next post by finding out who is clicking on your links. Sadly, Goo.gl will be shut down in March 2019, although links will still lead to their intended locations.
6. Rebrandly:
Rebrandly is another excellent URL shortener that can be used by anyone who needs to shorten links for publishing on social media and other uses. Using this application, a user can make unique short links that match the brand of the business. Additionally, unlike other link shortening tools, it permits altering of already produced links. This makes this gadget special and practical if you want to alter links. Any significant social media platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, can be used to spread the links. It has even been reported to increase click rates by more than 30%.
You can create 1,000 short links with a free account. There are also paid plans available if you require more. Depending on what you need, these options are priced from $19 to $499 per month. If you want to rename your links as your own, Rebrandly is fantastic.
7. BudURL:
Another online tool that can help you shorten URLs for use in emails, social media posts, and other places is BudURL. The intriguing element that sets this product apart from the competition is the breadth of its tracking and management capabilities. This makes it simple to share wherever you need to. Additionally, you may publish your link and change the destination at a later time, edit your material based on your location and device, and have complete privacy and control over your information.
You may find out how many people have clicked on your link by just pressing a button. Plans for the service start at $99 per month, but it is well worth the cost. BudURL’s link shortening service guarantees data freedom and assures you that your security will never be jeopardized.
8. Linktree:
Linktree is a site that offers more than just URL shortening. It is a service that lets you add a list of links to a profile instead (like this one). You add the links to your Linktree rather than listing them all on each social media post or shape. Your social biographies are then updated with their URL.
For networks like Instagram where you can only add one link to your profile, the Linktree tool is fantastic. The best feature of Linktree is that it offers a short, user-friendly URL structure that feels and looks like a shortened link (for instance, linktr.ee/yourname).
You won’t have to stuff a giant, spammy-looking URL into your Instagram bio. Additionally, it offers analytics so you can see how many times your Linktree profile is visited and which links are most commonly clicked.
9. Short.io:
Most URL shorteners will be happy to let you know where people are clicking on your links and what devices they are using, but Short.io goes one step further by letting you send users to a different site based on their location or device. This is helpful if you want to ensure that consumers in America and Canada see the appropriate currency or that iOS users and Android users receive the appropriate app download link.
You can choose how to target your clickers and what link to deliver them by clicking the Apple, Android, or globe icons when you add a link. Of course, you could send completely separate messages to PC users and iOS users, but it would probably be very confusing for everyone, including you. It’s preferable to utilize this function sparingly and only when you have a good reason to direct different visitors to slightly different web pages.
Other than that, Short.io is a fantastic URL shortener. However, unlike other alternatives, you must use your custom domain. (Last year, I could create a test account with a short.gy domain; this year, I had to specify the URL I wanted to use to sign up.) In the Statistics and Clicks Stream sections, you can examine in great detail when, where, and how people are clicking on your links. You can also designate a fallback URL for any broken short links.
10. ClickMeter:
ClickMeter is more of a click-rate optimizer than a URL shortener. Numerous features will enable you to construct a URL with few clicks. ClickMeter is more geared toward marketers and marketing firms that work with Google AdWords or other ad networks.
For webmasters with a worldwide readership and who speak several languages, it works like a charm. You may easily interface with well-liked content management systems like Shopify and WordPress in addition to location-based targeting. The dashboard for Clickmeter offers a thorough analysis report.
Conclusion:
When shortening lengthy and complex URLs, URL shorteners come in extremely handy. Short URLs are more memorable and convenient to share. Therefore, you should cut down on the number of characters in your URL and make it simple to read and remember if you want your audience to remember or share your website link with their peers. The ideal course of action, nevertheless, would be to keep in mind the instances in which you don’t need to try to lessen the link, such as when you’re emailing your pals.