Our best URL shorteners lineup comprises of names that allow you to cut down the extra character clutter in your web address. When you give your links the ‘shrink’ treatment by running it through any of the following programs, you’ll be left with a sliced up version of the same that shouldn’t exceed more than 20 characters. You can then freely paste your petite set of alphabets, numbers and special characters across different blogs or forums, email messages, Facebook pages and of course, Twitter without having to worry whether it will exceed the word limit. The services listed here help you reach a wider audience and even boost your online business. Each one proffers some pretty interesting features apart from just posing to be a virtual sushi chef.
1 – bitly:
‘Do more with your links,’ is the call to arms here. As the brains behind this endeavor reveals, the website powers over 10,000 custom short URLs. Besides just dicing your web address, it also has the ability to group links around a particular theme, either publicly or privately. You can further ‘count your clicks’ and fathom just how famous your link has become. The site also provides one-stop sharing which allows you to distribute your links via Twitter, Facebook and email. There’s even an iPhone app which is available for free on iTunes.
2 – BudURL:
This entrant in our roster of URL shorteners provides minimized links for online and mobile campaign management, as stated by the developer. With the help of this virtual buddy, you’ll be able to post profile links on social network sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter as well as send emails to respective clients. What’s more, you can also add notes and detailed analytics to your links.
Some of the site’s other features include an intuitive dashboard that displays your daily activity, a geo-IP database for a global view, click analytics, integrated Twitter Listening, easy link management and QR Code integration. While BudURL can be yours for $8 per month, you can also take advantage of the Pro version which starts at $24 per month.
3 – is.gd:
Our next option jumps right in with the tagline, ‘compress that address.’ The free service lets you shorten any web address so that you can slap it across Twitter and even send it to a phone via SMS without having to worry about exceeding the specified word limit.
And besides just shrinking the line, you can even add a meaningful address to it instead of the website randomly picking one for you.
4 – TinyURL:
By turning to this particular inclusion in our URL shorteners array, you’ll be able to create short aliases for all your long web addresses. These tiny links never expire and won’t even break while sending them via email postings. Furthermore, you can also add TinyURL to your browser’s toolbar. By doing this, you’ll be able to create a concise link of the current page with just one click of a button. The free-to-use website even forays onto the scene with a new Preview feature.
5 – Ow.ly:
Through this interesting option, you can seamlessly shorten URLS, track visits and even share files with other individuals. Ow.ly provides an online application that has the ability to see who you follow as well as begin to follow new individuals. It can even update your profile, read tweets strewn across your timeline and post tweets on your behalf.
6 – su.pr:
This one is plucked right out from the house of StumbleUpon. It reveals real time traffic analytics and even suggests the best time of the day to post your links. What’s more, the handy service also displays the number of followers on Twitter. There are even a few check boxes that read as Schedule for later, Facebook and Twitter located just under the URL shortening bar. You’ll also be able to check out your su.pr stats through sections such as Most Popular, Recently Posted and Scheduled. Now in order to use this free service, you’ll have to sign in to your StumbleUpon account.
7 – Goo.gl:
The Mountain View based company has also joined the bandwagon by providing a URL reducer of its own so that fans of the service may get their very own spliced web address without having to look elsewhere. This contender in our URL shorteners roundup has the ability to portray real time click analytics for the past 2 hours, day, week, month or all time. On the homepage itself, you can easily spot all your shortening activities and even acquire details about the same.
8 – fur.ly:
Through this particular gem, you can shrink not just one link but multiple ones and wrap them up neatly into a single bundle. Simply enter one web address after another and hit the Go button. What you ultimately get is one distinct link that will open to your desired URL pages in succession. The site can handle up to 50 such addresses. You even have the option of punching in a custom URL name in case you want to add that personal touch to your amalgamation.
Conclusion:
Ever since the little blue Twitter birdie gained extensive popularity around the globe, URL trimmers have been a much sought after service. The social networking website which was founded in 2006 forces you to summarize everything you want to say in just 140 characters. Well, now if you want your tweets to reveal more than just a lengthy URL, we suggest you put it through the shortening process by employing any of the aforesaid best URL shorteners. What you’ll get is a tinier version of your URL as well as much more space to speak your mind. So go ahead, give them a try and return with mentions of your favorites.