Many internet and social media marketers often put more effort than needed when creating a compelling content. Some forgets how they should use URL shorteners to their advantage. The little string of characters are more than they seem to be.
URL shortening services are experiencing a massive rise in the age of Twitter. On the social media where every character counts, these services reduce long URLs to tiny forms. Since the rise of social media and the power of sharing, many web services offer URL shortening capabilities. While it's not a new concept and it has been around since 2002 with TinyURL, URL shorteners are popular because they have a special role in marketing.
Twitter is known to be the social media that restrict posts within 140-characters. While to some this is burden, but to others this is Twitter's main advantage; small, straightforward and no gimmicks. When you have more remaining characters you can use, adding hashtags for example, can target the post to more specific audience.
As a start, the benefit of a shortened URL is better flexibility. With less characters to make a link, you can essentially make the link to your web content easier to remember and less prone to be misspelled. It allows you for easier link management, like for example redirecting expired URLs much easier. And because of its short form, it also takes less space in every place it is put on: from SMS, social media networks to any filling forms.
Beside all the above, short URL also appeal more aesthetic to viewers.
Tracking People's Engagements
Having all the above benefits, the main reason why you should use URL shorter is to be provided with the data on how people behave when they're faced with your shortened URLs.
An ordinary "long" URL has a very limited tracking ability. Because of this main disadvantage, you won't be able to track people's real-time engagement or clicks. By having your URL shortened, you have the ability to track people with the detailed metrics you're given. This in turn will benefit your marketing efforts.
Why You Should Have Your Own URL Service
While there are more than plenty or URL shortener services out there, there is always a benefit for using your own URL shortener. The main advantage of using your own is branding.
By hosting your own URL shortener service, you get to use your own short domain name. Beside being cheaper to some extent, you have full control of your URL: you only have the metrics, and the name of your brand will rise the more your shortened links are shared.
To host your own URL shortener service, the first thing that you should think is your brand name's short form. It can be an abbreviation of it, or an initial, or others. The second thing you must consider is the number of characters. The less the characters the better, but you should always make sure that even in its shortest form, your shortened URL domain name should reflect your brand's name.
So your brand's name, then the number of characters.
Why You Shouldn't Have Your Own URL Service
While the benefits of hosting your own URL shortener service could be more beneficial to both your brand and your marketing effort, there are also reasons why you shouldn't own one.
Building your own service as a complementary to what you do is like reinventing the wheel that isn't there yet. If you do something wrong, you may break down your service. If your hosted service is down, all of shortened links created with the service will be offline.
As a social marketer, you must have acknowledge that there is nothing more annoying that reading an interesting post that has a dead link on it.
Besides some technical issues you may have in hosting one, fixing the delays could damage you more resources and cost.
Cautions When Seeing A Shortened Link
An shortened URL looks more appealing and somehow mysterious. The mystery is the curiosity of wandering what is the real link and what page is it heading us to?
As a social media marketer, using shortened links should be common for you. But to visitors, you should be aware that they may not like your link.
Some good rule when seeing a shortened link: Know who send it. Never trust a link when seeing it from those you don't know because they might be malicious. Free URL shortener services also on't allow users to see the real link before clicking the link (unless the site where the link is posted use embed service).
So when a potential visitor sees you links somewhere on the web, he/she has the chance to click it, or leave, because of that particular reason.
Related: Using URL Shortening Services