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The 6 Best URL Shorteners to Shorten Long Links

Automatically turn your long URLs into shorter, more shareable links

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Long web links are so old-fashioned, and boy! Do they ever look spammy . Making use of a good URL shortener to minimize the number of characters in a link is the way to go on the web these days, especially if you want to keep all your online friends and followers happy.

There are a lot of options for shortening your links, and some even provide additional services like link bookmarking and analytics on your clicks. Check out the following URL shortening providers that you can get started with using right away.

P.S. If you need to change your URL on your social network page, it's easy to do.

Bitly: the Most Popular URL Shortener

Bitly is at the top of the URL shortening game. It's one of the most widely used options out there, and you'll often find it integrated with lots of other services as well as third-party platforms like TweetDeck and TwitterFeed. With Bitly, you can track how many clicks your shortened links receive, plus bookmark and organize your links on your own personalized Bitly dashboard.

TinyURL.com: Good for Customizing Your URL

TinyURL used to be one of the top shortening choice in the past, and people still use it a lot today, however it does include a couple more characters compared to others like Bit.ly. With TinyURL, you can actually customize the end letters and numbers as an option. For example, a shortened link may be http://tinyurl.com/webtrends . This is a nice extra feature if branding is important to you or if you want to make your link easier to memorize.

Ow.ly: A Great Choice If You Like Using HootSuite

Another popular alternative, Ow.ly is a link shortener from the leading social media application known as HootSuite . You can shorten a link right away, although you’ll need to enter a CAPTCHA code. You can also share files, images, and videos easily with Ow.ly in all sorts of different formats. The real benefit of using this link shortener comes with using it in conjunction with HootSuite itself for all your social media marketing.

Is.gd: Keep It as Short and Sweet as Possible

Is.gd provides one of the simplest URL shortening experiences by giving you nothing more than a field to input your long link so you can instantly transform into a shorter one. There are no real extra features or services, so this is a good choice if you just want to get the job done as fast and as smoothly as possible without all the extra fluff like signing in and CAPTCHAs and other stuff.

AdF.ly: Get the Chance to Earn While You Share Links

AdF.ly takes an interesting approach to link shortening by offering its users the opportunity to earn money by using its service. The more clicks you get on your AdF.ly links, the more money you earn. Although the earnings are small, it can certainly add up if you can attract a lot of clicks. You'll also get detailed statistics for every link when you sign up for an account, and you're paid via PayPal for payouts as low as $5. 

Bit.do: Get Fast and Simple Shortening With Customizable Options

Bit.do is another great alternative that's both simple and powerful. In addition to easy link shortening, you can use the service with your own domain, customize the characters at the end of your links, get real-time statistics and even see which countries your clicks are coming from. You can use this service with or without an account.

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3 simple ways to shorten a URL link and make it easily shareable on social media and other websites

  • You can shorten a URL by using an URL shortener website, which will shrink your URL for free.
  • Popular link shorteners on the internet include Bitly, TinyURL, and Rebrandly.
  • You'll need a premium account on these sites to unlock the full range of link customization options.

URLs can get long and unwieldy. The average web address is too complicated to type by hand, and URLs tend to look terrible when typed out in full. And if you're trying to include an URL in a Twitter post, you're going to use up most of your character limit.

That's why URL shorteners are so common; they let you take a long and cumbersome URL and convert it into a compact web address with just a few clicks.

When you use a URL shortener, the service automatically redirects your shortened URL to the correct, full-length web address. The person clicking the short URL doesn't need to know anything about the fact that it has been shortened; it just happens automatically.

Here's how to shorten a URL using three of the most common web shorteners.  

How to shorten a URL using Bitly

You can create shortened URLs for free using Bitly, or subscribe to Bitly's premium service starting at $29 per month. The advantage of a paid Bitly account is that you can create personalized short URLs that resemble the name of your company. This is great for branding.

Even if you don't need the benefits of a paid account, you can create a free Bitly account that gives you access to a dashboard that tracks all your shortened URLs, and how often they've been clicked. It's convenient for managing short URLs you create.

Here's how to shorten a URL.

1. Copy the URL you want to shorten.

2. Open Bitly in your web browser.

3.  Paste the URL into the "Shorten your link" field and click Shorten .

4.  Click Copy to grab the new URL.

How to shorten a URL using TinyURL

TinyURL is another common URL shortener. Just like Bitly, it has premium plans starting from $9.99 a month that offer greater customization for branded links and a dashboard to track and edit the URLs you've shortened. However, you can still sign up for a free account and it can more than serve your needs. 

TinyURL is simple to use if you just want to quickly generate shorter links. And it's this simplicity that makes it a favorite for a lot of people.

Here's how to use TinyURL:

2. Open TinyURL in your web browser.

3. Paste the URL into the field under "Enter a long URL to make a TinyURL".

4. If you would like your shortened URL to include a specific phrase, enter that in the field under "Customize your link." Or you can leave the field blank and let Tinyurl create a random web address for you.

4. Click Make TinyURL!

5. TinyURL will then generate a new, shortened link for you, and you can share or copy it by clicking on the Share or Copy button, respectively.

How to shorten a URL using Rebrandly

When building a brand, you need your target market to remember your name at every turn. That is true even when it comes to your URLs, and that is what Rebrandly is all about. This URL shortener allows you to easily create memorable links that your audience can remember and pronounce to help promote your brand.

While you can start using Rebrandly for free, it does have premium tiers starting from $29 per month. Paid perks include increased limits on features such as generating links, tracking branded links, and creating custom domains.

To use Rebrandly:

1 . Copy the URL you want to shorten.

2 . Open Rebrandly in your web browser.

3 . Paste the URL into the "Make your links shorter" field and click Shorten URL .

4 . Rebrandly will generate a shortened link below the field mentioned above, and to copy it click Copy .

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The 6 best URL shorteners

The top google url shortener alternatives.

Best URL shorteners hero

With over a decade of experience reviewing tech and web apps, I can tell you there's almost never one perfect solution to any given problem. (The only exception to this is takeout: the best answer is always pizza.) The best URL shortening service depends on what you need and want it to do. There are simple, fast, and free URL shortening apps, marketing- and analytics-focused ones aimed at multinational enterprises, and everything in between.

To help you find the right URL shorteners for most people, I tested more than 35 different options. These are the best—and what makes them great. 

Looking to shorten Google Drive or Google Docs links ? Our tutorial shows you how to do this automatically, using Zapier.

The 6 best URL shortener services

Bitly for the best all-around URL shortener

Rebrandly for an alternative to Bitly

TinyURL for free, fast, and anonymous short URLs

BL.INK for business owners

URL Shortener by Zapier for automatically creating short links

Short.io for sending different visitors different links

What makes a great URL shortener?

How we evaluate and test apps.

Our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. Unless explicitly stated, we spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We're never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog .

This shortened link means whoever sees your ad has an easy-to-type URL to visit, rather than having to type some long, unintelligible string of text where they're almost guaranteed to make a mistake. And it's not just for ads for roommates; URL shorteners allow you to provide a typable link on a business card, print ad, podcast interview, or any other situation where someone can't just click on a nice hyperlink.

While URL shorteners used to be useful for shortening longer links to fit character limits on social media and messaging apps, a lot of platforms take care of that for you. Twitter, for example, automatically shortens any shared links with its t.co shortening service ( at least when it works ), while iMessage obscures any links behind a preview card. If you're just sending things to your friends, you only really need to worry about URL shortening if you're exclusively using SMS.

In addition to that basic capability, here are the features I was looking for in a link shortener:

Analytics and click tracking. If you share a link to someone else's blog post with your audience, for example, you won't know much about how many people—and who—click through; all that data will be in the other person's analytics account. If you use a URL shortener, however, you'll have a unique short URL, so you'll also be able to see how many clicks the link gets, where they're coming from, and what devices people are using. Like with most marketing services, the more detailed and powerful these analytics, the higher the cost. Free services tend to have basic click tracking (although there's often a time limit and a limit on the number of total clicks tracked), while premium marketing options will collect as much data as possible—and even allow you to serve different URLs to people in different places or using different devices.

Customization of URLs. The best URL shorteners all allow you to customize your shortened URLs. This means you can make your URLs more relevant, or use different links in multiple ads or social media posts to compare click-through rates. Many basic or free plans for a short link generator only let you change the last part of the URL (so you get https://tinyurl.com/awesome-squirrels ), while the more business-focused services enable you to use a custom domain (so you get squirre.ls/awesome ).

Standalone app. There are lots of different URL shortening options out there, and I limited my search to easy-to-set-up, standalone services. There are self-hosted versions, like Polr and YOURLS , that, while free and powerful, require too much technical knowledge to easily recommend. There are also URL shorteners built into other apps that I didn't consider. For example, Ow.ly is fully integrated into Hootsuite , and most newsletter services have some kind of URL shortening and tracking. I also didn't consider apps that give you a single updatable URL to get around a social media profile's limits on the number of links you can have in your bio, although many link shorteners are now starting to offer a similar feature.

Value for price. I paid particular attention to pricing tables and what each short URL generator offered at the different tiers. Some free plans are almost better than other apps' paid plans, at least if you don't want incredibly detailed analytics.

I've been testing apps for this list for the past three years. To update the list this year, I spent time with dozens of apps, shortening URLs and generally exploring how well they worked. URL shortening isn't a complex task, at least from a user interface perspective, so this was mostly to get a feel for how nice they were to use and what extra features and analytics they offered. Apps with more advanced features took more testing than simple free options. With that said, I wasn't looking for feature overload. Apps like Sniply that add a CTA over the links you share, while kind of compelling, felt too niche for most users.

In general, I relied on my experience using and testing software over the past decade to make any close judgment calls, as well as considering my notes on all the different apps from last year. If an app seemed under continuous development and was improving, it was much more likely to be considered favorably than one that looked to be stagnating. 

With that, let's look at the best link shorteners.

Interested in doing even more with your URL shorteners? Check out our tips for how to use automation to track them, send them, and stay on top of performance.

The best URL shorteners at a glance

Best all-around url shortener.

Bitly URL shortener, our pick for the best all-around URL shortener

Bitly pros:

Has all the URL shortening features you could ever need in one app 

Been reliably shortening links for more than 15 years

Bitly cons:

Pointless free plan

Bitly is a full-service, business-grade URL shortener. It's simple to use and has all the features you could ask for in a link management service. In addition to making it quick to create short links, it has a comprehensive dashboard where you can track how your social links and other campaigns are performing. You can also generate QR codes for all your short links, and it's even recently added a link-in-bio feature, so you really can manage all your links in one place.

While Bitly used to offer a good free account, the free plan isn't worth recommending anymore. You're limited to 10 links a month with only five custom URL back-halves (so, bit.ly/CUSTOM ). My free account from a few years ago still gets 10,000 links/month, which is more than any of the regular paid plans.

The $35 per month Basic plan provides a free custom domain, allows you to create 1,500 links per month, and shows more data about who clicks your links. If you need more from Bitly, the Premium plan, at $300/month, is a big price step up but offers 3,000 links per month, more granular analytics for things including city-level data and device types, and other features. There's also a Starter plan with only 200 links per month, but you have to pay $192 upfront, which works out at $16 per month over the course of the year. 

Bitly is a great URL shortener for large online businesses that share a lot of links and want to brand and track them. It's also a good choice for small businesses that want to generate short URLs and follow their stats for a modest number of campaigns. Really, Bitly has been doing this for so long that it is just an incredibly safe choice. If you're prepared to do a few calculations and dig deep into the pricing tables, you may well find a better deal with another app—but you're unlikely to be disappointed with Bitly, at least if you pay.

Bitly even integrates with Zapier , so you can do things like automatically generate short links from an RSS feed or add new links to a spreadsheet.

Create Bitly bitlinks for new RSS feed items

RSS by Zapier logo

Add new Bitlinks to Google Sheets rows

Google Sheets logo

Bitly price : Free plan isn't really worth it; Basic plan from $35/month, with branded domains, more links per month, and support.

If you're looking for a Bitly alternative, both Cuttly and T2M are worth checking out.

Best custom URL shortener for a Bitly alternative

Rebrandly URL shortener, our pick for the best URL shortener for a Bitly alternative

Rebrandly pros:

Super solid free plan 

Nice, simple web app that doesn't hide features away in weird spots 

Rebrandly cons:

The limit on clicks tracker per month is easy to hit if you have something go viral

If you're looking for a powerful alternative to Bitly—or just one with a decent free plan—then Rebrandly is worth checking out. It's a great URL shortener like all the other apps on our list, and it offers a lot of value at different price points, so your needs can grow without you having to change services.

Let's talk about that free plan: you get 2,500 clicks tracked per month over 250 total branded links with a custom domain (though you have to buy it through Rebrandly) and all the same analytics as the entry-level paid plans. That should be more than enough for anyone operating a side hustle or running a small blog.

Upgrade to the $34 per month Essentials plan, $99 per month Professional plan, or $499 per month Teams plan, and you get more control over your links, the ability to use a domain name you already own, link targeting options, and on the Teams plan, up to 10 users. 

On top of all that, Rebrandly is really nice to use. The web app is fast and minimalist, and it includes tools for tracking the popularity of each link, data about who's clicking on the links, and automatic QR code generation, too. Like Bitly, it's also got a link-in-bio feature called LinkGallery, and it integrates with Zapier , so you can do things like automatically create links from Google Sheets or add new links to Buffer.

Create Rebrandly links from a Google Sheets spreadsheet

Rebrandly logo

Add new Rebrandly links to Buffer

Buffer logo

Rebrandly price : Free plan with up to 250 links and 2,500 clicks tracked per month; Essentials plan from $34/month for 5,000 links and 25,000 clicks tracked per month.

Best free URL shortener for quick, anonymous use

TinyURL URL shortener, our pick for the URL shortener for quick, anonymous use

TinyURL pros:

Free to use, even without signing up 

Simple and reliable Pro plan

TinyURL cons:

More limited feature set than most other apps

Website is a bit dated

Free link shortener TinyURL has been in the game since 2002, and it's stuck around so long because it shortens URLs, and it does it with minimum fuss. It's a useful tool for when you're in a hurry and need to create a short link that will never expire. Just paste your long link into the box, customize the second half of the URL, if you want, and click Make TinyURL! You can then use that link indefinitely without fear that it will stop working. 

Although you don't need an account to use TinyURL, if you sign up for one, you can see a history of all your shortened links. You can also subscribe to a paid plan if you want features like tracking and analytics, branded domains, and the ability to edit each TinyURL after you create it. Really, if your needs are simple, it's hard to go wrong.

TinyURL price : Free to use; Personal plan from $9.99/month (billed annually) for tracked links and branded domains. 

Best URL shortener for business owners

BL.INK URL shortener, our pick for the best URL shortener for small business owners

BL.INK pros:

You can use a custom domain on the free plan 

Pro plan offers features like team members for a fraction of the cost of other apps 

BL.INK cons:

Web app is not the nicest to use

BL.INK is a full-featured small business and enterprise-focused URL shortener service that can be used to not only turn long URLs into short ones but also to track the traffic coming from your links. Its dashboard shows trending links and general statistics, while an analytics page lets you dive into traffic by device, location, and referrers. You can also drill down into clicks by the time of day. Tags, which you can add to your shortened links, let you view the link traffic related to specific campaigns.

BL.INK offers four tiers of paid plans starting from $48/month that give small businesses, teams, and larger enterprises a variety of options based on the number of links you need to generate and track. Free account holders can generate 1,000 active links, track up to 1,000 clicks per link, and create a custom domain to make branded links. Really, if you're a business in need of a full-service URL shortener that the entire team can access, then BL.INK is one of your best options. For less than 50 bucks a month, it offers features like multiple users, which cost hundreds of dollars a month with some other link shorteners.

Plus, BL.INK integrates with Zapier , so you can do things like automatically create short links from new WordPress posts or spreadsheet rows.

Create a BL.INK short link for new WordPress posts

WordPress logo

Create BL.INK short links from a Google Sheets spreadsheet

BL.INK price: Free plan with 1,000 active links and limited analytics; Expert+ plan from $48/month with 10,000 active links, 7,500 tracked clicks per link, and 3 users.

Best link shortener for automatically creating a short URL

  • URL Shortener by Zapier

URL Shortener by Zapier, our pick for the best URL shortener for automatically shortening links

URL Shortener by Zapier pros:

Makes it super easy to automate link shortening with other apps 

Included with a Zapier subscription 

URL Shortener by Zapier cons:

It's pretty basic

When you want to automatically create and save a shortened link every time you do something in any of more than 5,000 apps—like add a photo to your Instagram account or upload a new product to your Shopify store— Zapier's URL Shortener is the way to go.

You can create a Zap (an automated workflow on Zapier) that triggers every time you upload a post, create a product, or do something else in the other apps you use most. Zapier can then save the shortened URL to a Google Sheet or send it directly to another app.

This is the Zapier blog you're reading, so test it for yourself since we're a little biased, but if you're looking to add URL shortening to your automated workflows, this will do the trick. Here are some other popular ways people use Zapier's URL shortener.

Post new Eventbrite events to Buffer with shortened URLs

Eventbrite logo

URL Shortener by Zapier price : Free plan limited to 5 active single-step Zaps and 100 tasks/month; Starter from $29.99/month with 20 multi-step Zaps and 750 tasks/month.

Best URL shortener for sending different visitors different links

Short.io URL shortener, our pick for the best URL shortener for sending different visitors different links

Short.io pros:

Advanced targeting and analytics available on its cheapest plan 

Best-in-class free plan

Short.io cons:

You're forced to use a custom domain, even on the free plan

Most URL shorteners will happily tell you where people are clicking on your links and what devices they're using, but Short.io goes one better: it enables you to target visitors in different locations or using different devices and send them to a different link. This is useful if you want to make sure iOS users and Android users see the right app download link, or that your American, Canadian, Australian, and Singaporean customers all see the right kind of dollars.

When you add a link, click the Apple icon, Android icon, or the globe icon and select how you want to target your clickers and what link you want to serve them. You can, of course, send iOS users something totally different than desktop users, but that's probably going to be very confusing for everyone—including you. Instead, it's best to use this feature only when you have a reason to send different types of visitors to subtly different web pages. 

Otherwise, Short.io is a great URL shortener, though unlike most options, you're required to use your own custom domain. Still, even on the free plan, you get five of them, which no other app on this list equals. You can set a default domain for any short link that doesn't work, and dig deep into when, where, and how people are clicking on your links in the Statistics and Clicks Stream sections.

And Short.io integrates with Zapier , so you can do things like create new short links from an RSS feed or Shopify products. 

Add new RSS feed items to Short.cm as links

Short.io logo

Create Short.cm links for new Shopify products

Shopify logo

Short.io price: Free plan with 1,000 branded links, 50,000 tracked clicks, and device targeting; Personal plan from $19/month for unlimited branded links and geo-targeting.

Make your link short

As long as you make a shorter link, it doesn't really matter to your audience how you do it. So it comes down to how often you need to create a shortened URL and what kind of customization and analytics you need. Give each of these link shorteners a try, and then stick with the one that works best with the rest of your workflows—personally, my favorite is TinyURL.

Related reading:

Get more ROI out of your URL shorteners with these 4 workflows

How to shorten Google Drive links with Zapier

How to figure out which junk you can remove from URLs

This post was originally published in October 2018 by Jill Duffy. The most recent update was in March 2023.

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Harry Guinness is a writer and photographer from Dublin, Ireland. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Lifehacker, the Irish Examiner, and How-To Geek. His photos have been published on hundreds of sites—mostly without his permission.

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8 of the Best URL Shorteners To Help You Save Space in 2024

A good URL shortener (a.k.a. link shortener) lets you do two things: 1. Save space in your captions. and 2. Measure social performance.

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Table of Contents

URL shorteners can turn any long and unwieldy website address into a short and sweet URL at the click of a button. Not only are short links easier to digest, but they can help you meet certain character limits and make your link performance seamless to track.

It sounds like magic, I know, but anyone with an internet browser can use link shorteners: social media managers, regular everyday Facebook moms, small business owners, TikTok tweens of all heights — and you!

Here’s everything you need to know about how to use URL shorteners and why they should be an essential part of your social media tool kit.

Bonus: Get a free social media strategy template   to quickly and easily plan your own strategy. Also use it to track results and present the plan to your boss, teammates, and clients.

What is a URL shortener?

A URL shortener is a tool that creates a short, unique URL that will redirect to the specific website of your choosing.

Basically: they make a link shorter, simpler, and easier to look at. Your new, shorter URL will typically include the shortener site’s address plus a combination of random letters.

For example, if I punch in a URL like animalplanet.com/tv-shows/puppy-bowl/full-episodes/puppy-bowl-xvi into the link shortener in the Hootsuite Composer, I can click Shorten with Ow.ly to create a short, handy URL that uses fewer characters.

URL shortener Compose window

Try Ow.ly URL Shortener for free!

In some cases, you can even customize this mini URL with a custom phrase — we’ll dig into that more later.

Why you should use link shorteners

If you’re sharing links across your social and communication channels, URL shorteners can be super handy. Let’s go over a few benefits of a short URL.

1. Long links can look suspicious

If you’re linking to a specific page buried deep on your website or are using UTM parameters to track your visitors (more on that below), you might find yourself wrestling with a lengthy URL.

An oversized URL will look clunky pretty much anywhere you use it—in social posts, shared via text, or pasted into an email.

oversized URL Twitter example

But worse than that, long URLs also look super suspicious. With so many letters and backslashes and numbers and question marks, anything could happen when we click that link! Anything!

You’re sharing those links because you want traffic, so the last thing you want is for your audience to hesitate to click on your link because it looks like spam.

To ensure your link gets as many clicks as possible, use a link shortener that reduces the amount of questionable-looking characters. If your shortened link includes an identifiable keyword or phrase that lets people know the link is associated with a brand they trust, even better.

2. URL shorteners make it easy to track performance

As we mentioned above, you can (and should) use UTM parameters to track where your traffic and clicks are coming from. Most link-shortening sites will offer tracking metrics that include information about who clicked your link, where, and when—info that will help you calculate your social media ROI .

To easily track your traffic’s source, create short links using different UTM parameters . Combine this with other analytics tools—like Google Analytics —and you’re setting yourself up for marketing success.

To keep things looking neat, tidy, and trackable, use a URL shortener that creates a link as short as possible. Link shorteners like Hootsuite’s Ow.ly make it easy to create custom UTM parameters while automatically shortening the link to make sure it’s clean and simple.

Link Setting Ow.ly Shortener and URL Tracking

3. A custom URL shortener lets you brand your links

If brand awareness is part of your social media strategy, a custom URL shortener is one more tool to help spread the word.

URL shorteners that allow you to customize your short link offer a chance to name-drop your brand. Hootsuite’s link shortener, for example, lets you create a vanity short link in just a few clicks.

Account and Settings Vanity URLs

If you’re using a free web hosting service or have an ISP that’s less than exciting, a custom URL shortener can keep your brand front and center whenever you share links.

4. Short URLs allow you to get the most out of limited space on social media

Depending on where you’re distributing your links, you may have to keep the character count in mind. For instance, for non-paying users, Twitter has a strict character limit of 280 — which includes links.

When you need to get a compelling point across in just a short sentence or two, keeping posts concise is key.

Shortened URLs give you more room for that poignant observation about politics or the perfect punctuating emoji for your killer joke about hot dogs.

Twitter concise post about hot dogs with shortened URL

Even for posts on Facebook or Instagram, where the character limits are in the thousands, it’s still best for readability and engagement to keep things short and sweet. Short URLs help avoid TL;DR syndrome.

Another benefit of shorter links? They’re great for messaging or emails, where longer links may be hard to read or disrupted altogether by line breaks.

8 top link shorteners you should use

Google’s URL shortener was discontinued back in 2019, but on the bright side, there are dozens of alternative options out there.

On the downside, though, there are dozens of alternative options out there. How do you know which to choose?

Our advice: look for shortener services that allow you to customize your link, have built-in detailed analytics or easily integrate into your social media workflow . A URL shortener that’s been around a while might also be more reliable and reputable and likely to avoid service closure or disruption.

Here are our top eight picks for the best URL shorteners.

1. Ow.ly URL Shortener

If you’re looking for a user-friendly all-in-one URL shortener, Ow.ly is for you. Hootsuite’s link shortener is integrated right into the Hootsuite platform and is included with every plan type .

Not only does Ow.ly shorten long links, but it can automatically apply tracking parameters at the same time. You can easily add UTM parameters for the traffic source, medium, or campaign all in one place. This takes the heavy lifting out of creating custom links yourself.

Ow.ly URL Shortener with tracking parameters

And because Ow.ly is integrated into your Hootsuite account, you can easily track and measure your link’s performance directly in your analytics dashboard.

Hootsuite Analytics link clicks and performance

Owly’s link settings seamlessly integrate with everything else you do within Hootsuite, so it’s an easy and secure option if you already use Hootsuite as your social media platform.

Best for: Marketers and small business owners looking for an all-in-one link shortener and tracker that integrates with your analytics platform.

Pricing: Hootsuite offers a range of plans suited for individuals and enterprises alike. Plans start at $99 per month.

Try Hootsuite for free!

Looking to hone in on custom URLs and QR codes? Bitly is a standalone app that creates digital connections such as links, QR codes, and link-in-bio pages.

Bitly’s link-shortening tool can create a unique back-half for your URL. This means you can add a branded topic, campaign name, or keyword if you want your link to include certain words instead of randomly generated characters.

Bitly link shortening

A free account offers analytics and customization for one individual, but Basic and Enterprise subscriptions are available, too, which offer branded links, QR codes, richer data and multiple users.

While Bitly makes it easy to create a custom URL, if you plan to create over ten unique links per month, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

Best for: Solo business owners who are looking for a free link shortener to get started with.

Pricing: Bitly has a free plan that includes ten links per month, five of which can have a custom back half. Paid plans start at $8 per month.

Another standalone app, TinyURL is a straightforward option that gets the job done. Founded in 2002, TinyURL is the oldest link shortener out there, and it does everything you need it to do: turn a long link into a tiny new URL.

Customization is possible without logging in, making it an efficient option when you’re rushing to share the latest episode of your MasterChef Junior podcast.

TinyURL the original URL Shortener

Source: TinyURL

One cool feature here: you can edit your TinyURL links. This comes in handy if your website has changed or you initially set up the wrong parameters and need to update them.

TinyURL’s basic plan offers free URL shortening as long as you’re okay with seeing ads across the website (its free plan is ad-supported). Otherwise, you can upgrade to a paid plan with additional features like URL editing, link tracking, and customization.

Best for: If you need to put together a short URL in a pinch, TinyURL is an efficient option.

Pricing: TinyURL has a free plan. Paid plans start at $9.99 per month.

4. Rebrandly

With Rebrandly, you can create a branded short link of your own with a custom domain—even with a free account.

SujindersCookiePalace.com might be a great main URL to have, but when it comes to sharing on social, that character count adds up. A short, branded URL just for link sharing, like su.jinders , still gets your business name in there, without taking up precious space.

After you’ve signed up for a free account, you can connect your domain name and create up to 25 branded links per month.

Rebrandly

Rebrandly also features tracking, optimization, and scaling tools in various packages.

One downside to Rebrandly? Its free plan only tracks up to 1,000 clicks. If you happen to share something that goes viral or tend to see more traffic to your website than this, then you may want to consider upgrading to a paid plan.

Best for: If you run a small business and want to share unique links across your various channels, Rebrandly’s free plan is a great option.

Pricing: Rebrandly has a free plan. Paid plans start at $13 per month.

5. Hyperlink

Can’t wait to see how much traffic your URLs are getting? Get real-time notifications when links are clicked with the help of Hyperlink ,

If the idea of frequent click notifications sounds *a bit* too distracting, you can also change the settings to hourly, daily, or weekly summaries.

Hyperlink real time notifications by hashtag

Hyperlink also provides insightful per-click details and a live tracking dashboard: find out the device, location, and referral info for every visitor.

The app (for iOS and Android) is a nice complement to the Chrome extension for those who need to share links on the go. (You’re busy! We get it!)

Hyperlink also offers custom links and branded domains, but those features are only available with a paid plan.

Best for: Marketers who want to gain real-time insights on the go.

Pricing: Hyperlink has a free plan that includes up to 100 links per month. Paid plans start at $39 per month.

Another standalone app, Tiny.CC is a simple URL shortener. Similar to TinyURL, the free link shortener is no-frills and easy to use.

Simply enter a long URL and shorten it in seconds. You can also create a custom short URL, all without an account.

Tiny.CC Shorter URLs

Best for: If you have a side hustle or small business, TinyCC is a useful and budget-friendly tool.

Pricing: If you want access to some of TinyCC’s premium features, paid plans start at $5 per month.

7. Shorte.ST

Data is valuable for your insights, right? Well, third-party companies are often interested in that information, too, which is why a cottage industry has popped up of businesses that actually pay you to shorten your links with them.

Shorte.ST is one of the higher-paying URL shorteners of the many on the web, with payout rates varying depending on your audience’s geography. (For example, Shorte.ST pays $14.04 CPM for U.S. traffic.)

Shorte.ST Monetize Website and Links

In addition to cold hard cash, Shorte.ST offers a dashboard of thorough stats for review.

Best for: Affiliate marketers or anyone who wants to monetize a blog.

Pricing: Shorte.ST is free to join. You can find details about payout rates here .

Cuttly is an all-in-one link management platform. Whether you want to shorten a URL, generate QR codes, or set up a link-in-bio microsite, Cuttly offers many features.

You don’t need an account to use Cutlly or even to customize the URL, but an account will get you access to real-time analytics, including click-throughs and social media referrals.

Cutlly experience full control over short links

Cuttly has a free custom URL shortener button you can add to your browser toolbar, so shortening your link takes one click.

If you opt for a paid plan, you get access to branded QR code generation to create a cohesive brand across your links, QR codes, and anything else in your link-in-bio page .

Best for: Marketers or small business owners looking for an accessible link management tool.

Pricing: Cuttly has a free plan that includes up to 30 links per month and link analytics for the last 30 days. Paid plans start at $12 per month.

Frequently asked questions about URL shorteners

How do i make my url smaller.

You can make your URL smaller by using a link shortening tool. A URL shortener takes a long link and creates a short, unique URL that will redirect to the specific website of your choosing.

How can I shorten a URL for free?

To shorten a URL for free, use a free link shortener such as Bitly, TinyURL, or Rebrandly.

How do I shorten a URL without Bitly?

To shorten a URL without Bitly, use a Bitly alternative. There are several URL shorteners to choose from, including Owly link shortener, TinyURL, Rebrandly, and other free link shortening tools.

Is there such a thing as a Google URL shortener?

Google URL shortener was discontinued in 2019. There are other URL shortener alternatives, such as Hootsuite’s Owly, Bitly, and more.

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Sam Lauron is a freelance writer who works with B2B and SaaS companies in marketing, ecommerce, business, and related tech. With a background in editorial writing and content marketing, she uses her communications and research skills to produce helpful content that inspires and informs readers.

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Jan. 4, 2024

How To Shorten a URL + Benefits, Use Cases & Examples

URL shortening illustrated by scissors cutting a string

Today, it seems like everything takes place online. You’re already leveraging the Internet to attract clients—but so are your competitors.

So, how do you stand out from the crowd? By offering better customer experiences. 

And while there are many ways to do so, we’ll focus on one—URL shortening. It boosts business credibility and facilitates interactions between businesses and clients, as short links are easy to remember, type, and share. 

Digital pros create millions of short URL links every day, but this guide will show you how anyone can start using URL shortener tools. Explore the tech behind them, how to create and use them, and how to select a good tool to market your content effectively.

In this article:

– What is URL shortening? – What is a URL shortener? – Benefits of a short URL – Examples of shortened URLs – The growing use of URL shortening around the world – How do URL shortener services work? – The URL shortener service process – How to shorten a URL – How to shorten a URL for free – URL shortening use cases – Is a URL shortener safe? – How to find the best URL shortening service for your company

What is URL shortening?

URL shortening is a way to shorten long, complex URLs into much shorter, neater packages that still send you to the original URL. Here’s an example to show you how URL shortening works:

You can shorten https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2022/02/10/amtrak-deal-valentines-offer-sale/6741296001/ to https:// bit.ly /3Bg19uM . 

The latter looks better and evokes more trust as it’s less spammy-looking. It also leaves you room to share more details with your target audience when posting on social media sites with character limits. 

For example, unless you’re a Blue subscriber on X, you can only post tweets with 240 characters or less . With a long link like the one above, you won’t have space to offer details on what the link is about within the same post. 

With Bitly, you can go beyond shortening by customizing your links. For instance, you can shorten the above link to https:// bit.ly /amtrak-valentines , adding a custom phrase to the back half. You can make your links even more personal by using custom domain names instead of the bit.ly domain.

What is a URL shortener?

A URL shortener or link shortener is an app that condenses web addresses, redirecting the shorter URL to the original. There are plenty of free and paid URL shorteners available, like Bitly, and apps like X (formerly Twitter) and WordPress often include automatic URL shortening on their platforms. 

General-use URL shorteners usually have a free version that offers shortening and other basic services. However, the paid versions typically provide additional services, like advanced tracking, bulk shortening, and campaign management.

So, how does a URL shortening tool work? 

When you submit a long link to a tool like Bitly, it generates an identification code in the form of a short URL or alias. Then a database associates the short URL with your original URL to facilitate future reference. 

When a potential lead clicks the short URL, your shortening tool receives the request and crawls its database to find the original link. When it does, it issues an HTTP redirect response to the potential lead’s browser and navigates them to the original URL, which displays your web page. 

The shortening service doesn’t show the redirect process to your target audience—it’ll seem like they’re just opening a regular link. And it only takes a few seconds, so you don’t have to worry about lagging. 

What is the purpose of a URL shortener ?

A URL shortener aims to convert long web addresses into shorter links that display better. Some link shorteners only provide shortening, while more sophisticated apps may add tracking and analytics.

Link shorteners gained popularity when X limited tweets to 140 characters. Then, a longer link could have taken up the entire word count since every character in the link counted. 

Today, all X links count as 23 characters . However, truncated URLs remain a best practice to distribute content across all social networks and other channels, including X.

What is a URL shortening service ?

A URL shortening service is a web app that reduces the length of Uniform Resource Locators to short, alphanumeric codes. The service maintains the connection between the original long link and the shortened version. 

Some URL shortening services also include link tracking for analytics to monitor the number of clicks, traffic patterns, and other stats. Digital professionals also use URL shorteners to A/B test which links resonate best with their audiences. 

In addition, shortened links enable link masking—a natural consequence of URL shortening. Masked links can help analysis and software programs track where links originate, and they also increase affiliate link clicks to sell products or services.

Ready to take your links to the next level?

Maximize your online impact with the powerful Bitly URL shortener.

Get started

Benefits of a short URL

The benefits of short URLs center around better display, branding, engagement, and analytics. Short URLs also support online and offline marketing, improve analysis, and enhance brand recognition. Here’s a more in-depth look at the benefits of short links.

Better display and accessibility with short URLs

Shortened URLs provide the highly noticeable benefit of better display and accessibility. You give your audience simple links of about 10 to 30 characters—instead of complicated ones that are hard to read and break awkwardly.

With short URLs, you get:

  • Improved aesthetics: Long URLs can be unsightly and indecipherable because of their sheer length, unique values, and control characters. More streamlined URLs look better on social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and TikTok. 
  • Easier reading: Long URLs can fill your text with a dense mishmash of words and symbols. Also, they often break awkwardly, which can look like a mistake. Short URLs are easy to read as they only contain a few characters. 
  • Simplified sharing: A shortened link is easier for your readers to click, copy, and share in their posts, which can help your content gain organic exposure on social networks.

Improved marketing and analysis with short URLs

Short URLs enable better tracking and analysis behind the scenes, especially when using a paid service. Other benefits include improved SEO and higher click-through rates.

More detailed marketing and analysis benefits of short URLs include:

  • Link tracking and analysis: Most paid URL shortening services provide analytical data. By tracking link success, you gain audience engagement insights that can help you adjust your strategies as needed. Some services show visitor breakdown by demographics, such as country or gender. You can also tell which social channels or posts drive the most clicks. 
  • Urchin Tracking Module (UTM): UTM tracking adds codes to pinpoint where traffic originates. When you use UTM parameters correctly, it adds more specificity to your reporting. Understanding the content that drives traffic helps improve audience targeting. Link metrics are as important as tracking comments, follows, or likes.
  • Improved search engine rankings: The structure of your URL influences site rankings. For example, a target keyword in a shortened URL gives page visitors and search engines clues to your page topic. 
  • Higher click-through rate: People are familiar with and prefer shortened links on social media—consequently, these links increase click-through rates. Changing to shorter links almost immediately reaps results.
  • Better site structure: Simplifying URL structure makes site navigation and expansion much more manageable. 

Brand enhancement with short URLs

Short URLs can enhance your brand’s perception, engagement, and audience trust. On the other hand, long, complex links can look spammy or unprofessional.

Brand benefits of short URLs include:

  • More robust engagement: Your audience is more likely to engage with a shortened URL, especially one connected to your brand.
  • Professionalism : Long URLs can seem messy or untidy, negatively impacting visitors’ perception of your brand. Short links look cleaner and more professional.
  • More legitimacy: A shortened link matching other links on your brand’s digital marketing materials and social media lends more content authority. 
  • Branded links: Branded links can include a company name or word that embodies what they stand for. Businesses use these links on social media, in SMS messages , at live events, on printed materials, and more to expand their brand’s reach. 
  • Greater audience trust: A clean URL makes your site or social media feel more trustworthy and authoritative.

Examples of shortened URLs

Shortened URLs are usually 10 to 30 characters and work just like the original URL. Here’s an example: 

The URL https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/01/ bitly -makes-first-acquisition-with- qr-code -leader-egoditor/ shortens to https://tcrn.ch/3yJH0vv . Short URLs are common in content marketing, but they’re also useful in areas like education and fundraising.

Shortened URLs for learning and education

Research and academic content URLs often run long, prompting the increasing use of short URLs. For example, a link to a book about Florentine history may seem (almost) as long and twisting as that very history. As a result, short URLs are becoming an accepted practice in scholarly work.

Example of a shortened URL for education

Example of a shortened URL for education purposes

Shortened URLs for fundraising

Institutions often use SMS, print, radio, and other channels for fundraising. But their URLs can be extremely long, making it harder for target audiences to understand and share them. Getting the word out with a short handle is easier than with a long one.

Example of a shortened URL for fundraising

Example of a shortening URL for fundraising purposes

The growing use of URL shortening around the world

People are increasingly turning to URL shortening because of the growing complexity of the digital world. Increased competition and reduced attention spans make it vital for businesses to stand out and communicate what they need to within a few seconds. 

As such, digital professionals have found it pays to use shortened URLs for e-commerce, social media, research, branding, and SEO. Free URL shorteners make it easy for anyone to try short links out.

URL shortening statistics

Roughly 64% of website traffic comes from mobile phones . This means businesses have a significant opportunity to sell themselves to people using mobile devices. But that can be a challenge with long links, as they’re difficult to read and type, especially on phones. 

This is one of the reasons why brands are increasingly investing in URL-shortening services. Short URLs are clearly visible and look clean and concise, even on small screens. Here’s a graph showing the increase in URL-shortening tool usage over three years: 

Graph indicating the rise in URL shortening from 2018 to 2020

How do URL shortener services work?

A URL shortener service automatically shortens a link, and the short web address redirects to the original URL. The process is pretty simple for businesses, as the shortener service handles the servers, mapping, redirecting, and data storage.

Here’s a basic six-step overview of how link shorteners work:

  • A client makes a URL-shortening request to the application server, service, or centralized resource in a network. High-volume services may have multiple servers and a load balancer to distribute the workload.
  • The URL shortening service accepts the long URL as input. 
  • The long URL maps onto a unique short URL on the server, and the service applies the appropriate type of HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) status code for redirection.  
  • The database maintains the storage for the mapping of URLs. Additional data for each entry lives in the database, including unique user IDs and expiration dates.
  • The shortened URL returns to the server.
  • The server sends the shortened URL to the client to copy and use.

The URL shortener service process 

A flowchart highlighting the six steps for the URL shortening service process

How do URL shorteners redirect ?

URL shorteners use a web server function to redirect visitors. A URL status code or HTTP command redirects visitors to the original longer web address. Different codes determine permanent or temporary page redirects.  

When you enter a URL into a browser, this sends an HTTP command to the webserver to retrieve and transmit the initially requested web page. The most common redirect status codes shortened URLs use are:

  • 301: A permanent HTTP redirect status code, meaning that the redirection “order” will not change. 
  • 302: A temporary HTTP redirect status code that means the page has moved to a different location for a limited time. This doesn’t affect your audience’s experience. 
  • 307: Another temporary HTTP redirect status code that servers can issue in place of the 302 code when the page changes location. 

Updating shortened links with redirects

Redirecting a link means you change the ultimate destination to another page. At times, you may want to redirect a link you previously shortened. Fresh redirects update links, correct destination errors, or manually retire old links.

Here are some instances when you may need to update shortened links with new redirects:

  • Link updates: If you’re refreshing your blog content, you can change a link to point to new content, as in this example. 

Updating an outdated link to a new, refreshed link

  • Destination corrections: Sometimes, you might paste the wrong URL when shortening a link. Not a problem. You can correct the original by editing the destination URL.
  • Retire old links: Some links have a brief life because they served a special offer or promotion. If a link is no longer valid, you can manually change the destination.

How to shorten a URL

Shortening a URL is simple:

  • Copy the long URL from your website, social media account, or other long web address location.
  • Navigate to a link-shortening service.
  • Enter your URL and request link creation.
  • Save your new URL.

Businesses that shorten links with Bitly enjoy unique benefits like increased customization and integration. With Bitly, you can create branded links using custom domains instead of the “bit.ly” domain, allowing you to maintain a cohesive brand image. 

You can also integrate Bitly with platforms like Zapier to streamline your marketing processes and make it easy to post your shortened links across numerous apps. 

Bitly also offers enhanced security features. The platform encrypts all links with HTTPS, limiting the risk of communication interceptions between your web page’s server and your customers’ browsers. Bitly also has a Trust Center that allows you to preview your links and report suspicious behavior. 

How to shorten a URL for free

Most URL shortening services offer a free version. Basically, you enter your URL and get a short one back. Also, some social media apps, like X, automatically shorten URLs for sharing. Free shortening makes sense if your volume is low and you don’t have other services.

Here’s a link to a free URL shortener from Bitly to try. Use the directions below as your guide.

Step-by-step guide to link shortening

  • Create a new Bitly account or sign into an existing account.
  • Select Create new . 
  • Tap Link . 
  • Enter your long URL in the Destination URL box and select Next . 
  • Enter a custom word or phrase in the Customize back-half box to personalize your link. 
  • Tap Create to generate the short link. 
  • Select Copy on the short URL to add it to your clipboard. You can then paste it on your chosen display medium. 

URL shortening use cases

The use cases for short URLs revolve around marketing, branding, and analytics. Examples include digital marketing, vanity URLs, campaign analytics, and QR Codes. Let’s take a deeper look at each use case.

URL shortening for digital marketing

URL shortening plays a vital role in digital marketing. It helps reinforce businesses’ brand identity since short links are easier to recognize than long ones. Digital marketing supported by short URLs is excellent for multichannel campaigns, A/B testing, and mobile marketing. 

URL shortening facilitates better campaign management, as marketers can quickly generate different short URLs for various marketing mediums or promotions. They can also track the performance of each one individually. 

URL shortening for social media marketing

URL shortening serves social media especially well, promoting consistent branding across all platforms. As a result, it enables better connectivity with businesses, potential customers, and current customers at every touchpoint.

Example of how URL shortening and QR Codes can help promote consistent branding

Brand building is the cornerstone of any healthy business. If you use Instagram as part of your social media marketing, you can do even more by using URL shortening to add links to Instagram stories .

Example on smartphone screen of adding a short link to social media

URL shortening for vanity URLs

Vanity URLs are vital in marketing because their plain-text keywords and simplicity make it easier for potential web visitors to remember them. 

URL shortening tools play a vital role here, as they eliminate all the non-critical elements, leaving you with a link that’s easy to remember, type, and share. 

URL shortening for campaign analytics

URL shortening can help optimize campaign management and analytics . Link-shortening services often provide engagement data, like the number of clicks a link receives, allowing you to determine the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. 

Services like Bitly go even further by providing demographic-based analytics, like the number of clicks by device and location. This data can help you focus resources on high-performing campaigns and enable you to create well-informed future marketing strategies.  

URL shortening for QR Code marketing

QR Code marketing provides a powerful way to amplify your company’s message. Businesses are increasingly coming up with clever ways to use QR Codes , highlighting the versatility of these tools. You can place codes on signs, stickers, products, and anywhere else you can capture people’s attention. 

Professional tool scanning a mobile ticket QR Code for an event

Businesses pair QR Codes with short URLs because they’re simple in size and structure, facilitating faster page loading times. Short URLs are especially beneficial for Dynamic QR Codes , as they allow marketers to change their destination URLs without changing the QR Codes. 

Is a URL shortener safe?

URL shorteners are safe—if you pick the right service. Reliable services support advanced security settings, like hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS), that meet corporate or government-mandated security policies. 

Other policies include Hypertext Strict Transport Security (HSTS) support, Transport Layer Security (TLS) version restrictions, and strict use of algorithms that establish secure connections known as SSL Ciphers.

Reliable services also let you preview destination links, helping you ensure that your URLs are going to the right place. Bitly strives to ensure that people with malicious intent cannot impact customers’ links or content. Our engineering team dedicates itself to ensuring that every link is safe to click on and that the platform is secure and reliable. 

Every link on Bitly is secured with HTTPS to add a layer of security. Bitly customers can also increase their account security by employing strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication for sign-in. Enterprise accounts have even more protection with single sign-on (SSO) options and advanced user permissions on the platform. 

We also encourage customers to preview pages by adding a plus symbol (+) after shortened URLs.

How to find the best URL shortening service for your company

The right URL-shortening service can propel your company’s marketing and growth. When evaluating link-shortening providers, it’s important to consider scalability, customization, security, integration, analytics, and link management .

Here’s a checklist of what to look for in a URL-shortening service. A full service will offer these features:

  • Link management: Choose a service that lets you create and manage links at scale. For example, can you expire old links manually, correct a destination error, or update a destination? These processes should be easy with the right shortening service. 
  • Branded links: Sign up for a service that lets you create branded short links. With Bitly, you can replace the “bit.ly” in your links with a custom domain name of your choosing to reinforce your brand identity and boost customer trust.
  • Mobile links: Find a service that allows you to route visitors to the correct destination from your mobile communications.
  • Analytics: Look for a service that facilitates seamless real-time data tracking. 
  • Integration: Make sure the service moves your workflow along—rather than adding to it. Check that the service integrates seamlessly with the apps you already use.
  • Security: Make sure your organization’s mission-critical links are in safe hands. Ensure privacy policies and procedures adhere to GDPR and CCPA.
  • QR Codes: Find a service that offers both link-shortening and QR Code generation services. This will ensure you can place your content just about anywhere to connect audiences to your website or landing pages.
  • Scalability: If you shorten a few web addresses a month, pretty much any service will do. However, if your company generates hundreds or thousands a month, or you see that level of activity in your future, you’ll want extra capabilities and reliability on reserve.
  • Company reputation and track record: While you might get a good (or free) deal on services, you want to ensure that the company has a good track record of service reliability and customer satisfaction.

Why use the Bitly URL shortening service?

Bitly’s easy-to-use interface simplifies the process of shortening and customizing URLs, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced clients. But the platform provides more than just shortening services. 

You can also customize your links to reflect your brand and track link engagement by reviewing real-time detailed analytics. Bitly even offers integrations with other software tools like Zapier for more control over your marketing campaigns. 

Create your account today to boost engagement through clean, easy-to-share short links !

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12 Easy Ways to Shorten a URL & Create Free Custom Links

Last Updated: November 15, 2023 Fact Checked

T.CO (X, formerly known as Twitter)

Why should i shorten a url.

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 349,653 times. Learn more...

Have you ever tried sharing a website link in a text, tweet, or message and wound up with a long, ugly URL? Fortunately, many services make it easy to shorten any URL into an abbreviated URL that you can place into emails, messages, websites, and social media posts. We'll show you how to use the best free options for shortening a URL on your computer, Android, iPhone, and iPad.

Things You Should Know

  • URL shortening services like Bitly, TinyCC, and TinyURL can instantly shorten any URL to something more memorable and easy to share.
  • Most URL shorteners allow you to create an account so you can update your destination links and track clicks.
  • Several URL shorteners have paid options that allow you to link your domain name to create custom branded links.

Step 1 Create an account...

  • If you want to create more shortened URLs, link redirects, branded links, and more, you can upgrade to a paid plan.
  • Bitly URLs never expire, even with the free plan. [2] X Research source

Step 2 Click Create new to create a new shortened URL.

  • If you're tracking visits to a website using UTM codes , you can click the "Add UTM to track web traffic in analysis tools" to add your UTMs.

Step 5 Personalize your URL.

  • Click Copy on the link to copy it to your clipboard. You can then paste the link anywhere.
  • You can log back in to Bitly at any time to see how many people have clicked the link.

Step 1 Go to https://tinyurl.com...

  • Visitors to the shortened URL link will need to click past an ad before they'll arrive at the destination site, as the free tier is ad-supported.
  • If you don't mind signing up for a free account, you can keep track of the links you've created and use the tiny.one or rotf.lol domains instead of just tinyurl.com .
  • If you want to be able to track clicks to your links, edit URLs later, and create more personalized links, you can sign up for a premium plan.

Step 2 Enter the URL you want to make shorter.

  • Once you create an account, follow the on-screen instructions to link your domain name (if you have one). If not, you can use the default domain name of rebrand.ly .
  • Rebrandly links will not expire as long as the destination address remains available. [4] X Research source
  • Rebrandly also has a simple Google Chrome extension that makes it quick and easy to create short links on the fly.

Step 2 Click New link on your Rebrandly dashboard.

  • Click Copy to copy the link to your dashboard so you can share it anywhere.
  • Return to the Links page at any time to see how many people have clicked your link.

Step 1 Go to https://tiny.cc...

  • A free TinyCC account lets you create and edit up to 500 shortened URLs, but you can upgrade to a premium plan for more URLs and features like expanded statistics and custom domain branding.

Step 2 Create a short link without an account.

  • If you want to track how many people click the link, check the box next to "Log stats for this link" before clicking Shorten .

Step 3 Log in to create a link.

  • Create an account and sign in to access your dashboard.
  • Click Shorten URLs at the top of the page to create a new link.
  • Type or paste a long URL into the field.
  • Enter a custom keyword to add to the end of the link (optional).
  • Click Shorten it!
  • Click Copy to copy the link to your clipboard and share it with the word.
  • Return to your dashboard at any time to see how many people clicked the link or change the destination URL.

X automatically shortens all URLs using the t.co URL shortener.

  • If the destination URL is flagged for spam, malware, or phishing, X may prevent potential visitors from navigating to the destination link. [7] X Research source

Step 1 Create a free...

  • Cuttly links never expire. [9] X Research source
  • You can create a short link without registering, but you won't be able to edit the link later.
  • Once you create an account, you'll arrive at your dashboard, where you can click Add a domain to link one of your existing domain names, or start creating short links using the cutt.ly domain.

Step 2 Paste a long URL into the field.

  • Click the Copy icon (the first icon) below the link to save it to your clipboard and share it anywhere.
  • As people click the link, the number next to "clicks" on the link's entry in your dashboard will increase. You can return to this page at any time to check your stats.

Step 1 Create an account at bit.do.

  • Because your Bit.do link comes with free statistics, you can opt to make them private so nobody else can see how many people have clicked your link. If you want your stats to stay private, check the box next to "Make access stats private."

Step 4 Click Shorten to create your shortened link.

  • Log back in to bit.do at any time and click manage your links to see how your link is performing.

Step 1 Go to is.gd in your web browser.

  • To check your statistics, just add a single hyphen to the end of your shortened URL.

Step 1 Go to https://www.shorturl.at/...

  • Although the free service allows you to simply shorten links, create an account, and pay to unlock more features, like custom short links.
  • If you create an account, you'll unlock a 5-day free trial. With a paid account, you can access a dashboard that monitors your shortened URLS and their performance. You can also do many other things with your shortened URLs, like get QR codes for them.

Step 2 Enter the link you want to shorten and click Shorten URL.

  • This service sometimes uses adult advertisements, so sharing these links on most social networks won't be appropriate.
  • Some people might not appreciate having to view an ad to get to the destination—it's usually seen as spam.
  • The domain name before your shortened links will be pretty random, so you won't get to choose a custom link.

Step 2 Enter the long URL into the field.

  • Click Copy to copy the link to your clipboard and paste it anywhere you wish.
  • You can click the Statistics tab at the top of your dashboard to see how your links are performing and how much you'll earn, as well as make changes to the destination URLs.

Step 4 Visit your shortened link.

  • With a free account, you can create 20 short links per month. You'll only be able to receive 500 clicks per month before the link stops working, so if you plan to circulate your link widely, you'll want to opt for a paid upgrade.
  • If you want to use a custom domain, you'll need a Sniply Pro plan, which allows for 20,000 clicks and 5000 links per month.

Step 2 Open your dashboard to customize your brand profile.

  • Click Brand Profiles in the left column. You'll see your default brand in the right panel. This info will appear in the call to action on each of your shortened links.
  • Click Upload a Photo to upload the image you want to appear on each link, such as your business logo or headshot.

Step 3 Paste your long link.

  • With the lowest cost plan, you can create up to 1,000 shortened URLs per month with no ads or delays. You can get up to 5,000 new clicks per month, with the option to upgrade for even more.
  • If you upgrade, you'll gain access to helpful analytics, branded custom domains, campaign management, bulk URL importing, and more.

Step 1 A shorter URL is more memorable.

Community Q&A

Aasim

  • Some people may hesitate to click a link using a URL-shortening service because they mistake it as spam or even a virus. Accordingly, you may wish to include a personalized message along with your link to reduce potential concerns. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

Link Within a Page Using HTML

  • ↑ https://bitly.com/pages/pricing
  • ↑ https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002288272--Will-the-links-I-create-on-Bitly-ever-expire-
  • ↑ https://rebrandly.com/pricing
  • ↑ https://support.rebrandly.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003082568-How-Long-Does-a-Rebrandly-Link-Last-
  • ↑ https://tiny.cc
  • ↑ https://help.twitter.com/en/using-x/url-shortener
  • ↑ https://help.twitter.com/en/safety-and-security/phishing-spam-and-malware-links
  • ↑ https://cutt.ly/pro-pricing
  • ↑ https://cutt.ly/resources/support/
  • ↑ https://t2mio.com/pricing

About This Article

Darlene Antonelli, MA

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Hyrell Lesup

Aug 20, 2017

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The Ultimate URL Shortener & Powerful Tracking

Shorten your links quickly and easily with our link shortener website. Also track your clicks

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Smaly Top Features

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Powerful Analytics

Smaly analytics allows you to track and analyze the performance of the shortened links you create. By using Analytics, you can gain insights like number of clicks, geographic location of users, and device types. This data help you optimize your marketing campaigns, and better understand your audience. Overall, URL shortener analytics options provide valuable data that can help you measure the success of your shortened links and improve your overall marketing efforts.

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Link in bio

With smaly you can create your own mini website to add all your social media links. It simply called Link-in-Bio. The "link in bio" feature has become increasingly important for social media influencers, businesses, and creators who use their social media profiles as a means to drive traffic to their other online platforms. By including a link in their bio, they can increase visibility, promote their brand, and ultimately drive conversions and sales.

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A QR code is a scannable image contains a shortened link created using smaly. We can scan QR using a smartphone camera and quickly direct users to the web page. By using a Smaly to create a shortened URL and embedding it in a QR code, simplify the sharing process, and create a seamless user experience for users who access your content. Overall, using a link shortener QR code is a effective way to improve your marketing efforts and make it easier for people to access your content.

Smaly Features

Smaly has unbeatable features for Digital People

  • Short Links
  • Splash Pages
  • Overlay Pages

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Shorten big links into small links

A link shortener is a tool or service that convert long URLs into shorter, more manageable links. It's particularly useful for sharing links in limited-character spaces such as social media posts, emails, or text messages. This shorten link redirects users to the original, longer URL when clicked. It improves link aesthetics, enhances user experience, and provides tracking and analytics to monitor link engagement and effectiveness.

  • Track Link Clicks
  • Custom Alias
  • Set Expiry Date & Time
  • Restrict Access by Password
  • Add Expiration Link

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Splash links before opening full link

A "Splash Page" refers to a customized and visually appealing landing page that appears briefly before redirecting users to the intended destination. It's a creative and engaging way to capture attention and convey important information, such as a brand logo, message, or promotional content, in a concise manner. The splash link helps enhance user experience by providing a brief preview and context before redirecting users to the full URL, making the overall interaction more dynamic and informative.

  • Set Splash Duration
  • Auto Redirection Setting
  • Custom Title
  • Custom Message

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Grab users with overlay feature

"Overlay pages" refer to customizable banner that are displayed top of the website. These banner typically convey important messages, advertisements, or promotional content in an engaging and visually appealing manner. Overlay pages serve as a way to capture users' attention, convey specific information, or encourage actions such as signing up or exploring further. They enhance user experience by providing a targeted and interactive overlay banner.

  • Set Banner Position
  • Banner Background Color
  • Add Ribbon & Message
  • Button Text & Colors
  • Add Button Link

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About Smaly

Smaly is a URL shortener website to reduce a long link. Use our tool to shorten links and then share them, in addition you can monitor traffic statistics.

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Benefits of registering before you shorten. Keep your links in an account and they will never expire. Plus you will have the ability to edit them later. Register below

4 Easy Steps on How to Shorten a Link: Make Your Links Shareable

4 Easy Steps on How to Shorten a Link: Make Your Links Shareable

Hero

Have you ever wanted to share online content, only to find out that the link is extra-long and unwieldy? Indeed, it is irritating and quite frustrating. However, there is a convenient solution to this problem. Why share long links in your social networks if you can shorten them first?

URLs are typically long and clunky, and there is no doubt about that. And so, they are hard to type by hand, not to mention that they look terrible. And if you try to include a long link in your microblogging posts, including tweets, the link will basically eat up the entire character limit. 

Thanks to URL shorteners, sharing content online and accessing a web page can’t be more convenient. Link shorteners take you long and clunky links and replace them with a compact, more decent-looking link. Amazing, right? But, here’s the thing; you can do this with just a few clicks. No arduous coding is needed; all is automated. 

Despite having already mentioned that shortening your links is pretty straightforward, you might still ask how to shorten a link. If you really need to know the step-by-step process on how to shorten a link, we got you. We will walk you through several steps to shorten your long links through this article. But before that, let’s first understand how short links and link shortener works. If you’re in a bit of a hurry, you may already jump to the “Hot to Shorten a Link.”

How Short Links Work?

link shortening

When you visit a link shortening service, the online tool will ask you to paste your long links in the designated field. Then, the tool will give you a new link after clicking the “shorten” button (which may vary depending on the platform you are using). If you are using a free service, the platform will give you random generic links. Generic links are short links that use the service’s domain and a random alphanumeric combination (may include special characters). 

This new link is what you will share on your social networking sites or include in your adverts. When users click this link, they will be redirected to the landing page of your original link. How?

Basically, when you shorten a link, the service will map the new links to your original link. This mapping system allows the short links to connect or redirect visitors to the landing page of your long links. 

Note that every time you shorten a link, the service will provide a unique URL slug. In the unlikely case of collision, the platform will automatically regenerate a new link until a new, never-been-used link is generated. 

How to Shorten a Link?

short links

One of the most asked questions about short links is “How to shorten a Link.” Though it is a very straightforward process, many are still confused about the process of shortening a link. Here we will walk you through the detailed process of shortening a link. Continue reading to find out how to shorten a link. 

Step 1: Choose a Link Shortening Service

There are a lot of link shortening services available. You may think that anything can do the trick, but it is not. Though they are all link management platforms, they still differ. One may offer a feature that the other does not offer. But that does not mean that one is better than the other. It is still your needs the will dictate which one is best for you. 

So, when you are looking for a link shortening service to use, it is crucial to consider what are the things that you require. For instance, you need a link shortening service you can incorporate in your marketing plan; you may want to trim down your options to those who offer features that can help you optimize your marketing.

If you do not have enough time to thoroughly assess all the best link management platforms, here’s our shortlist of best link shortening services and what they are best at. Note that this list does not rank the entries; rather, it is just a compilation of best link shortening services that can help you decide which one to use. 

  • Hero.link . This platform is known as the smartest link engagement platform. This platform is best for businesses of all sizes. They offer handy features that can help you in marketing, including analytics, social media statistics, bio profiles, and QR codes. You can also customize and brand your links if you are a premium subscriber. Their premium plans are also cost-effective and extensive in coverage of features.
  • Bitly . Bitly is undoubtedly the most popular link management platform. It is best for big corporations. You can shorten your URL using their free service. However, it will give you a link that uses their domain (bit.ly). You can only brand and customize your short links if you avail of their premium subscription, which also comes with additional handy features, including link retargeting and link tracking analytics. 
  • TinyURL . A straightforward link shortening service. This service is best for anonymous link sharing use. This free service allows you to choose your short links’ preferred path. The best thing about TinyURL is that it does not require users to create an account or sign in. However, they do not offer advanced features, so the platform is not for businesses. 
  • Ow.ly . This platform is best for Hootsuite users since they are exclusive to this social media management platform. This link shortening service also offers link tracking and link performance metrics. You can access this feature through your dashboard if you already have a Hootsuite account. This feature is available with their free and premium plan. And as expected, the premium plan offers a lot more features. 
  • Rebrandly . Rebrandly allows you to create branded links for free. And so, they are best for individuals who want to generate branded links without spending. However, you can only create a limited number of branded links using their free service. You also need to subscribe to their premium plan first before you can access the metrics of your links. Nonetheless, it is still a great option, especially for businesses just beginning to do social media marketing. 

Step 2: Copy and Paste the Link of Your Destination Page

Once you already have a link shortening tool, your next step should be getting the long link to your destination page. Then, paste it on the long URL field of your link shortening service.  You may also pick various choices of customization before shortening your links. While other link shortening platforms allow you to shorten a link without logging in or signing up, others require you to do so.

For example, you decided to use the smartest link engagement platform, Hero.link. Before you can shorten your URLs, you are required to log in to your account. If you don’t have one yet, you can create an account, which is free. You can also instantly create an account by continuing using your Facebook and Google Account. This will allow the platform to use the personal information of your selected account. Once you are already logged in, you can now create short links. This service is pretty straightforward, and even beginners can execute link shortening tasks quickly.

If you get stuck at any stage or have something to be cleared, you can contact your link engagement platform or look for an answer through their FAQs section. 

Step 3: Hit Shorten Button

Brand Links

Once your long links are already pasted in the “long link” field, you can now click the “Shorten” button (which may vary depending on the service). The platform will instantly give you a unique short URL to share on your social networking sites or place on your adverts. There are several platforms that will give additional options like branding your links or generating a QR code for your link. You can freely decide on what touch you should to your short links. 

Step 4: Share the Short URL

If you are already done shortening or customizing your links, you can now share them and use them for whatever purpose they may serve. You can copy them on your clipboard, or you may share them directly on your social media accounts by clicking the provided button. 

How Short Links Help Businesses?

short links and businesses

You may already have noticed that many businesses are using short links in their marketing. Yes, it may be surprising, but it is true. A simple and short link can dramatically affect the growth of a business. How?  Read on to find out how short links help businesses move forward. 

Short Links Builds Robust Engagement

Short links generate more clicks, and it is considered the best benefit it can offer to businesses and marketers. More clicks are equivalent to more visits to your website, business, or blog, each of whom has the potential to become a lead.

Since sites like Hero.link allow you to build short links for free, this is a rare example of an accessible method to generate leads without spending. Compared to a Google Ads campaign, this means saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Another suggestion is to utilize branded links and custom domains. Some services, such as Hero.link, allow you to change a short URL like hero.link/NXuGA into something like hero.link/sports-wear-discounts. You may also use your own domain in place of hero.link. As a result, you may attach your brand to the link you’ll post since you can utilize your own website’s name by constructing links like my.site/campaign-name.

Short Links Connect Offline Audience to Your Online Place

Many individuals have used links to send offline users to their online places. However, long links often failed to do such. One of the main reasons for using long links in offline campaigns is ineffective is lack of interactiveness. While people can just click the link on your online campaigns, that is not the case for offline adverts. Using links in printed media entail that people have to type in the link on their web browser manually so that they can access your landing page. People are unlikely to do such. So, you are wasting your investment and are also losing potential leads. 

But, if you place a short and easier-to-enter link in your offline adverts, you are more likely to drive people to access your website. They may still be interactive, but short links are more convenient to type in. 

Short Links Provides Insight 

Another powerful feature of URL shorteners that business enterprise proprietors must not leave out is internet analytics. Shorteners track clicks on every link so that they can theoretically tell you how many audiences visited the landing site through a particular abbreviated URL, what country they came from, what their source web page or app was, and so on.

Whether or whether you could depend on these statistics is decided by the shortener you employ. Many loose offerings are infamous for imparting untrustworthy statistics—even the wide variety of clicks is on occasion approximated erroneously. A premium plan is typically required to get access to extra statistics and further analytical tools.

Short Links Analytics

Hero.link is a link engagement platform that provides accurate and dependable analytics. It counts clicks in real-time rather than estimating them and provides great flexibility in showing statistics. It contains information about the short URL, IP address of those who clicked the link, visit date and time, geographic details, and much more. You may select between a summary and a full report, and you can export the data in CSV and Excel formats.

But why do you need analytics? Well, it is the only way you can make a data-driven and more sound marketing plan. It also provides you insight regarding the behavior of your visitors, which will help you determine what you should change and enhance about your website so that you can provide a better experience to your visitors. 

For example, the analytics show that Instagram and Facebook send more visitors to your website than Twitter. This will help you understand that you need to add more effort to your Twitter sharing tactics to make it more effective.

Does Shortening my URLs Hurt My SEO?

Links are significant in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Backlinks, external links, and permalinks are all considered by search engine algorithms. Unfortunately, advertisers do not always use shortened URLs. This might be related to the widespread misconception that link shortening is detrimental to SEO.

Despite being debunked by Google and SEO professionals like Matt Cut a decade ago, this fallacy persisted. In fact, experts are confident that short and compact links do not harm your SEO but benefit it instead. Indeed, some argue that the shorter your links, the better:

According to experts, short URLs and domains that include keywords result in more brand inquiries, an essential SEO factor. Furthermore, shorter URLs are easier to remember.

Link Shortening Tips and Tricks for Better SEO

link shortening best practices

Now that we have clarified that shortening your links does not harm your SEO, you may wonder how you can further use short URLs to your advantage. The following are the tips and tricks you can use for better SEO.

1. Match your Short Links with Your Brand’s Page

In marketing, consistency is the key. And it is true with your links and website as well. Hence, matching your short URLs with your brand’s page is an excellent practice. 

The content of your web pages must be relevant to the URL. Ensuring that the page title is accurate and relevant to the content is not enough for search engines. You must also create a permalink that matches both the title and the content. 

Alongside keeping your keywords, content, titles, and permalink matching, it is also advised to be consistent with your permalink structure.

2. Keep your URLs Short and Simple

It should only take a glance at your URLs to understand where it will lead to. The longer your URLs are, though, the more difficult this gets. As a result, it is advised that you eliminate extraneous parts such as stop words and particular punctuation from your links to optimize them effectively. By removing extraneous words from your URLs, both humans and machines can quickly comprehend what’s on the page.

Link Shortening Guide

The majority of punctuation also falls into the category of unnecessary characters. While quotation marks, commas, and parentheses are acceptable in meta descriptions and page names, adding them in URLs maybe both be distracting and misleading.

Hyphens are the one exception to this rule. Hyphens are recommended because they act as word separators and can improve readability. While hyphens and underscores are commonly used interchangeably, it’s worth remembering that Google interprets underscores as word joiners rather than separators.

Stop words and punctuation merely lengthen URLs and do not assist with SEO. This also applies to connections made automatically using dynamic parameters and symbols.

3. Use Lowercase Letters

Because readability is critical in any effective SEO URL, we advocate eliminating capital characters to boost your search engine ranks.

The structure might also be perplexing to search engine crawlers and users. Capital letters, in particular, tend to muddle matters when it comes to memorability. Mixing capital and lowercase characters lower readability and make your URL appear cluttered, producing a sense of distrust in your site.

4. Avoid Including Subfolders in Your URLs

Making URLs as legible and SEO-friendly as possible entails keeping them short, simple, and to the point.

You’ll most likely have a number of subfolders inside the structure of your website. Many website builders set the subdirectory location as the default URL. WordPress, for example, is particularly prone to this.

When URLs contain subfolders, search engines find it more difficult to crawl the site, which might result in lower ranks for your page.

5. Manage Redirects with Care

Webpage redirection is inconvenient for the end-user and negatively influences their experience. Irritation is the number one reason consumers quit your website. Bounce rates and time spent on a website play a part in your site appearing on search engine sites since Google began weighing the user experience into their results.

Managing redirects

Redirects are kept to a minimum or eliminated using search engine-friendly URLs. Removing redirection enhances usability and speeds up the user experience, subsequently shared with Google.

Search engines don’t always follow redirection accurately, if at all. That implies an entire webpage (and the effort you spent creating it) might be rendered useless.

But that occurs; sometimes, it’s impossible to avoid redirection. So, what should you do if your website requires a redirect?

A 301 redirect, rather than a permanent redirect, is the proper SEO URL approach. Because 301 redirects send 90-99 percent of ranking power to the new page, you will not be punished by Google for implementing a required redirect.

6. Use Custom URLs

It is not always possible to follow SEO URL best practices with links. Sometimes you don’t have control over the URL structure, or you don’t have control over the subfolders on the website.

So, what are you supposed to do in this situation?

Instead, make use of branded links. Branded links have a strong SEO URL structure that can assist you in circumventing a lack of control over URLs.

You can incorporate a custom domain and slash tag when utilizing a branded short URL. Instead of a random string of letters that will discourage site visitors, you may design a link that fits all URL SEO standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the frequently asked questions about shortening URLs.

How do I shorten a URL for free?

You can use many link shortening services to shorten your URLs for free.  For instance, Hero link allows users to use their link shortening tool.  To shorten your link using this platform, you have to log in first to your account. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create a free account.  Then, paste the link to your landing page on the “Paste your Long URL” field. Then, click the “Shorten” button.  The platform will give you a new link. Lastly, copy and share your new URL. 

Should you shorten links on social media?

Yes. Especially if you share your links on social media sites with limited character counts per post, such as Twitter. Shortening your links will help you save character counts and use them instead to add meaningful captions.  Also, it can help you generate more engagements, which is the superior goal of sharing a link on social media. It also helps you determine which social media sites send more referral traffic to the website.  Most importantly, it will help you maintain professional-looking posts all the time. 

Is a shorter URL better?

In many ways, a short URL is better. First, they are neat and precise, making them seem professional. Also, they are easier to track. Most importantly, they generate more clicks. If you need to learn more about why a short link is better to use, you can check our article about the advantages of using short links. If you plan to use short links in your marketing, we suggest reading our article about the excellent ways to incorporate short URLs into your marketing.

Are short URLs case sensitive?

There are short URLs that are case-sensitive. It is essential to ask your service provider if the short links are case-sensitive.  Typically, custom and branded links are not case-sensitive.

How can you know from where a visitor is opening a shortened link?

When a user clicks on a short link, our server determines the user’s IP address. Each IP address is linked to a service provider as well as a physical location. As a result, we employ a massive database of IP numbers (IP ranges) and their associated location (geolocation with country and, in some cases, user’s city).

Why do people use link shorteners?

Certainly, all these people aim to generate shorter links they can use to whatever purpose it may serve. However,  businesses, marketers, and proprietors use link shorteners for a particular purpose–to level up their marketing.  Link shortener platforms also offer valuable features to help businesses achieve their marketing goals efficiently and effectively. Some of the key features that link engagement platforms offer to businesses are link branding, Qr code creation, accurate analytics, bio profiles, and more.  Take note that the features may vary per link shortening service. This means you may find a particular feature offered by one platform but unavailable to others. This is why you should research first before deciding what platform you will use, particularly if you subscribe to a plan.

Do short URLs last forever?

It depends on the link engagement platform you are using. Some platforms generate non-expiring links, while others give you a link that you can only use for a particular period.  There are also link shortening services that allow you to set an expiration date for your links. This feature is typically available for premium users. 

Can I use my own domain to create short links?

Definitely. Links that use your own domain are what we call branded links.  We recommend that our users brand their links since it is far better than generic links. Here are some of the advantages of using branded links.  -They gain more trust from the public -They are easier to remember -They look credible -They can generate more clicks -They can increase brand awareness

Can short links be deleted?

Deleting your short links also depends on the link engagement platform you are using. Some platforms do not offer short links deletion features, while others do.  Hero.link is one of the few platforms that allow users to delete their short links permanently. You can access this feature through the link management dashboard.  Take note that deleting your links will also permanently delete the statistics and other records of that particular link. The process is also irreversible. Only delete a short link if you already don’t need it and its data.

What will happen to deleted short links?

Deleted short links will be once again available. Some platforms reuse them since the data that is mapped to them has also been deleted. The link will also be removed from your dashboard alongside its statistics and data. If someone clicks on the link you already deleted, the link will not load or redirect the person to a new landing page (in case the link is reused).

Sharing your online content on social media sites is the heart of earning colossal referral traffic to your website. That is why many business and website owners are so fond of this marketing tactic. It efficiently helps them drive the audience to visit their website to read their content or purchase their products and services. It is also an excellent opportunity for them to raise people’s awareness about their brands. 

Notably, one of the most significant issues this tactic faces is the long links. Since long links are comprised of many characters and are typically clunky, they seem inappropriate to be shared. Not to mention that it is seemingly impossible to share them on microblogging sites. And the only solution to this problem is by shortening your long links.

Many people think that shortening a link entails a complicated process, which is a fallacy. Thanks to links shortening services, people can now shorten their long links instantly and conveniently. In addition, they also offer many valuable features which are truly helpful for many businesses. 

If you or your business require a robust link engagement platform for your link-sharing activities and other marketing campaigns, no need to look further than Hero.link. We offer various solutions, including link shortening, link branding, link customization, QR code generation, bio profiles creation. You can also integrate our services to your Zappier and WordPress, which will surely make your link shortening and link sharing task more convenient. We provide accurate and insightful analytics about the performance of your links, codes, profiles, and campaigns. No need to search for more. Contact us today and experience the smartest link engagement platform, a.k.a Hero.link.

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  • ')" data-event="social share" data-info="Flipboard" aria-label="Share on Flipboard">

How to Turn off Threaded Emails in Gmail

How to add a link to a google chat window, how to send pdf files via gmail.

  • How to Reply to Messages on Facebook
  • How to Create a PDF and Retain Links

A link to a blog post might contain the post's title, the blog category that it was posted in and the year and month of publishing, resulting in a long link. It can be difficult to share long links with others because email clients often fail to properly interpret links that wrap across multiple lines. In addition, SMS message services such as Twitter impose character limits on links; anything over 140 characters is cut off. Use a link shortening service to reduce the length of a long and complicated Web link.

Navigate in your Web browser to the page that you want to create a link to. Click and drag the mouse pointer over the browser's address bar to highlight the entire URL of the page. Right-click the URL and select "Copy."

Open a new browser window or tab and navigate to bitly.com, goo.gl or is.gd.

Right-click the text field at the top of the page and select "Paste" to paste the URL that you copied in Step 1.

Click the "Shorten" button. The tool returns a shortened link such as "http://bit.ly/2V6CFi."

Right-click the shortened link and select "Copy."

Paste the shortened link into an email, tweet or other communication to share it with someone else.

  • Google URL Shortener

Jason Artman has been a technical writer since entering the field in 1999 while attending Michigan State University. Artman has published numerous articles for various websites, covering a diverse array of computer-related topics including hardware, software, games and gadgets.

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Tighten a watch band by less than removing a link?

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Hello, i just purchased a fossil watch and have been fiddling with the size by removing and adding links to fit my wrist size. however, it seems that my size is in between two links (adding one makes it too big and removing one makes it too small). so, does anyone know of a "do it yourself" or makeshift way of making a watch band smaller by only a little bit?  

Toronto Pete

Look at the clasp, there should be a couple of micro-adjust holes where the bracelet attaches to the 'deployant' folding clasp. Use a springbar tool to move that mini springbar one way or the other. I always end up having to mess with the micro-adjust when sizing bracelets. Spent almost an hour getting my Monster set up properly but then I was having a bit of trouble with those teensy collars that go with the pins...once you get it finished you'll never have to mess with it again, thank goodness. Best of luck.  

Surfmonkey

Depends on the bracelet. Some have micro adjustment holes, some have a half link, some have both, some have neither.  

Thanks for all of the input, but I'm not entirely sure what you mean about the mico adjustment holes.. can you explain please? Or point me in the direction of a tutorial? Thank you.  

Google Image Result for http://donindiano.lanetcie.com/watches/breitling/bands/images/micro_adjustment  

Yeah mine doesn't have those holes.. it does have what seem to be little half links on either side of the clasp, though if that makes any sense.  

My Timex doesn't have this mocro adjustment so it ended up a little loose on my wrist. I think yours is the same with my bracelet, otherwise you will notice it because it is very obvious.  

  • ?      

Just put it a little loose. A little tight will not be comfortable. It is new that is why you feel it doesn't fit your wrist. After some breaking in it will fit you.  

Alright, j3poii I think I will listen to you. Everyone who has responded, thank you. This forum is amazing haha I posted this thread like an hour ago and I already have 9 posts.. that's pretty impressive  

Raza

Yeah, barring those micro-adjustment holes, you're going to end up with a loose bracelet. You might be able to remove one of those half links if it's just too loose. However, I suggest leaving it a little loose as well. I even have some straps that I wear looser when I get out of the shower, and then tighten a few hours later.  

Same here. Loose is better than tight. When a band is tight it won't allow for the natural swelling of the wrist. It'll go from a little tight to WAY too tight with a change in the weather, in diet or even time of day as Raza points out. It's always better to opt for the looser "setting" than the tighter one.  

Amandajo

mtbrooks33 said: Hello, i just purchased a fossil watch and have been fiddling with the size by removing and adding links to fit my wrist size. however, it seems that my size is in between two links (adding one makes it too big and removing one makes it too small). so, does anyone know of a "do it yourself" or makeshift way of making a watch band smaller by only a little bit? Click to expand...

jordanscheffman

I put some nexcare waterproof tape on the inside of the clasp to snug against my arm for a slightly tighter fit  

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Link Building for Small Businesses: 7 Tactics That Really Work

Link building can work for small business. In fact, it can work really well. Here are seven link building ideas you can try out now.

I’m going to start this off like every other article you may have read on link building.

Link building is hard.

This statement is true for every company. That’s why every article on link building mentions it.

google search for link building is hard

But when you’re a small business, it’s even harder.

You probably don’t have a dedicated SEO in-house.

You also don’t have the same internal resources to create the “10X content” every other article on link building says you need in order to get links.

And because you’re small, it’s simply not as easy for you to attract links as a big, well-known brand.

However, link building is not impossible. Like everything else that’s hard, it just takes time and effort.

When you’re a small business with limited time and resources, you need to make sure that any time you devote to link building is spent on tactics that will actually work.

Good news: all of the below link building ideas really work. I’ve personally tried all of them with my own clients, many of whom are small businesses. Let’s dig in.

1. Support Your Local Community

Charitable organizations and nonprofits are always looking for sponsors. At least one sponsorship tier will include backlinks to a sponsor’s site.

Think about what organizations you can sponsor in your town. Do they host fundraising events?

Don’t limit yourself to traditional charities. Consider schools and for-profit events as well. Anyone in need of a sponsor is a potential backlink candidate.

Ideally, the sponsorship should make sense for your brand — by either aligning with your physical location or your industry.

To uplevel this tactic, sponsor something that your target customers actually care about, instead of sponsoring anyone who will give you a link.

The goal with link building should never focus solely on links; you want those links to translate to traffic, too.

This tactic does require a monetary investment, but it can take less upfront effort than other link building ideas.

Typically, you don’t have to build a strong relationship with event sponsors, or convince them of why you’re worthy of a link.

Send them the money for your sponsorship tier, and you’ll get everything that’s included.

2. Connect with Local & Niche Bloggers

Who are the popular bloggers who cover your city or industry?

These content creators are expected to drive constant content for their readers. Like any content manager, they run out of ideas from time to time. Be the hero that gives them an idea.

Follow these folks on social media and subscribe to their blog. Comment or reshare their pieces when you find them interesting. Build a genuine relationship.

Over time, this can translate to natural mentions.

In the meantime, pay attention to what they write about, and review where it might make sense for them to include you.

If you’re a florist, you might ask to be included in their roundup blog of local gift ideas.

If you sell accounting software, you might ask a personal finance blogger if they want your CEO’s top tips for getting a tax refund.

The key here is to share something of real value for their readers. These bloggers are influential because their content helps their audience. Help them do that, and they’ll want to help you.

As a small business, you’ll have better luck going after smaller bloggers. These so-called micro-influencers may not have the domain authority of a celebrity blogger, but their niche focus makes their backlinks highly relevant for your website.

3. Run a Scholarship

Sponsoring local organizations are one way to give back. College or high school sponsorships are another — and there’s an excellent way to earn juicy .edu backlinks.

I’ve covered this before on Search Engine Journal, so you can read my step-by-step walkthrough for this kind of link building campaign there.

The idea is to create a scholarship for college or high schools students that is relevant to your small business.

If you’re a realtor, ask students to write an essay response hypothesizing the future of the housing industry.

Then, reach out to the financial aid offices at schools and ask them to share it with their students.

You will need to set aside some budget for this, but it’s one of the most effective link building campaigns I’ve ever run, and it really helps students in need.

As a small business, I recommend limiting your campaign to the local regions where you operate or focusing on schools with a major department that matches your industry.

Plus, after you select a winner, you can always run a press release for additional coverage and potential backlinks.

4. Guest Post for Industry-Relevant Sites

You’ve seen this suggestion multiple times before, and that’s because it works.

Guest blogging takes real effort, perhaps the most out of any tactics on this list.

You have to:

  • Find sites who accept guest writers .
  • Hunt down the editor’s contact info.
  • Brainstorm a compelling topic for them.
  • Pitch it in a persuasive way.
  • And finally, write the piece.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s commensurate with the return you get.

Guest posts provide much more than a backlink. When you land a guest post on a site your target audience frequents, they can drive qualified traffic your way.

Plus, having a byline on these sites helps elevate the status of your brand.

Small businesses often run into roadblocks when they pitch guest posts to popular sites. Instead of going after the biggest sites you’ve ever heard of, pitch articles to sites that are smaller, but relevant, to your industry.

Using our accounting software example, you might go after personal finance blogs with engaged readerships, rather than publishing behemoths like the Wall Street Journal.

If your small business regularly partners with other companies from complementary verticals, consider pitching them a guest post, too.

They’re already in the habit of referring customers your way, so there’s a clear fit there.

How can you write a post for their site that provides value to their readers, while making it natural for them to contact you?

For instance, a short-term rental management company might partner with a local maid service. The maid service could write a guest blog providing tips for cleaning your home in between Airbnb rentals.

5. Offer Case Studies or Testimonials

This is one easy link building tactic I don’t see being used nearly as often as it should.

What vendors or software products does your business use? If you’re happy with them, offer to take part in a case study or provide them with a testimonial.

It’s customary practice for brands to link to the business featured in the case study or testimonial, in gratitude for their social proof.

You don’t want to go into this asking for the link, and you should only do this for brands you’re sincerely satisfied with.

Contact your sales rep. Let them know how much their product or service has helped you, and that you’d be willing to provide a testimonial for them. You’re going to make their day.

6. Reclaim Unlinked Mentions

This is perhaps the easiest link building tactic of all. Brands are mentioned every day online — big and small alike.

Set up free Google Alerts for “[your brand name goes here]” and “[yourdomain.com]”, as well as the names of any prominent members of your leadership team.

Whenever a website mentions you without including a link, reach out.

This is a friendly audience who already thought you were worth mentioning to their readers. It’s only natural for them to include a link to your site, so their readers can learn more about you.

Pro tip: Review every mention before you reach out. If a site mentioned your business in a negative way, do not consider that your opening to ask them for a link. Instead, consider it an opportunity to evaluate their feedback and how you may need to adapt your business, if at all.

7. Promote Your Content Far & Wide

You’re already writing blogs and sharing advice on your small business website. Are you doing anything else to promote that content , besides the obligatory share on social media?

Take to the internet. There are many popular online blogs that allow you to syndicate your content (like Medium , LinkedIn , and others). Simply due to their massive size, these sites are much more likely to rank for your target keywords than you are.

Don’t get frustrated by that; use it to your advantage instead.

Rewrite a compelling intro for your blog, or rewrite in its entirety, and post a canonical link back to your website.

This tactic is known as content syndication, and fellow SEJ writer Ben Jacobson wrote a great piece on it right here .

You can also share links to your content in social sharing sites and online message boards like Quora and Slideshare.

Monitor the threads that are relevant to your business. Show off your business expertise and provide real value in your response – before pointing users to a piece of content on your website for additional information.

Do this regularly enough, and you’ll start to build a name for yourself as an authority in the space. Users on these sites may start to follow you specifically to see your answers. That translates to traffic.

Speaking of traffic, this tactic usually (but not always) results in unfollowed links. While less valuable from a link equity perspective, nofollow links can be just as valuable for driving traffic — and that’s the ultimate goal of link building, really.

Links are just one way to boost your search rankings. Traffic is what you really want.

Link Building for Your Small Business

Link building can work for small business. In fact, it can work really well.

You just have to be thoughtful about where you put your efforts. Spend your time on tactics that work, and you’ll start to see results.

More Link Building Resources:

  • How to Take Link Building Into Your Local Community
  • What Is a Local Backlink & How to Find Them
  • How to Use Relevant, Targeted Directories for Link Building

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Featured Image: rawpixel /Unsplash.com Screenshot taken by author, October 2018.

Amelia Willson is a freelance writer, content marketer and SEO strategist who helps businesses succeed online. A graduate of Wellesley ...

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Welcome to ‘Supersex’: Why Porn Icon Rocco Siffredi Brought His True Story and More Than 40 ‘Boundary-Pushing’ Sex Scenes to Netflix

Porn icon Rocco Siffredi claims that after making roughly 1,400 hardcore films — with titles like “The Ass Collector” and “Rocco’s Perfect Slaves” — over the past four decades, he has finally found “the peace of his senses.”

“I could crack a bad joke and say I can’t get it up anymore,” says Siffredi, 59, speaking on a video call from the Budapest office of his Rocco Siffredi Production company, which houses the Siffredi Hard Academy, touted as the world’s first “university of porn.”

“I have to tell you that it was a mix of problems connected with my personal life and the dependency that this job, for better or worse, sets forth in you when you’re on set 28 days every month doing two or three scenes a day,” Siffredi says. “I don’t know if it was dependency or just desire. But I swear, it’s over.”

That said, he’s still happy to shoot other actors and create porn. “But I don’t feel the need to do it myself.”

“ Supersex ,” the Netflix series inspired by Siffredi’s life that drops globally on March 6 after premiering at the Berlin Film Festival in February, begins with Rocco announcing, “Porn for me is over. I’m retiring,” at a 2004 Paris porn industry convention. That really happened. But in a fictional twist written by the show’s creator, Francesca Manieri, Rocco, played by Italian star Alessandro Borghi, then proceeds to have rough sex in front of a throng of cheering journalists and fans, having been enticed by one of the convention’s hostesses, an aspiring porn performer who is seeking her big break.

Manieri, who is a militant feminist, says that when she was approached by producer Lorenzo Mieli about doing a Rocco Siffredi origins show on the set of Luca Guadagnino’s gay coming-of-age TV series “We Are Who We Are” — which she co-wrote — she thought Mieli was joking. He asked her to give it some serious thought.

Everyone told her it was “too risky,” but Manieri came on board because she saw it as a unique opportunity.

“I said to myself that if when women are given the chance to delve into the heart of masculinity — with all its dysfunctionality and potential toxicity, or even its power —we turn it down, then we can’t blame anyone anymore,” she says.

“That evening was like my high school and college graduation crammed into one,” says Siffredi — who is named after Alain Delon’s gangster character Roch Siffredi in the 1970 French film “Borsalino.” “When I saw Gabriel in that club, I knew that in front of me I had the opportunity that I had been seeking ever since I was a kid. The emotion I felt is indescribable.”

“Supersex” traces Siffredi’s journey from Ortona to Paris, Rome and then Los Angeles, where he started working with U.S. porn pioneer John Leslie and producer John Stagliano. It delves into Rocco’s close relationships with his mom and older brother Tommaso (Adriano Giannini) and with Tommaso’s partner Lucia, played by Jasmine Trinca, a Berlin juror. Lucia becomes a prostitute and is a “mirror for Rocco.” “They are both sex workers,” Manieri says. “But the social judgment cast upon them is completely different.” Lucia eventually manages to find redemption, though not entirely, “because our society does not allow that strong a twist.” But her character provides a “bridge between the feminine and masculine [realms].”

In terms of genre, Manieri calls “Supersex” a hybrid between a melodrama and a coming-of-age story. As references she cites Luchino Visconti’s neo-realist classic “Rocco and His Brothers” and Sergio Leone’s epic “Once Upon a Time in America,” classics that feature respectively a feminicide and a rape, she points out. These films depict “the dynamics of how a masculine psyche is built,” she says. Similarly, the series deconstructs “the boundaries of that type of toxic masculinity.”

Both Siffredi and Manieri say there is a lot more of Rocco’s real journey in “Supersex” than a show “just inspired by my life,” as Siffredi puts it. “Stories are built on conflict,” says Manieri. “Rocco and I in a room were the biggest conflict you could possibly imagine, so it was a great start.”

For Borghi — known to U.S. art-house audiences for playing Bruno, the Alpine native who has a meltdown in male-bonding drama “The Eight Mountains” — “Francesca’s screenplay is probably the reason I chose to make this series.” What interested him about the story of an 8-year-old kid from a dirt-poor family in Ortona who becomes the world’s biggest porn star is that it’s “so filled with emotional changes that have to do with dependency and pain and things connected with his family — this whole dark side,” he says.

“If they had written a series about a porn actor just to show how good he was at fucking, surely I would not have accepted,” he adds.

Borghi says he has roughly 40 or 50 “boundary-pushing” sex scenes in the show, some more intense than others. But what’s crucial for him is “that every scene that has to do with sex, with porn, always involves a new narrative twist for the character,” he points out. “It’s never because at that point in the narrative you needed to throw in some sex for the audience.” Instead, the steamy scenes “can be Rocco’s consecration, his happiness, or the way he faces pain.”

To play these scenes with several actresses— including Gaia Messerklinger, who plays Italian porn star Moana Pozzi, and Jade Pedri and Linda Caridi as women with whom Rocco becomes romantically involved — directors Matteo Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni had an intimacy coordinator on set in Rome, Sicily and Paris.

“We did lots of different things,” says Borghi, who describes the mood instilled on set by intimacy coordinator Luisa Lazzaro.

“It was funny because the first couple of weeks we were all a little uneasy,” he says, “and then the third week we just stood there naked looking at scenes on the monitor. So something must have worked.”

There is little doubt that of the many women in Rocco Siffredi’s life, the most important one is his mom, Carmela.

“My whole journey [into the porn world] starts with that woman and her suffering, my desire to suffer the way she did,” he says wistfully. “It was always very important for me to find redemption in order to help my mother, even financially.”

“She’s the biggest luck of my life,” he continues. “A mom who doesn’t judge you for your choice, doesn’t try to oppose it or create problems.” On the contrary: “It’s not that she pushed me. But she had that protective attitude that says: ‘Rocco, if it makes you happy, go for it!’”

Going for it took Siffredi from Ortona to Los Angeles in 1990. It was very tough, he recalls, due to his Italian accent and “because Americans are used to selling, not to buying,” as he puts it.

“Rocco, this guy from Italy. I’m the first European to disembark in America and I changed porn,” Siffredi boasts, referring to his signature brand of rough on-screen sex, not to mention his supersized cock, which has won him 150 porn industry prizes.

So is there a moral to “Supersex”? Can it help teenagers grasp the distinction between porn and real sex? “This series can help Rocco fans understand better who Rocco is — his life, where he comes from,” says Siffredi.

But it should also help viewers understand what it takes to become a porn star. “Guys arrive at my academy and they think they are going to find 10 women with their legs spread open, ready to do what they want,” Siffredi points out. But it’s not like that.

According to Siffredi, “Porn is a very tough job; it’s a vocation. I always say to the guys, ‘If you want to do this because you are unemployed and you need to make money, it’s not going to work. Because working with sex is the worse thing you can do in your life.’”

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Small Business Trends

How to start a makeup line.

Personal brands play a big role in the cosmetics industry, especially with the rise of social media influencers and beauty gurus. These individuals often leverage their personal brand to launch their own cosmetic line, capitalizing on their loyal followers and unique aesthetic.

Personal makeup brands can bring authenticity, relatability, and a strong connection to consumers, which are invaluable assets in the highly competitive cosmetics market. Read on for a guide on how to start a business in this exciting industry.

The Cosmetics Industry Today

The cosmetics industry in the US is robust, and the beauty industry is continuously evolving. The global beauty industry is driven by factors such as consumer demand for innovative products, increasing emphasis on self-care and personal grooming, and the influence of social media on beauty trends.

With challenges like regulatory scrutiny and market saturation, the US cosmetics industry remains dynamic, with ample opportunities for new entrants to carve out their niche.

how to start a makeup line

Why Start Your Own Makeup Line?

There are several compelling reasons to start a makeup line and establish a beauty brand, including:

  • Passion for beauty and cosmetics: Many entrepreneurs who start cosmetic lines are drawn to the industry due to their love for makeup and skincare products.
  • Creative expression: Launching a makeup line in the cosmetics business allows individuals to express their creativity through product formulation, packaging design, and branding.
  • Business opportunity: The makeup industry offers significant potential for profit and growth, especially with the right combination of innovation, quality, and marketing.
  • Addressing unmet needs: Identifying gaps in the market or specific consumer pain points can inspire entrepreneurs to create unique products that fulfill those needs.

Initial Steps to Starting a Makeup Line

Developing a business plan for your makeup line.

Creating a business plan for a makeup line is one of the essential building blocks for new businesses to succeed . It involves several key components that lay the groundwork for your business’s structure, strategy, and financial planning. Here’s a detailed expansion on each of these components:

Small Business Deals

  • Look into common business structures and choose one that suits your business needs.
  • Analyze current makeup industry trends to identify potential opportunities.
  • Study consumer behavior to understand their preferences and needs.
  • Evaluate competitors to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning.
  • Identify gaps in the market that your makeup line can fill.
  • Determine the demographics and psychographics of your ideal customer, such as age, gender, lifestyle, and beauty preferences.
  • Develop a brand identity that appeals to your target audience, including your brand’s mission, values, and personality.
  • Choose a brand name, logo, and design theme that reflects your brand identity and resonates with your target market.
  • Decide on the types of makeup products you will offer (e.g., foundations, lipsticks, eyeshadows).
  • Define the formulations for your products, considering aspects like ingredients, benefits, and performance.
  • Design packaging that aligns with your brand identity and appeals to your target audience while also being functional and sustainable.
  • Develop pricing strategies that reflect the value of your products, considering factors like production costs, market positioning, and consumer willingness to pay.
  • Identify the most effective sales channels for your makeup line, such as online platforms, retail partnerships, or direct sales.
  • Develop a marketing strategy that includes a mix of digital marketing, social media, influencer collaborations, and traditional advertising to reach your target audience.
  • Plan promotional activities, such as product launches, events, and special offers, to generate interest and drive sales.
  • Source high-quality suppliers for ingredients and packaging materials, prioritizing reliability, sustainability, and ethical practices.
  • Choose manufacturing partners that can meet your quality standards, production needs, and timelines.
  • Set up distribution channels to efficiently get your products to market, whether through direct-to-consumer shipping, retail partners, or distribution centers.
  • Estimate initial startup costs, including product development, branding, legal fees, and inventory.
  • Project ongoing expenses, such as manufacturing, marketing, staffing, and operational costs.
  • Forecast sales based on market analysis, pricing strategies, and marketing efforts.
  • Plan for contingencies by setting aside a budget for unexpected expenses.

By meticulously planning each of these components, you can create a comprehensive business plan that not only guides the launch of your makeup line but also supports its growth and sustainability in the competitive beauty industry.

how to start a makeup line

Legal Considerations and Brand Protection for Makeup Lines

  • Choose a unique and memorable brand name that is legally available for use and registration.
  • Secure trademarks for your brand name, logos, and product names to protect your intellectual property.
  • Comply with regulatory requirements for cosmetics labeling, ingredient disclosure, and product safety testing.
  • Consider forming a legal entity, such as an LLC or corporation, to protect your personal assets and limit liability.
  • Draft contracts and agreements with suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and any other business partners.

Funding Your Makeup Business Venture

  • Assess your startup costs, including product development, manufacturing, branding, marketing, and distribution expenses.
  • Explore funding options such as personal savings, loans, investments from family and friends, crowdfunding, or venture capital.
  • Consider bootstrapping or starting small to minimize initial financial risk and prove the viability of your makeup line before seeking external funding.
  • Prepare a comprehensive business plan and financial projections to present to potential investors or lenders.

how to start a makeup line

Starting a Makeup Line: Step by Step

These are foundational steps to consider when starting a makeup line, but each venture will have its unique challenges and requirements based on factors like product niche, target market, and business goals.

Building Your Makeup Line Business Model

Define your unique selling proposition (USP) and pricing strategy to differentiate your products in the market while ensuring profitability.

Identifying Your Target Market in the Cosmetics Industry

Conduct thorough market research to understand the demographics, psychographics, and purchasing behavior of your ideal customers, allowing you to tailor your products and marketing efforts accordingly.

Sourcing Ingredients and Manufacturers

Prioritize quality and consistency when sourcing ingredients and manufacturers, and consider factors like ethical sourcing, production capacity, and regulatory compliance.

how to start a makeup line

Exploring Private Label Options

Evaluate private label options carefully, considering factors like product customization, minimum order quantities, lead times, and the level of control you want over product formulation and branding.

Product Development and Testing

Invest in rigorous product development and testing processes to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of your makeup products, including formulation testing, stability testing, and consumer trials.

Creating Your Makeup Line Brand

Develop a cohesive brand identity that reflects your values, resonates with your target audience, and sets you apart from competitors, encompassing elements like brand name, logo, packaging design, and brand messaging.

how to start a makeup line

Marketing and Selling Your Makeup Line

Building an online presence for your cosmetics line.

Utilize an e-commerce platform or website startup guide to create a visually appealing and user-friendly website for your cosmetics line, optimizing it for search engines and incorporating features like product descriptions, images, customer reviews, and secure payment options to enhance the online shopping experience for your customers.

How Makeup Lines Can Leverage Social Media

Leverage social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to showcase your makeup products through engaging content like tutorials, product reviews, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and user-generated content, fostering a sense of community and authenticity while driving brand awareness, engagement, and sales.

Launching Your Makeup Line

Generate buzz and excitement around your makeup line launch by implementing a strategic marketing plan that includes teaser campaigns, influencer partnerships, press releases, and social media promotion. Then, create a memorable launch event or online release that captures the attention of your target audience and drives initial sales momentum.

FAQs: How to Start a Makeup Line

How much does it cost to start a makeup line.

The cost to start a makeup line can vary widely depending on factors such as product complexity, manufacturing processes, packaging design, branding, marketing efforts, and distribution channels. For example, developing a skin cream could require initial investments in formulation research, ingredient sourcing, manufacturing equipment, packaging materials, branding, regulatory compliance, and marketing. Costs for launching a single skincare product may range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands or more, depending on the quality and scale of the operation.

What are the challenges of entering the makeup business?

Some challenges of starting a makeup line include fierce competition in the cosmetics industry, high upfront costs for product development and manufacturing, stringent regulatory requirements for cosmetics labeling and safety testing, establishing brand credibility and consumer trust, securing retail distribution channels, and navigating market trends and shifts in consumer preferences.

Can a small makeup line compete in the cosmetic industry?

While the cosmetics industry is dominated by large established brands, small makeup lines can still compete by leveraging niche markets, focusing on product innovation and quality, building a strong brand identity and community engagement, utilizing digital marketing and social media channels to reach target audiences directly, offering personalized customer experiences, and cultivating strategic partnerships with retailers or influencers.

How can a new makeup business compete with established beauty brands?

Here’s a business startup checklist for makeup businesses that want to compete with larger brands:

  • Identify a unique niche or target market that is underserved by larger brands.
  • Emphasize product differentiation through innovative formulations, packaging, or branding.
  • Prioritize quality and customer satisfaction to build loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.
  • Optimize digital marketing efforts to increase online visibility and engage with consumers directly.
  • Seek collaborations or partnerships with influencers, bloggers, or complementary brands to expand reach and credibility.

Can you start a makeup business solely online?

Yes, it is possible to start a makeup line solely as an online business. Launching a cosmetics brand online offers several advantages, including lower startup costs compared to establishing a physical retail presence, global reach and accessibility to a wider audience, flexibility in product offerings and marketing strategies, real-time customer feedback and analytics for informed decision-making, and the ability to scale and adapt quickly in response to market trends and consumer demand.

However, it’s essential to invest in a user-friendly e-commerce platform, effective digital marketing strategies, and exceptional customer service to succeed in the competitive online landscape.

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Watch CBS News

How much do Super Bowl commercials cost for the 2024 broadcast?

By Aimee Picchi

Edited By Alain Sherter

Updated on: February 11, 2024 / 4:41 PM EST / CBS News

The Super Bowl marks the year's biggest day for advertising, with top brands paying millions to get their messages in front of a television audience that reliably attracts more than 100 million viewers.

Over the years, the cost of a 30-second advertisement has soared, making the Super Bowl the costliest advertising venue on TV. Because the Super Bowl is one of the few events that draws an audience of this size, companies are willing to shell out millions to promote their brands during the NFL showcase .

Here's a quiz to test your knowledge of Super Bowl ad costs.

This year's crop of Super Bowl ads will feature dozens of top brands , from Anheuser-Busch's iconic Clydesdales to Uber Eats' spot featuring Jennifer Aniston and Victoria and David Beckham. If you answered that the cost of a 30-second ad this year is $7 million, you're right. That's about on par with last year's game, but represents a 55% jump from 2019.

This year's advertisers are not only spending $7 million to buy half a minute of airtime, but are also opening their wallets to secure stars like Aniston and Snoop Dogg, as well as on glitzy productions. And many companies post their ads ahead of the Super Bowl, hoping to build buzz and catpure attention. (You can see some of the pre-released Super Bowl ads here .)

"I try not to think about the money," director Charles Kidd II, known as Calmatic, told CBS News. He's got a 60-second ad in this year's Super Bowl for restaurant chain Popeye's that features actor and comedian Ken Jeong, 

Calmatic added, "Sometimes I don't even want to know what the budget is, like just, 'Let me create.' We have to snap back to reality and be like, 'Alright, everyone is going to see this.'"

Super Bowl LVIII will broadcast live on Sunday, February 11, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada,  on CBS  and Nickelodeon, as well as on streaming on  Paramount+  (CBS and CBS News are owned by Paramount Global.) Here's  how to watch  the Super Bowl.

How much did Super Bowl commercials cost in past years?

The cost of a Super Bowl ad has jumped in recent years, rising from $4.5 million in 2019 to $7 million today.

What is the most expensive Super Bowl ad ever aired?

The most expensive Super Bowl commercials aired in 2020, according to GoBankingRates, which estimated that two 90-second ads that year from Amazon and Google are vying for the priciest ads in the championship. 

The Amazon ad featured Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi in a spot for its Alexa voice assistant , while the Google ad was about an elderly man using the search company's voice assistant to help him remember his wife.

Both ads cost about $16.8 million, according to GoBankingRates.

Why are Super Bowl ads so expensive?

Super Bowl ads command a premium because the game is typically the most-watched media event of the year. That gives brands a chance to reach more consumers at one time than anywhere else, and many companies use the opportunity to trot out new products or introduce a new slogan. 

There's another reason why brands are so willing to pay up: About 3 in 4 people say they are actually excited to watch the ads during the Super Bowl. Families and friends typically watch the game together, and often talk about the spots as well as the game itself — a discussion that can carry over at work the next day, experts say.

"This shared experience can amplify the emotional resonance of advertisements, making them more memorable and effective. When viewers watch the Super Bowl, they are not just passive recipients of content — they are engaged in a communal event," said Jura Liaukonyte , a professor of marketing in Cornell University's SC Johnson College of Business, in an email.

With a massive audience of viewers who are glued to the Super Bowl commercials, brands are willing to pay up to secure a sliver of airtime.

Super Bowl LVIII , featuring the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the San Francisco 49ers , will  air on CBS  and Nickelodeon  and stream on   Paramount+  on Feb. 11 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. Preshow and halftime  performers  include  Usher ,  Reba McEntire  and  Andra Day .

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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Police didn’t investigate thousands of sexual assault cases in Houston, chief says

HOUSTON (KHOU) - Houston’s police chief announced Thursday that thousands of sexual assault cases were suspended due to staffing issues.

While a lot of questions remain as to how it happened, the chief said his focus is fixing the problem.

“I’m angry, OK? Because I know we’re better,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said.

The frustration from Finner is because 4,017 cases of sexual assaults dating back to 2016 were suspended by Houston police investigators due to lack of personnel.

“It was unacceptable then. It’s unacceptable now. Again, there will be accountability,” Finner said.

Those cases were filed under a specific departmental code Finner said he first learned about in 2021.

At the time, he said he asked the special victims unit to stop using the code. But earlier this month, he learned they never did.

“Therefore, each sexual assault incident reporting back to 2016 that has this code will be reviewed,” he said.

Finner made it clear that the code is no longer in use, and an internal investigation has been launched. He is also beefing up the special victims’ division with 32 people.

Still, advocates of sexual assault survivors say, “If you’re a survivor listening to that, you may feel like your case did not matter and that it got closed and you had no idea that it happened,” said Sonia Corrales of the Houston Area Women’s Shelter.

She said she hopes the police can address the problem quickly and let survivors know they’ve been heard.

“Every single sexual assault that gets reported deserves a full investigation,” Corrales said.

Houston’s police chief said the department’s special victims’ division has already reviewed more than 700 of the suspended cases.

Copyright 2024 KHOU via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.

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One of the last small-ish Android phones looks like it’s going the way of the iPhone Mini

Asus is supersizing the zenfone..

By Allison Johnson , a reviewer with 10 years of experience writing about consumer tech. She has a special interest in mobile photography and telecom. Previously, she worked at DPReview.

Share this story

Product photo of Asus Zenfone

As phone sizes trended upward, one small device stood its ground year after year: the Asus Zenfone. That appears to be changing soon, and if you’re a card-carrying member of the small phone fan club like me, then it’s only appropriate to take a moment to observe its passing.

Asus, to its credit, isn’t keeping us waiting in suspense. The company posted a teaser for the Zenfone 11 Ultra that leaves little to the imagination: an animated graphic showing its display growing in size with text that reads, “Expand your vision.”

A formal announcement is timed for March 14th, while a handful of other teaser clips tout its “ultra size” and long-lasting battery life. It doesn’t exactly keep you guessing.

The past few generations of Zenfone, including the most recent Zenfone 9 and Zenfone 10 , maintained a 5.9-inch screen — downright petite next to the 6.6- and 6.7-inch screens on many flagship Android phones. Those past couple of Zenfones also happened to be delightful little devices, with top-shelf processors and thoughtful touches like an honest-to-goodness headphone jack. In this economy!

  • So long, small phones

But like so many good things, it seemed destined to come to an end. There were rumors that Asus would quit the mainstream phone game altogether to focus on its laptops and gaming devices, which the company denied . And then, there’s the reality of the market: small phones are a hard sell . Even Apple couldn’t make the iPhone Mini a thing , and if there’s anything Apple knows how to do, it’s sell phones .

But there’s one more reality that the Zenfone never quite squared with: it’s not actually that small. Sure, it’s small by modern Android phone standards. But pound for pound, the Zenfone 10 actually measures only a little smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S24. The Zenfone is a couple of millimeters narrower and just half a millimeter shorter than the S24 — meanwhile, the Galaxy S24’s 6.2-inch screen is appreciably bigger.

A couple of millimeters does make a bit of a difference when you hold your phone with one hand and you just need to tap that icon all the way in the corner of the screen. But is it worth settling for a smaller display? Maybe for a small phone diehard like me — Apple will have to pry my iPhone 13 Mini out of my cold, dead hands. But for the rest of the population? Probably not. And it seems like Asus is ready to give up the fight and join the big phone ranks after all.

The AIs are officially out of control

Google pay replaced google wallet — now it’s going away to make room for google wallet, google apologizes for ‘missing the mark’ after gemini generated racially diverse nazis, a former gizmodo writer changed his name to ‘slackbot’ and stayed undetected for months, spotify hifi is still mia after three years, and now so is my subscription.

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NFL free agency 2024 QB market: Top available players, projected contracts, best team fits

Surveying the offseason qb landscape.

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The 2024 NFL offseason is underway after the Kansas City Chiefs raised their latest Lombardi Trophy. And free agency is right around the corner. Starting March 11, all 32 teams can begin negotiating with players who have expiring contracts. Two days later, signings and trades can be made official, setting the stage for next season's biggest wave of roster turnover.

As always, quarterbacks are expected to headline the veteran market. In a league increasingly built on play-making under center, plenty of teams figure to be shopping for the position. With that in mind, here's a look at 2024's top QB free agents, as well as projected contracts and best team fits:

Note: The following list only includes quarterbacks whose contracts are currently set to expire this offseason. Others, like the Denver Broncos' Russell Wilson and Las Vegas Raiders' Jimmy Garoppolo, are expected to be released but remain under contract.

(QB ages are as of Sept. 1, 2024. "AAV" denotes projected contracts' average annual value.)

Honorable mentions

Before listing our top 10 quarterbacks likely to be available this offseason, these signal-callers could be useful adds for any team in need of an upgrade or added depth at the position.

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  • Sam Darnold ( 49ers ) is following the Mitch Trubisky path: a former top-three pick with underrated mobility, seeking a potential summer competition after accepting a backup role for a contender. Some tools remain, even if the resume is lacking.
  • Joshua Dobbs ( Vikings ) has proven surprisingly adept at managing a game on a moment's notice, briefly flashing as a dual threat with multiple teams in 2023, but his decision-making tends to get more dicey the longer he stays under center.
  • Tyler Huntley ( Ravens ) has a Pro Bowl nod on his resume for a brief playoff run in place of an injured Lamar Jackson in 2022, but he's been more effective as a scrambler than a do-it-all QB in Baltimore's run-heavy offense.
  • Marcus Mariota ( Eagles ) can still fly on the ground, and his 74 games of starting experience qualify him for a top backup job, but he's now on track for his fourth team in as many years, struggling to find a rhythm through the air.
  • Mason Rudolph ( Steelers ) instilled unexpected precision-passing authority late in 2023, but he's been just passable in extended action over six years as the No. 2/3 in Pittsburgh. He's destined for another reserve role.

10. Drew Lock

Age: 27 | Season: 6th | Current Team: Seahawks

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The former second-round pick hasn't posted a winning record as a starter since his 2019 rookie season with the Denver Broncos , but he's still got big-play moxie and an above-average arm, as shown in two starts for the injured Geno Smith in 2023. His penchant for tight-window darts could keep him from reclaiming a No. 1 job, but he's young enough to earn another competition.

Projected AAV: $4M-$5M | Best team fits: Bears , Bills , Raiders , Rams

9. Tyrod Taylor

Age: 35 | Season: 14th | Current Team: Giants

NFL: New York Jets at New York Giants

The one-time Buffalo Bills starter was arguably the New York Giants' best QB in a rocky 2023 season, but he struggled to stay on the field, which has been an issue at each of his last four stops. In terms of short-term fill-ins, however, he's among the most polished, still offering solid mobility and deep-ball touch. He should find work as a trusted No. 2 yet again.

Projected AAV: $4M-$5M | Best team fits: Bears, Colts , Commanders , Jets

8. Joe Flacco

Age: 39 | Season: 17th | Current Team: Browns

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Untouched for much of 2023 after fizzling out as a New York Jets backup, the former Baltimore Ravens stalwart reemerged as something of an ageless wonder for the Cleveland Browns down the stretch, slinging his way to a surprise playoff appearance. His stationary, chuck-it-and-pray approach should permit him at least one more run as a veteran No. 2.

Projected AAV: $4M-$5M | Best team fits: Browns, Chargers , Jets, Patriots

7. Jameis Winston

Age: 30 | Season: 10th | Current Team: Saints

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Reports indicate a recent contract restructure will likely have the charismatic backup back on the market after a four-year run with the New Orleans Saints, in which he made just 10 mercurial starts. Winston has yet to consistently stay healthy or control the ball when pressed into extensive action, but he's experienced, a beloved locker-room presence and still possesses a splashy arm.

Projected AAV: $4M-$5M | Best team fits: Bills, Broncos, Raiders

6. Carson Wentz

Age:  31 |  Season:  9th |  Current Team:  Rams

carson-wentz-rams-usatsi.jpg

The maligned former Philadelphia Eagles star finally submitted to a backup gig in 2023, taking a page out of the Baker Mayfield handbook with a half-year of Sean McVay tutelage. His never-say-die approach will always make him a riskier bet with prolonged playing time, but his combo of experience (90+ career starts) and arm talent make him a high-upside "relief pitcher."

Projected AAV:  $4M-$5M |  Best team fits:  Bills, Rams, Saints

5. Jacoby Brissett

Age: 31 | Season: 9th | Current Team: Commanders

brissett.jpg

Save for an underwhelming stop with the Miami Dolphins , Brissett has posted respectable marks as an emergency fill-in and/or last-minute starter everywhere he's been. Granted, his teams have almost exclusively asked him to be conservative with the ball. But his adaptability across different systems makes him a reliable plug-and-play vet for any club needing a No. 2.

Projected AAV: $5M-$10M | Best team fits: Browns, Cardinals , Jets, Patriots

4. Gardner Minshew

Age: 28 | Season: 6th | Current Team: Colts

getty-gardner-minshew-colts.jpg

The former Jacksonville Jaguars fan favorite perfectly straddles the line between starter and backup, never quite settling in as an efficient, accurate game manager while also never losing the spirited poise that wins over teammates and produces some timely big plays. Five years in, it's relatively clear he's better suited as a Plan B under center, but after scrappy playoff-caliber stretches with both the Jags and Indianapolis Colts, you could do much worse.

Projected AAV: $7M-$10M | Best team fits: Colts, Raiders, Steelers, Vikings

3. Ryan Tannehill

Age: 36 | Season: 13th | Current Team: Titans

ryan-tannehill.jpg

Once the darling face of the scrappy Tennessee Titans, Tannehill has managed just 20 ugly starts since 2022, battling injuries and turnover sprees behind a crumbling O-line. Before that, he resembled prime Jimmy Garoppolo with the San Francisco 49ers: solid enough as a play-action game manager to lead playoff runs, but more dependent on his supporting cast than most. A few clubs could still try to squeeze what QB1 potential he has left, but he's probably best suited as a high-level fallback plan.

Projected AAV: $5M-$15M | Best team fits: Jets, Patriots, Steelers, Vikings

2. Baker Mayfield

Age: 29 | Season: 7th | Current Team: Buccaneers

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The former No. 1 overall pick finally worked the QB carousel to his benefit in 2023, parlaying short-lived stops with the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams into a trial run as Tom Brady's successor with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And while there were hiccups along the way, Mayfield mostly proved he still belongs as a starter, pairing trademark toughness with improved decision-making to post career numbers and earn his first Pro Bowl nod. He certainly profiles more as an overachiever than a difference-maker, but in a league where only a small handful of QBs are truly transcendent, he deserves a hefty raise.

Projected AAV: $25M-$30M | Best team fits: Buccaneers, Falcons , Raiders, Vikings

1. Kirk Cousins

Age: 36 | Season: 13th |  Current Team: Vikings

kirk-cousins-vikings-2.jpg

The King of Free Agent Quarterbacking, Cousins is no stranger to playing the market. While he's suited up for just two teams in his decade-long career, he's successfully milked both Washington and Minnesota on the financial front. But here's the kicker: He's mostly lived up to the money. While Cousins notoriously lacks a defining big-game resume, he's been one of the steadiest passers of his time, routinely ranking among the game's most accurate and efficient while still showcasing an eye for the splash play. His off-script tools are limited, and his Achilles tear at age 35 is another concern. But in a game perpetually starved for consistent, quality QB play, Cousins is as safe a bet as they come. Both he and the Vikings would like to continue their marriage, but both sides also have reason to court other options, making him potentially the most prized veteran of the offseason.

Projected AAV: $35M-$45M | Best team fits: Broncos, Commanders, Falcons, Vikings, Raiders

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