The Pitfalls of Link Shorteners

A link shortener is a tool to make your URL more compact, particularly useful for twitter users, where there is a limit on the number of characters used. In the majority of instances, using tools such as bit.ly and ow.ly to reduce the number of characters in a link is common practice and we benefit by doing so due to the length of the blog post titles we want to share. Recently, bit.ly has introduced customisation of URLS making it possible to not only shorten a link, but add your own text so making it more attractive to a reader, hopefully encouraging them to follow your direction.

Here are examples of the same link showing how easy it is to transform a simple link:

Original link: http://arecreative.blogspot.com/2010/06/twittering-with-topsy.html

bit.ly shortened: http://bit.ly/a4M0Ar

bit.ly shortened and customized: http://bit.ly/twitterwithtopsy - notice how the code has been replaced with our choice of wording.

Each of these links will take a reader to the same place, just how that seems to make the difference. 

Word of Caution

Third parties - using original links ensures only the site hoster and reader share information on the link, whereas using URL redirection tools will make that information available to the service company who can track traffic to the link

Reliability - it is fair to assume that the link is only as valid as the site hosting it....what happens if that site crashes or is withdrawn? All links vanish too, not ideal if you have invested time putting your links out there in the first place

Privacy - always aware of entering our personal information online in order to avoid phishing scams, are we now encouraging readers to click on a link with no clear idea of where it will take them.

Recently Twitter and Google have announced the introduction of URL shortening within their sites with the specific intention of following bit.ly. One thing is clear, the practice of URL shortening does have a valuable place for those looking to share their work on the web, but as always requires consideration for the consequences.

ARE Creative's view:

We prefer using the customization tool in bit.ly (shown above), at least it does give our readers a preview of where we want to direct them.

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