Easily Make Your URLs Shorter

Photo by Nicolas Nova / Flickr

If you work online at all, you’ve probably been faced with the need for an URL shortener at least once. And if you haven’t yet – or you’re not happy with the one you use currently – you need to keep reading. We’ve spent some time coming up with a list of everything you need to know in order to choose the best URL shortener on the Internet.

• Speed – The first thing you want to look for in an URL shortener service is speed. You’ll usually have to do a bit of testing on your own to figure this out. While it would be nice if the websites gave you this information, they’re all going to say they’re the fastest. And that isn’t really helpful at all.

• Reliability – Another aspect you want to look at for any URL shortener is whether or not it’s reliable. If a service is free but doesn’t load your links half of the time, is it really worth your effort? No! Instead, look for a service that has a reputation for staying up under all conditions.

• Customization – Not everyone is going to need this, but if you do a lot of marketing online, you’re going to want to be able to customize your shortened links. Not all services offer this online, so you really have to be careful that you look for the feature if you’re going to need it.

• Easy to Use – Finding an URL shortening service that’s easy to use is another good idea. Part of this means there aren’t a lot of advertisements on the website that get in your way. Luckily, there are some out there that will not force you to jump through a lot of hoops.

• Free vs Pay – While free is nice, if you need a lot of features as well as speed and reliability, you’re going to want to at least think about paying a little every month in order to get everything you need. On the other hand, if you’re not going to be shortening a lot of URLs, it might not make sense to pay for a service.

If you just want a simple tool that will shorten your URLs, there are services out there that do this and nothing else. You just need to make sure you look around and make sure the tool you choose fits all your wants and needs. If you have any favorite services that you use to shorten URLs, leave a comment below and let us know about it. Thanks!

About the author: Adam Prattler has seen quite a few truck accidents in his day, but this hasn’t affected his ability to find some of the best online tools. He loves writing about his experiences online – even if they’re guest posts on someone else’s website.