URLs can be really long, but who really cares about them, right? We hardly need a URL when we are on web pages, simply surfing. But when we wish to share those very long URLs, we all know it isn’t very sophisticated. The very long URLs can make it untidy. Hence, we help you with the solution of shortening the URLs. URL shorteners can provide a solution to the mess provided by long URLs. If you are a Marketer or a businessman, URL shorteners are not a novel concept.
The most important reason for shortening URLs is to make them concise and short. While integrating URL shorteners into your websites, you should take note of what important things are necessary. A few important features are discussed here. An efficient URL shortener should include analytics for tracking. An easy analysis is always a plus point. Another important feature should be an efficient integration of social media. The shortened URL shouldn’t be tricky while sharing on social media platforms.
If you are still reading this blog, we assume that you understand how crucial it is to shorten the URLs. Because there is a vast range of choices for URL shorteners. Choosing the right option amidst the flooded options might seem to be a little bit tricky. To help your businesses to go for the right URL shortener, here are 6 Factors to Consider While Looking for URL Shorteners.
Table of Contents
1. Evaluate the features of different URL shorteners
If you are willing to shorten any URL, there exist multiple options when we consider URL shorteners. The first suggestion we have for you is to look out for the features of different services in the domain of URL shortening. Each of the services will have a variety of features. Among all the features, an analysis of what features are necessary for the functionality of your business is essential. There might be different free URL shorteners like Rebrandly, Bitly, and GoLinks.
The free URL shorteners can be effective but a lot of features might be missing. If the requirements for URL shortening provided by the free tools for your business are sufficient, it is a smart choice that you opt for them. If not, you might have to switch to other paid options. You should opt for the best URL shortener that fulfills the requirements of your business.
2. What is your budget?
Your budget and financial investment play a crucial role while selecting the finest URL shortener meant for your business. If you wish to opt for high-quality URL shorteners, the cost will be comparatively higher for better services. If you are looking for basic features, the free versions are worth it. For advanced features included in shortened links, you might have to go for the premium versions or the paid tools.
Another thing to add here is that the cost of a paid plan is not sufficient. It is equally crucial to get a grab of the features of the different plans you choose to buy. If you are hesitant about whether you should invest in URL shorteners or not, we promise that you should buy them if you are expecting convenience and enhanced functionality. For the long-term goals of your business, the investments made in URL shorteners are absolutely worth it.
3. UTM tracking codes
UTM codes, an acronym for Urchin Tracking Module codes, form an integral part of the URLs. The UTM codes, present at the end of your URL, allow tracking information associated with the sources of the traffic of any website. UTM codes are an essential part of a website as they directly reflect the growth of your website and your performance.
The insights provided by these codes can also help you in deriving the performance of your content, analysis of lead generation, enhancing cross-functionality, and measuring ROI. If you wish to optimize your URLs using URL shorteners, it is crucial that you do not forget the UTM codes. The proper use of UTM parameters while using URL parameters is a must.
4. Utilize customized URLs
A customized URL is curated for contributing to the purpose of marketing. With their uniqueness, customized URLs are one of the features that should be looked upon while using URL shorteners. The salient purpose of a customized URL is to shorten long URLs resulting in customized links. These shortened and customized links further can build trust from your customers. Additionally, your brand image improves as well.
Along with that, a customized shortened URL can be very effective in the marketing of your brand. Marketing along with your customized URL can take place by featuring your brand name in the URL itself. The specificity of your brand in the URL can be customized which can display various aspects of your brand like services, categories, and features.
Many of the free URL shorteners restrict the branding of your links. Using the generic URL shorteners does not leave an option for integration of your brand and limits the expansion of your business. Most of these free tools for URL shortening end up adding their brand name rather than that of your business. The upgraded versions of URL shorteners allow you to add the brand name of your business enhancing the credibility of your business.
5. Using branded domains on your website
Using branded domains in your URL shorteners makes it unique by adding professionalism. While sharing shortened URLs, it can be completely different if you add a branded domain. It is so because of the integrated brand identity in those URL shorteners. Branding, by means of inserting your brand identity, can be a smart move.
Very often we end up branding the business of the URL shortener. We can better understand this with a real-life situation. Let us consider an example, we see two shortened URLs one with a generic and one with a branded domain. It is obvious that we will forget the generic domain of the URL. While talking about a shortened URL having the domain of a brand, we are most likely to remember it.
6. Avoid using sub-level domains
To narrow it short, the domain of a URL or a website can be understood as the name of that website. For a website, the domain name remains unique. The domain name system puts different domain names based on a hierarchical system. The top-level domain remains at the highest position. Another domain name that can be from this hierarchical system is the subdomain.
While the integration of URL shorteners, it is advised to avoid adding sub-level domains and to use the top level of the domains. One of the benefits of using top-level domains is that it can further help in shortening the URLs effectively. Another benefit conferred by the use of top-level domains is that your brand name will be seen by the reader first. This is because the URLs are read in a left-to-right manner.
Mistakes to avoid while shortening the URLs
Many of us believe URL shortening can be really tricky, but in reality, it is very easy. URL shorteners are effective as long as you know how to build the perfect shortened URLs. Here are some of the mistakes you should avoid while shortening URLs. At no cost should you use a random URL slug, commonly called a slashtag. Another point you should be noting while shortening your URL is to avoid the usage of generic domains and replace them with brand domains. If the URL shorteners do not have an inbuilt parameter of UTM codes, you should be dropping its choice as a URL shortener.
Metrics are crucial for determining and analyzing different parameters of your website. If the URL shortener you are using is based on a metric that involves traffic from the bots, it is a good sign that you should go for another option of URL shorteners. The keywords you choose in URL shortening are important. Make sure you do not make your URL too short. Another important mistake to avoid is to not shorten already shortened links.
Wrapping It Up
Shortened URLs confer many benefits. By not messing up the audience with a long and clumsy URL to help in marketing strategy, URL shorteners are extremely needed for a better identity of a brand. By giving a better user experience to the audience, it can have favorable results on your growth and performance. Another benefit of shortening URLs is that you might rank in the search results.
Providing so many benefits, it becomes essential that we choose the right URL shortener to optimize our URLs. How to choose the perfect URL shortener? With so many options, it can become confusing to choose the best URL shortener. If you really are searching for an answer, we say there is no perfect answer. Choosing the right choice of URL shorteners should be the result based on your requirements, features offered by the tools, and your business. After you have chosen the correct URL shortener, the right manner of optimizing it is what brings the best outputs.
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