Long URLs are simply hard to pass along. The links tend to sometimes break in email, are harder to verbalize in a conversation, and they are difficult, or in some cases near impossible to remember.
For example, let’s say you want to pass along this piece of news to your friends about how the ‘Iphone will test loyalty of cellular customers’- Which you can visit with this long URL…
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/04/24/loyalty/index.php?lsrc=mwrss
…which I will need to shorten to something more digestible.
Now, there are a plethora of URL shortening services out there – the majority of them free, but most of them not bringing anything unique to the table. Here are some notable exceptions with useful value-added features in place:
#1 Choose your own page name with Doiop
What Doiop allows you to do is actually define your own keyword (In this case I used loyalty) so you can give your short link some context, something simple which many URL shortening services just don’t offer.
Result: Link shortened to – http://doiop.com/loyalty
#2 Create instant short URLs using bookmarklets and enjoy previews with TinyURL
TinyURL is probably the most famous of all the URL shortening sites out there, but many people don’t take advantage of two key features they offer. The first - Incorporating a one-click bookmarklet on your browser, so you never have to visit the site to shorten a URL, just click a button on your browser and it’s done!
The second is a preview feature. This tells anyone who clicks on the preview link – what exactly they are accessing, so there are no surprises on the other end.
Result: Link shortened to http://tinyurl.com/2ck97a
#3 Tag short URLs using multiple keywords with ReadthisURL
Just like Doiop, this allows you to add context to your shortened URLS but this time by allowing users to tag it with multiple keywords.
Result: Link shortened to http://readthisurl.com/iphone+loyalty
#4 Create pronounceable with MemURL.com
Too lazy to think of a keyword but still want some form of coherence for your shortened URLs? memURL will create a mnemonic link which is easy to pronounce (but doesn’t mean anything). memURL also comes with a bookmarklet feature for one click shortening.
Result: Link shortened to http://memurl.com/luviru
#5 Track your short URL traffic and stats with dwarfURL.com
On top of a basic URL shortening system, DwarfURL allows users to track statistics and traffic of these shortened URLs. Perfect for tracking how many people actually visit those links you send them :)
Result: Link shortened to http://dwarfurl.com/e9b5d
A word to the wise here - Like most good things on the Internet, spammers have invaded the URL shortening space -using these services to cover their tracks. I would apply the same level of caution when clicking on the links – only doing so when you’re sure it comes from a trusted source.
What URL shortening services do you use? Let us know in the comments!
[tags] url redirection, url shortener, tinyurl, domain [/tags]
I use urlTea.com, it automatically copies the shorten URL into clipboard. urlTea supports bookmarklets and optional keywords
Thanks for the tip LcF, I checked it out and urlTea is a very elegant solution indeed :)
I also like urlTea.com
Cool find James. I will start using it now.
QurlyQ.com
Thanks James. cool gadget. I only use the tinyurl. never knew the others. thanks. checking LCF urltea.com too. thanks all. ;)
Hi there,
landing to your page from malaysia bloggers forum.
Nice article, very helpfully for newbie like me :)
p/s: this article make me subscribed your rss :)
cheers
Check out http://traceurl.com
Traceurl.com does not only track and count accesses to your URLs, but also shows where the accesses came from.
Adrian & Chris: Thanks for the tips- valuable info indeed
PapaJoneh and ismail: glad to have helped :)
MULTIPLE SNIPPINGS
Now you can snip many URLs in one go:
SnipUrl.com
hi,
i suggest to use http://ix.lt
FREE
super SHORT
NEW (all popular tags are available)
enjoy
While they are usefull tools, they are spam enablers and I had to block all comments to sites I’ve worked for, that reference these services as spammers love them.
Coach & Gedax : thanks for the tips
Matt:Yeah fully understand… I use those services to email long links to friends and have used them for print classifieds to advertise some property after I made a quick web page in Googlepages.com not so much for blogs
As far i know, the shortest url redirection service is http://dn.vc and it feature like masking and keyword.
I run http://notlong.com/ and have a review of a few of the bigger URL shortening sites (and links to many others) here: http://notlong.com/links/
i always use:
http://www.kurl.us
pretty fast and verry simple
I recommend http://is.gd/ URL shortener.
It’s fast and simple, and generates seriously short URLs.
I made http://lilurl.us
It has stats, choosable names, and password protection. It’s free and has been around forever and likely will be as it costs zilch to maintain.
I use http://xil.in
It has a firefox search engine plug-in for easy creation of short URLs and supports custom tag features..http://xil.in/john
I recommend http://plexp.com. It has some original features.
http://www.bellypath.com/
I use url-press.com one of the best I personally think.
Cool…
I use fire.to. They have other good names to choose from.
http://fire.to
Another handy url shortener made with php and jQuery, also copies the short url to your clipboard: http://miklos.dk
Thanks for the info.
I use http://www.url9.com
My best is smarturl.eu
http://smarturl.eu
;)
Another great option is http://qicute.com which is free, password-protected, saves your short urls, and lets you choose a special keyword or a random tag.
Doiop is the best. Picking your keyword is great.
I use yweb.com – nothing special (though they do hint at future extended features) but the domain itself is quite short (4 letters)
Besides, since it’s quite new, their URLs still have only 2 digits, like http://yweb.com/9p (which goes to this page)
Plus, I think the big guy with tattoos who crushes the URLs is funny. But maybe that’s just me.
I like these two:
http://urlsn.com
http://www.snipurl.com
The first has an API you can integrate with your website so user-submitted links are shortened.
I use http://gonext.org
Free, ad-free, new (all tags avalaible)
best i ever used
http://smarturl.eu/
forgot to paste link
I always use xaddr.com. It has no frills, but users always see a preview page to find out where they are going before they click.
Another tiny URL site which allows you to use your own domains or sub domains.
http://www.ellix.org
A new site that has a firefox search engine plug-in for easy creation of short URLs, supports custom tag features, and has an API feature – http://urlcover.com
Here another site with a small url for redirect servcie
I’ve got all information about url shortener here. Thanks a lot.
I run http://muhlink.org – it’s simple, no-frills. NO ads either. Working on implemented preview as well. No harm in trying it out.
4url.cc has spam blocking system.
Thanks for the URL shorteners, looking at the rest of your site too.
This is one great collection of URL shorteners! Thanks for blogging about this! =)
If I can I’d like to plug the URL shortener service my website runs, urlShort at http://u.mavrev.com
Currently it offers a simple API for creation via a URL request, a bookmarklet, and the web form with more on the way.
We love http://bit.ly though so many of these are so very similar.
It’s cool to get the newer, less-used ones so you can create common custom URLs now that they’re all offering that as well…
http://go2cut.com – another URL shortener with statistics.
A new one on the scene ins Shrink Link..
http://www.shrinklink.co.uk
it has a really easy to remember name, provides a bookmarklet for one click access, lets you track link visits / clicks, and also lets you add customised keywords (aliases) for your links.
worth a look..
http://kissa.be – another URL, mail, text, image shortener with statistics.
Nice list. But maybe you people want to try http://ilix.in.
Besides (1)shortening link without registration, your (2) true link will not be shown on address bar and source code. Which mean, your (3) html source is 100% encrypted, hence protecting your webpage or affiliate link etc.
I think http://tr.im is the best since it has free stats for URLs you shorten and accounts are free. If you use it to promote blog posts etc then the stats are helpful!
In my opinion I would use http://xs.md because it is simple and easy to use. Only few clicks and you are done.
I use http://is.gd/
Try http://1link.in
- shorten your long and ugly URLs -
- put multiple links into one link -
- protect your links with password -
- protect multiple links at once -
- cloak your affiliate links -
- download files just by one click -
- register for free and save your links -
I’d add http://shrt.st it has some nice additions like Mac OS Dashboard widget or bookmarklet. Also it is very good looking. Many url shorteners mentioned here are just plain ugly.
Fast and basic URL Shorhener http://www.wlink.us
tiny123.com
short and sweet
Yes. I tried some many of them. Now, I use easyuri on easyuri.com, easyuri is so far the fastest url shorting service after so many of them I used. It supports personal keywords. Highly recommended.
Hi,
I am madly in love with myurl.us. Its great, simple and gives me a us brand ;).
All the best,
Sandra
I tried all of those. Not bad. But I prefer http://easyuri.com. It is fast and allows me to create shorten URL fast with their browser toolbar. I can customize my url name too!!
Shall it be of any interest to you and you readers, I collect usage market share statistics of URL shortening services throught my microblogbuzz.com web site. You may find it at http://microblogbuzz.com/stats/urlshorteners/
I use Tr.im . it is the shortest one, and it has a bookmarklet that can shorten the current URL and post it directly to twitter!
Tinyurl lets you choose keywords now.
Thanks for all the feedback guys.
Jacob – useful to know that TinyURL now supports custom keywords!
I use:
http://min.im
no pretense, no fuss, simple.
I have been looking for something to cut down the URL to all my sites. Thank you for the information.
I suggest to try http://gu.ma/ with its interesting feature of adding a comment/description to generated links.
Nice. I tried all of them and found out that easyuri.com is the best.
Really nice and reliable url shortener.
Here a small on that always up:
http://1iny.com
Thanks, mon!!
here is a new one with a lot of features:
http://urlshort.ca
read the help section to know more about all options
Another great URL shortener is thurly (http://thurly.net). Works really well and is a very clean design. Also has an API for use in apps.
If anyone’s interested, I built a Dashboard widget that taps the tr.im API. Find out more here: http://tr.im/trimit
Nice List, Thank You for compiling and sharing these URL Shorteners with us all! :)
We Prefer/Really Like http://twitpwr.com
Thank you again for compiling and sharing these URL Shorteners with us all! :)
We hope this all helps and Have a Great Day! :)
I have tried many of the URL shorteners listed above, but I found them to be a little too long to use in Twitter. I now I use a new URL shortener, called TWTR.US. Why? Because they have:
- The smallest tiny URL’s available – only 17 characters or less (versus 25 for tinyurl.com)
- Statistics on how many visits you receive, and how many retweets you get if it’s used on Twitter.
- 1.6 million tiny URL’s still available
- They are FREE and you don’t have to register.
http://twtr.us
not forgetting this url shortener
Another great URL shortener is thurly http://www.2dwn.com Works really well and is a very clean design. Also has an API for use in apps.
I’ve built another Dashboard widget that lets you shorten URLs: http://andrew.hedges.name/widgets/#hurler
This one uses http://hurl.ws as the shortening API. Like http://tr.im/trimit, it automatically pulls the URL from the browser of your choice and copies the shortened URL to the pasteboard when it’s done. I’ve also recently integrated Growl support if you exit Dashboard before the shortening process is complete.
Enjoy!
Was ist das?
bit.ly
- allows to track links
http://bit.ly/
cli.gs tracker with geo info and analytics
What about bit.ly?
Ow.ly is short and sweet plus if you use hootsuite.com for twitter posts you get analytics.
I’ve just started using http://u.nu which, at this point, has the shortest possible URLs out there. I am not sure it would be possible for anyone else to get shorter than them, unless they managed to get a hold of a ccTLD somehow.
http://1url.com is my favorite because it’s the shortest “.com” shortener on the web. I don’t like using anything that’s not a “.com” because their domains are usually linked to remote island nations with extensions that can shut down at any time, as has happened to me before when I used one and I lost all of my links that way. “.com” is just more reliable, period.
I found a wonderful one on aafter.com. The biggest advantage I enjoyed was that the shorter ones generated did not look like gibberish, they made sense. Also, each could be used independently on a server, so that if one fails, you always have another option.
Anyone interested in hosting their own URL Shortener should check out the project I manage, urlShort at http://urlshort.sourceforge.net. We’re aiming to have it include all the good features of URL shorteners, but be free, open-source, and easy to use/setup.
Checkout http://z.pe, they are the shortest with a nice bookmarklet
http://nsfw4.me url shortener FTW! It’s great for links that are questionable for people at work… It’s short, allows you to specify keyword, presents a warning to people allowing them to decide whether to continue and lets everyone rate how unsafe for work it is.
I recently wrote a URL shortener service called Twi.tl http://twi.tl. I’d like people to try it out and give me their feedback via Twitter @twi_tl
Thank u..is a simple URL shortener..
Try This & Join The Contest!!
Great article! There are quite a few out there these days. I used to use tinyurl.com, but now I use veeox.com . It beats the outdated look of tinyurl and it’s very simple…
ShortGPS.com is a shortener Service for postal addresses. So if you wil post a location in Twitter or Facebook, how to make it? Google Maps and than a URL shortener?? — No!
Try ShortGPS. You can remove the marker and fit the scale. If everything is fine you can copy the shorten link.
3.ly is the shortest url shortener EVER!
Hi.
I use qurl.cc
You can track your visitors (you can see their cities!) and it remembers your socalled “qURLs”. Really nice :)
Regards.
I love http://3.ly – use it all the time- apparently it’s the world’s shortest!
Wow, nice list guys… we just opened our doors a few days ago and we’re getting great reviews :), check us out! scrnch.me ;) free and premium accounts, with (ahem!) more features than you can shake a stick at.
I use http:\\is.gd
Its the best….
Can create very short Url….
I use Squeerl.
After trying to use several popular URL shorteners, I decided to make my own. It is fast and clean, with simple stats.
http://go2.st
Feel free to suggest new features and improvements (twitter: @haqu)
I think the best new URL shortener is http://farturl.com. It not only shortens your URL, but it inserts an interstitial fart, which is great.
Shorteners are useful, but they bring additional security problems, since the user can’t properly validate where he/she is going before clicking.
One of the solutions for this is to use tools to validate the URL before clicking: http://sucuri.net/index.php?page=tools&title=check-url
Thanks,
just launched: http://www.short.web.id | shorten your web identity.
size does matter. this short will satisfied you!
I use: is.gd
Here is an example of how short a url is. You can test it by pasting it into your address bar: is.gd/15uEI
I use http://1url.com because of its simple design and the fact that it’s a “.com” (which I like) and short at the same time.
I didn’t see nothing better then http://snick.me/
It short your URL, measure audience and track Twitter looking for your URL and building rankings on their home page, very cool! They have a nice API and widgets. Oh yes, and actually has two characters to build your URL, example: http://snick.me/0i
I think that Snick.me is the new generation of URL shortening
Great !!!
I personally use http://chs.com.mx
Short and easy
http://l.pr is the best URL shortening service. Its got the shortest URLs plus lets you embed your message in the link itself so saves time.
Nice collection helps me little..
I’m sharing my loved one ..http://jals.in/
simplest and best url shortening service for me
http://irt.me
Thanks for the great article. I just started building a new one called tw1t.net, I’ll definitely integrate some of the features described above. The possibilities are really endless, aren’t they. Also I’ve decided to require user registration because I want to reduce spam and be able to group links by user. This will probably cut the number of users down by 90%, but that’s OK. I want quality content linked to… not sure how to patrol that yet though. A friend of mine in Japan has also started a nice little one called lru.jp. Matter of personal preference, really. I think the key is finding a service you trust, because if and when they go down, they’ll take your URLs with them, that’s really why I’m creating my own.
I’m surprised no one mentioned Metamark.net.
The urls are pretty short.
Ex. http://xrl.us/xxxxx
I did http://synsa.com for personal use, how ever I like bit.ly
While [a href="http://readthisurl.com/"]ReadthisURL[/a] is broken, here’s one I got from reading the New York Times that they use.
[link]http://bit.ly/[/link]
I use it all of the time.
I recently discovered this one too used by major news formats:
[link]http://is.gd/[/link]
~Damien
[IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/1zdy89v.gif[/IMG]
i think the list should add http://quu.nu i love its live click stream. only bit.ly has this feature but too difficult to read.
http://irt.me/ is the most simple one, i m using it.
urlTea.com doesnt work..
Hi, I am using a new service at http://apu.sh! Live Tracking, stats, custom URLs, passcodes, JSON API and many more should be worth mentioned!
punyUrl.com works for me, easy to use and no ads!
Try http://urloo.com For me works great and it’s absolutely free and no ads.
Give http://pra.im a look. It does check against phishing and malware blacklists. Link stats page is great, too. It can generate two types of short URLs: http://7a95bk.pra.im or http://pra.im/7a95bk
Hello, I’m looking for an url shortener like tr.im, where i could set up an account and handle all my shortened url from a control panel. What could I use now since tr.im doens’t work anymore? Thanks
http://bit.ly/ looks like be able to do the trick
hey, just looking for some shortner and cloaker , thanks for giving top 5 ones.
You should really really try the URL shortener at http://www.aafter.com. I was thoroughly impressed. It’s a new generation service that provides you not one but a number of fail safe tiny urls from your original link!
A new promising URL Shortener is also http://ux.lv with trackings, preview, twitter and api support.
doiop turned out to be awesome ! thanks !
I use http://nee.im Its really small….
I have found an awesome new url shortner website. it has something i have not seen in all the others and that is the ability to shorten multiple URLs at a time. you can check it out if u wanna, its the only one i use. http://myurlz.com
Hi, please try this multiple URL shortener:
http://0xbb.us
It’ll shorten many links into one page, and provide visit count!
It will work perfectly when you want to share many links at once,
especially for contents like news, pictures….
I hope you find it useful! ^^
I’ve found one that not only shortens, but brands your site – and that is Pretty Link Pro – granted it is a wordpress plugin, but for bloggers, why not have your own blog be the shortened url? Hopefully, your blog url is short in the first place right? :)
Check out my blog post about it – (notice my shortened URL with my blog name included) http://blog.planet5d.com/jtr 7 Reasons You Must Use Pretty Link Pro on Your WordPress Blog
This is great for my website whose pages has very long urls.
http://2gb.me
I use http://foodrl.com for my blogs and articles on food and restaurants.
9 of the shortest url shorteners can be found here ..
http://x.vu/a1
Also check out http://www.nicesharing.com which allows you to combine several URLs into a single short URL. It’s really useful if you want to add background music to a Picasaweb or Flickr slideshow. Or just see 2 sites together with a single URL.
I use http://dot.tk/ it give u anyname u want then .tk!!!
i use http://www.lil.io
because i can earn money with this shortener. thats simple and fast
Better yet, host your own with the just released urlShort 2.0.0, which offers many of the features of popular short URL services like bit.ly in a free, open source package. http://mavrev.org/urlshort
You may get a real funny shortened url. A guy got his url shortened to Fukkr. Read on tweetmeme http://rep.ly/uhel
hi! check my project smrls! small urls for the masses ;)
it allows anyone to create a url shortener using free .tk domain.
give it a try and let me know what you think! thanks!
We made one for asianetindia.com auto twitting, but later made it open access http://bz2.in
haha.. and then i forgot to mention the url ;) http://smrls.net/ it is! :)
http://Lymme.com is a very good url shortener for tracking easily and watching your links.
Thexyz.org is a great easy to use link shortening service that has vast ad network.
Hi can you tell me if these services mask/hide the original referrer?
Just recently found out about http://subdomaindirect.com. What really attracted me about http://subdomaindirect.com are:-
1) URL Masking = great for affiliate programs, I never lost a sale since.
2) URL Rotators service (add unlimited urls on a single shortened subdomain)
3) Path forwarding.
4) Traffic Analysis (by time, country, unique/raw visits).
5) They even allow unlimited number of POP3 email addresses on the shortened subdomain.
6) Eight choices for in their network quatz.net, urigate.com, uriway.com, urlway.com, snapify.net, urliz.net, wobe.biz, snipify.net. (from their website)
It looks okay, give it a try.
try it ;D really nice and been stable for years
Another good and simple one is http://ss.ly
I highly recommend you to use u2t.in URL Shortening site. Because, their tool generates a short URL and you will be able to post it directly to Twitter and other Social Bookmarking sites.
try using urldetour.com it has tons of keywords because it is still relatively newand not many people know about it.
I use .tk
Can’t get shorter than that, and it’s easier then eating pie.
GetAFree.tk
I use http://microURL.eu its simple really short and you can use an optional name.
ANdy
I think the best url shortening service is kxk.me, love to see the logo :P that’s why!
I created a URL shortening service, http://cru.ms that’s pretty good. Has good stats, one-click to Ping.fm or Twitter, and there are some pretty neat advanced features, API.
I would recommend the website http://Imfy.us is free to use and you don’t even have to register!
“Generate Secure Short Links with Anonymous Referers, Anti-Bot Protection and Unique Thumbnail Previews.”
http://onodot.com free cloaking on subdomains
Very nice with useful statistics url shortener: smal.ly
i mostly use a site called http://s-ml.info to shorten my urls
i mostly use s-ml.info to shorten my urls
Whats the difference between 301 & 302 redirects?
http://flib.in/ advertises for 301 redirects…hows this different?
thanks for this nice post!
What if all those sites closed down?
I’ve found another one at: http://www.myurlshortener.com
and hundered of similar working sites at
http://www.tinyurlalternative.com
many of them are okay, but i hate the gui of the most, less is more…
i like http://ax.ag because i can see a preview of the site
i hate suprises when i get encoded links … ;-)
I run http://itshrunk.com
custom tags
full stats
user registration (optional) but allows tag changes or redirection changes
Optional Popular link directory
Short to Twitter or Pownce browser bookmarks
Bulk submissions
expire dates and password protected links (optional)
Full API for Webmasters
Plus a small code snippet to allow webmasters to put short URL service on their site.
Try eg3.net seems to be the simpilest and I like that it tries not to send you to a malicious/unsafe site.
I prefer http://www.tinyurls.co.uk, so clean and simple.
Hi,
Just to let you know about an efficient url shortener I like to use :
http://xav.cc
well i always used http://www.thisurl.com. its has every thing
and easy to use. the best thing that you can manage your own links once you singup.
Cheers
I really like http://teeny.me.
It allows you to create your own short custom name and sign up for a free account to save your link history and track your link with analytics. Very cool.
http://itshrunk.com now has many domains to choose when shrinking URL’s
it1.us
myfav.us
elink.mp
myfav.biz
12ju.mp
netju.mp
All of the above work with whatever custom tag you set or are given automatically when you shrink.
For example if you shrink a URL and get this URL:
http://itshrunk.com/7fa352
This URL will also work:
http://it1.us/7fa352
Nice feature for twitter or to just personalize your URL’s a little more.
Nice article. I’ve been using bit.ly for a while but, I think I’ll be using http://m0oo.com for a while.
Hi,
Great list, I am using bit.ly for some time now, but I want to get even shorter url, so I switched to http://zp.rs. Nice interface, tracks all my hits and it allows you to share your url’s via multiple social media sites, not just Twitter. Not sure if you guys heard of the site, but you can give it a try.
Cheers,
Eddie
try http://tinypl.us it’s the other one….simple design….
i am also using a new one http://www.in2s.us ..it got some cool feature like list of url shorten are stored against the login and statistic can be view against the shorten url like how many hits it has got..check it out
I use http://Urlz.at
very fast and simple
I use http://bt.dg. It is pretty good. It a. allows custom urls (as in the first suggestion) b. the resulting url is 17 characters.
http://tinyarro.ws also uses is.gd but has more options including using your own keyword, as well as tracking w/ a free account.
By the way memurl no longer works because of a php server error.
Do other URL shorteners create password secured links like http://eg3.net ?
Just discovered that Tiny URL is being used as a phishing site and IM attack propagator.
Sheesh!
@Jin: That’s why it’s important to keep safe by turning on safety mode in TinyURL which will show you the source before pushing you to the site.
Hi,
there is one really short one: http://io.ma.
Define custom extension, like: http://io.ma/sample.
cheers
YoYo
I am using http://www.7les.com as my official URL shortener :)
Hey! http://www.flavr.be is nice too !
My favorite link shortener is http://k.vu/ It’s got the shortest possible domain name, and it just launched so it’s giving out really small links.
Im using my own – http://m-thew/ – just registered that and shortened this url to – http://m-thew.tk/1
You weren’t kidding about unexpected URLs. We just got http://bit.ly/aSSWPe! We certainly didn’t plan it but that’s simply hysterical! Not a good fit with our brand image, but really good for a laugh!
i suggest to use http://1l.to
very short and quick ^^
http://to./
I won.
When linking, you can also use “to/abc”, and links are yet 6-letter. So yeah.
I used to ues bit.ly and goo.gl
but somehow goo.gl won’t open sice today :(
To see over 350 URL shorteners visit http://urlshortener.org
Short URL service owners please submit your site to URLShortener.org
i have only used bit.ly manually, and goo.gl for feed updates automatically. i was feeling the need for having one shortener on my personal server
Yet Another URL Shortener – yau.sh
There are some useful power, I recommend http://www.7battery.com.
I tried a web shortner(http://www.short.web.id/to/4399) It didn’t work.
However tinyUrl and 1url.com both seems to do good.
http://1url.com/c2s
I use http://urls.co.za for South African short urls.
Far better options are there.
http://bit.ly
http://goo.gl from Google
http://fb.me from Facebook
I use bit.ly as my URL Shortener which I often use whenever I would share my thoughts on Twitter. MOst of my friends use them too.
I would like to recommend l.pl shortener which is simple to use, works fast, does 301 redirections and makes URLs as short as possible !
check out http://www.in2s.us it also one of the best url shortner
for me jump.fm is better than bit.ly.
Multi link is amazing
Has anyone tried http://lnks.it? It tries to combine url shortening(tinyurl) and bookmarking(delicious) into one webapp. It’s open source as well. Right now, code is per request basis as they claim, they are still finalizing the codes (???)
I use this url shortener
Check http://cutshort.me. It has folder & multi domain options….
I use bit.ly
I would promote http://www.short-me.com, a good one too !!
another great, really powerful…and FREE url shortener is:
http://www.10r.us
its a lot more powerful and flexible than bit.ly and allows you to create folders and cross compare different campaigns.
check it out. http://www.10r.us
Urlshorts.info has a URL shortening service.
i dont like to use a different link shortener for every single site i use this one http://ob.cx best thing abt it is its simple API
http://comyonet.com is more than just a simple URL shortener or a redirection service. With detailes statistcs, 301 redirects, path forwarding and many more. visit the website for more features. all free.
Shortened URL services are invaluable on services like Twitter where only 140 characters are available – many URL’s
url20.ca uses real world words to generate the links!
u.to
well, i’ll choose http://letsclick.co.cc .
it’s perfect for me.
certain understated elegance and no-fuss style we think Isla would appreciate. What do you think? Tell us below!
Two thumbs up! http://www.WebURL.Me
I use ho.io URL shortener because you can customise the shortener URL. And it’s only two letters! And it’s on 401works.
Hi, check out our FREE short URL service:
http://phlpn.es
This is the first and only short URL service in the Philippines!
http://www.2so2.com is pretty cool and you can shorten multiple urls at once
How about this
1t.gd or iq.gd or it1.us or myfav.biz or myfav.us or 12ju.mp or netju.mp or elink.mp
Your choice of domain all from itshrunk.com
Plus you can do many other optional things like:
1. customize the URL tag
2. Bulk submit URL’s
3. password protect a url
4. have a url expire by a certain date
5. review 60 days of detailed click stats for every URL
More choices – Simple interface
itshrunk.com has been online with uninterrupted service for over 2 years.
Make it your reliable source for short URL’s and tracking needs.
Yes I am the owner!
Thanks,
Mark
i use this:
http://4url.me
http://twi4.me
http://bee3.info
Cool find! thanks for sharing….
edeems – Create a tiny url and get rewarded
Hiya guys, I found this site http://tvsl.eu, its new but I have found it really useful and its much shorter than any other url shortener I have found i think its something like 20% shorter!
I’m using 1U.ro http://1u.ro/ It is very short and with their bookmarklet you are able to post it directly to Twitter.
Nice article! I have lot of url shorteners to try now!
Thanx!
Here’s a new one I’m using these days…
http://www.tinyguru.com/
I use Ur3.us as my link shortener – its dead simple and has some amazing stat options for url shortening. The api is pretty useful – simple and unique and really short links!
Hello! i use http://paidly.com – friendliest url shortener!
I use http://paidly.com – friendliest url shortener
There is new site which short your url using more than 10 services once,he called http://www.shortesturl.net
Enjoy
http://Bu.tt is my favorite URL shortener
Check out http://z2z.ca, a URL shortening service mainly for Canadians.
4 benefits:
- We do not shorten redirected URLs
- Fast, on a fast server
- No tracking (except for the IP)
- Canadian
I use TinyUrl, bit.ly and j.mp for the following reasons:
TinyURL does exactly what it’s name says — shortens your URL. Therefor, it’s name is easy to remember, and it gives you a very short URL.
Find TinyUrl at: http://tinyurl.com/
bit.ly is fantastic in that it not only gives you a shortened URL, but it also gives you many tracking statistics concerning your newly created URL. Each time someone clicks on the URL (link) you provide (the link just created by you using bit.ly), bit.ly will record that your shortened URL has been clicked on. Then results will be immediately displayed on a bit.ly page you have previously created, and just signed in to. This page will tell you how many times your link (as well as your other recent links you’ve created) have been clicked on, and from which countries the readers clicked! bit.ly will also tell you such facts as the total amount of times all of your links (shortened URLs) have been clicked on together in, if I remember correctly, the last 10 days. I believe there are other features to bit.ly, but I can’t state them at present. Because bit.ly tracks in so many ways, it is my favorite URL shortener to use!
Find bit.ly at: http://bit.ly/
j.mp is a URL shortener that I just became aware of, and have not had time to review extensively, but it appears to me to work almost identical to bit.ly, and I believe provides the same tracking features as bit.ly. j.mp’s advantage over bit.ly is that j.mp’s shortening results is an even smaller URL (link) than bit.ly’s does! If I find that j.mp has the same features as bit.ly, and that j.mp’s shortening service results in a significantly shorter URL than Bit.ly’s, I will definitely be switching to j.mp, unless I find there is a security issue with j.mp. But I don’t anticipate a security issue, so I’ll probably be using j.mp from now on.
Find j.mp at: http://j.mp/
Although I know there are perhaps a few hundred URL shorteners, I’m surprised that your list doesn’t include bit.ly or j.mp, the two I feel are the best URL shorteners.
Anyway, thank you very much for an excellent article, and for allowing comments. It will help those who are not aware of URL shorteners to now be aware of them. I didn’t know shortened URLs existed until about a year ago — when someone on Twitter told me about them, and told me how to get shortened URLs created and what they were used for. I was grateful I was taught about URL shorteners, because before a year ago, I wasn’t able to post much in any one tweet on Twitter if the tweet contained a URL, bc after I posted the long URL, there wasn’t much room to post anything else. When I was informed about a year ago about URL shorteners, and became very excited, as I was then able to fit a complete thought in each tweet, as well as it’s relavent shortened URL (link) in the tweet. I was very relieved when I was told to use a URL shortener. It makes micro-blogging much easier.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
krissy knox
follow me on twitter:
http://twitter.com/iamkrissy
That is an amazing comment, krissy from sometimesithink-krissy.blogspot.com , thanks for sharing your thoughts with us :)
@James, Thanks! I try to be helpful. BTW, I just found your blog this morning, and I love it!
krissy :)
Yeah ! i must agree that we can’t forget this article in the near future.It is the 4 year and the article is getting popular day by day.
I wonder that a blog article as a simple post made occupied the top p[lace in google search .When we try for the URL shortners ,this article gets first.
I didn’t count the URL shortners stated here. But I guess near about 40 services were listed here.
Thanks James.
* Sorry ! 3 years
My favorite URL shortener is http://nik.im
they provide tons of ways to shorten and their analytics are sooo cool :)
We do not shorten redirected URLs
- – No tracking (except for the IP)
i like the blog
Shortz.me for me.
Try http://Bu.tt – The URL shortener that kicks it!
I built my own URL Shortener and want to contiue to improve the services it provides. Many of these comments are very inciteful and, in reading your article, gave me some ideas on possibly integrating some of those features … cuz honestly, using all of those sites for just one link seems a misuse of time. Their cool things to do, but who has the time?
@Aaron Yeagle
What is your the name and URL of your URL shortening service?
Before I was using cli.gs however I don’t know why my account got deleted. =(
few more new services
http://www.globinch.com/2010/06/08/make-long-hyperlinks-to-short-best-url-shortening-services/
http://yyuq.com
http://uk38.com
2 New Url shortener .
Possibility to use your own custom keyword ex ( yyuq.com/lawyers , uk38.com/youtube … )
track the visitor of your link with acurate country stats .
hope you like it
Check out http://tiny.by – password protect your URLS!
I use BudURL, since most of my use for shortening service is to use in marketing. They have nice tracking tools with reports I can give good data to my clients.
worth it , thank for the post , keep the good work
http://yrn.me/ is really awesome…i recommend it
http://url.go.it is a new site that short a url, i think is funny, stats section is cool and the service is fast enough and seo friendly as majority of url shorteners on the web today..
I think http://bit.ly is still the most secure, robust and fast
:)
-meontv-
http://Din.gy is a simple and fast URL shortener
it allows you to create password protected links, choose a custom links
and has another unique feature of e-mail shortening that short your mail address and protecting it with CAPTCHA
example for a spam link: http://din.gy/ifR3K
no doubt http://din.gy is the best out there
Check out http://gi.vc
It is fairly quick, has a simple stats view in the preview and is very easy to share the shortened link to any service after you have shortened it. Plus, more features and add ons are coming soon, just contact me on twitter with what you want added.
I use http://Tez.co. Allows me to customise my urls. At the mo they are producing links that are 16 characters long. Nice length!
.. meant to say that http://Tez.co also gives full statistics of time and days of clicks, and click location and referral information as well plus the standard click count as well. Pretty good stats.