URL, an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator, are links to pages and websites on the internet. Many times, URLs in their original forms are very long. And sometimes, people will add that URLs are not only long but complex and ugly. URL shortening is a technique that recently emerged with the purpose of shortening these long URLs, “beautifying” the links for easy readability and so on.
URLs are usually long because web developers while creating and developing web components, add a whole lot of information to the URL to represent paths, hierarchies etc. But these URLs are not desirable, not easy to remember or share. A social media platform like Twitter, for instance, has even developed its own URL shortening service due to the limited number of characters in a tweet. But that service is limited to Twitter only.
If you also want to know how to shorten those awfully long URLs, you are at the right place. In this article piece, we will recommend 10 effective and powerful URL Shorteners on the web that you can use to shorten and beautify that link. Let’s take a detailed look.
Bitly and Google’s now-defunct Goo.gl are the most popular URL shorteners on the planet but there are other similar tools that are even more powerful and most of them are even free.
MergeURL allows you to shorten up to 5 URLs for free. You get to merge as well as shorten these links. If you are sick of posting many URLs, MergeURL is the solution for you. At MergeURL, your links will be merged and then shortened. Once it is done merging successfully, it will display the merged link for you to copy and use. You don’t need to have a user registration to merge and shorten up to 5 links. Many times, users get irritated when they have to log in or sign up to shorten links but on MergeURL, you don’t have to for up to 5 URLs.
LinkMoji is different in some sorts. It turns your URLs into emojis. Yes, you will get your URLs shortened but after the https:// start of the URL, the rest will be a combination of different emojis. Once you enter your URL or link in the home page link box, your link will be processed and shortened into emojis in seconds, You can also customize a URL if you don’t fancy the emoji thing.
CHL.LI is a very modern URL shortening service. CHI.LI which is a short acronym for Chline Link, is a very free and privacy-respecting URL shortener available for you to use on the web. All you need to do is, paste a very long URL that is pissing you off into the URL box on their home page, and click on the ‘shorten URL’ button. You can also specify the type of ending you want for your shortened link. Whether it is .ink, .mo, .pizza, or dot of anything. This is all free. Also, the shortened links never expire.
Cuttly is a good web service to shorten your URLs with. You will be able to simplify long URLs/links, track these simplified/short links, and then manage the links. All on Cuttly. You need to register and log in to have access to their unique URL shortening and tracking service. On their home page, lies the ‘shorten’ box and the ‘shorten’ button which you should paste the long URL into and click the button. They also help you to measure the performance of your links.
With
short.io, you can shorten and personalize (customize) URLs and then share the final link produced with your brand audience. It’s a free web service that you should employ to shorten those long URLs for you. You also get real-time analysis and tracking of your shortened links.
RB.GY is a free URL shortener that brands URLs for you, gives you detailed analytics reports of these shortened links as to how the links are performing, number of clicks, leads etc. The service is a premium one that costs just $9 per month. You can also sign up for their service for free too. You can also brand your domain for a token/year.
Linkfox allows you to shrink unnecessarily long links for free. Just go the Linkfox.io home page, enter the URL into the box and click ‘shorten’. In seconds, your shrunk/shortened link will be displayed back for you after processing. You can also track links, bundle them etc.
Miny.app is a free tool that reduces long links into a short, custom and easy to share links. Miny.app is a 100% privacy-focused tool, it does not track or store any personal information. They do not track users or clicks on a shortened link.
This URL shortener is powered by Ethereum blockchain. Once you visit the web page, paste the long URL into the box and click on ‘go’. Your shortened link will be returned to you in seconds. No log in or sign up. Easy and fast.
This web service allows you to customize your shortened links. After you have entered the long URL into the box and shortened it, you can also customize it further. There is also a ‘history’ tab for all your past URLs and their shortened links. The shortened links are safe and you can share them.
These 10 URL shorteners are good choices we recommend. You had probably not heard of some of them prior to reading this piece. Well, now you know them. You have no excuse at all to share ugly and long URLs to your brand audience. Haha
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