Why it’s so important to use short links?
In recent years, the need to use links with short and simple URLs has increased exponentially.
This is due to the fact that short URL are easier to share, they also interest the user more, increasing the percentage of clicks and views by 34%.
These links are called branded links and are the basis of all the best digital marketing and online advertising strategies.
Another way to call branded links is vanity URL.
In fact, the appearance of the links is greatly improved.
A branded link is far superior to an extremely long link,with a great graphic impact the user can understand easily the destination of the URL.
A short URL is a very useful resource for sharing your content also on mobile devices.
Even with smaller screens, this ensures immediate visibility of the whole link.
People avoid kilometric URLs, for this reason improving their appearance is very important to avoid losing users.
The best way to shorten a link is through URL shortener.
You have probably heard of Google URL shortener before.
What is Google URL shortener?
In December 2009, Google created a URL shortener to make a short URL, shorter and more comfortable.
Initially the shortner was usable only on Toolbar and Feedburner, but following the great demand, the tool has undergone changes in order to be launched also on a separate web page.
The Google URL Shortener was officially released and opened to the public in September 2010 under the name “goo.gl”.
This tool has long been used also for the fact that it was free.
The user could access their links by logging into their Google Account, where the URLs modified by goo.gl were recorded and stored.
It was also possible to access additional data and information and monitor link analytics in real time.
Visits, over time traffic, visitor profiles, could be easily traced from your account.
In addition, Google had also added an automatic system aimed at filtering and recognizing spam.
In short, it was a very useful tool from Google.
On 13 April 2018, however, the service was closed to the public and replaced by Firebase Dynamic Links.
Google has published a very useful and detailed article about it, there are additional notes for both common users and developers.
If you want to know more about it, you can find the article here.
The best alternative to Google URL shortener
With the closure of Google URL shortener many other programs have seen the light and now there are many of them on the web.
One of the best alternatives to Google URL shortener is JotURL.
JotURL can be defined also as an URL shortener, although in reality it give a wide range of features that make it a very complete tool.
JotURL offers a 14-day free service to try all its plans and to start creating shortened and customized links and URLs, it will also be possible to test its other strengths.
JotURL can create vanity URLs but it can also associate CTAs with the links you create, it can track your conversions, create A/B tests for your projects and much more.
It can redirect users to new landing pages, it can create QR Codes to link to your links, it can make your URL A Deep Link and improve the visitor experience on mobile.
The strength of JotURL is that its links are automatically generated as Tracking Links.
What does this mean?
It means that your links can always be traced and from them you can collect all the data and information useful for your digital strategy.
JotURL Analytics stores all the data you need:
- number of visits and clicks-for-single user
- origin of visitors
- the used device
- the used search engine
- the percentage of traffic
- the status of your conversions
Among other things, in the Analytics you can analyze all the links present in a project or concentrate on a single tracking link and observe in detail the graphs and statistics that interest you.
How to generate short URL using JotURL
Create a new Vanity URL using JotURL is very simple, this is another reason to consider it as an excellent alternative to the Google URL shortener that now no longer exists.
Once you have registered, all you have to do is access the JotURL Dashboard and create a new tracking link.
In the image above you can see how the building page of your URL will look once you have completed all the fields.
The essential fields for obtaining your shortened URL are:
- Destination URL = where the link will be inserted where you want to redirect your users
- Domain = JotURL gives you the opportunity to use branded domains to make your URL even more personalized
- Alias = choose the appearance of your URL. You can enter the keywords you want to understand the destination of the link, remember that the goal of a shortener is to creat a short URL, so use short words or immediate concepts for your links.
For the example, we used our group’s Facebook link, Kings of Links.
The starting URL is this: “https://www.facebook.com/groups/2111346675798481/?source_id=174662902586616”
By creating the new tracking link the final result is this:
“Jo.my/group-joturl-fb”
You can immediately notice a big difference.
The second link, in addition to being decidedly shorter, makes you understand immediately the destination of arrival.
Furthermore, the presence of a branded domain and the personalization of the URLs will convince users to click your link.
Within the Projects you can find your tracking link and keep it constantly monitored.
In addition, you can change every aspect of your URL at any time.
There is no limit to the number of campaigns and projects that you can start simultaneously, you can also associate many functions to your tracking links like no other URL shortener could ever do.
Cheers,
JotURL Team
PS: You may also be interested in this article: “How To Choose The Best Branded Link Shortener”
