In 2020, being able to use a custom URL shortener is essential in order to create excellent digital marketing strategies.
In this article you will find all the information you need to understand what a URL shortener is and why customizing URLs and links is so important.
Also did you know that shortened and branded URLs are different?
All you need to know is 4 simple points to discover everything about this topic:
- What is a URL shortener?
- The difference between short url and branded URL
- Why customization is so important?
- Which custom URL shortener should you use?
1) What is a URL shortener?
The term “URL shortener” identifies all those programs that have the ability to shorten a link.
Links, when they are normally generated, can become very long.
This depends on many factors: on the types of search parameters entered within the URL, on the length of the domain, or on many other variables.
You will certainly have seen them, while browsing the internet.
Very long URLs and even links impossible to copy.
Like this:
Or this:
That type of links can be very uncomfortable both from computers and from phones or other mobile devices, moreover they are so confused that they do not make immediate understanding the destination URLs.
The first notable URL shortening service, TinyURL, was launched in 2002.
In the following years other websites re-proposed the service when the problem of excessively long links had become so unmanageable as to push people to create tools capable of shortening URLs.
On Twitter it was practically impossible to share these links, because they exceeded the maximum number of characters allowed for single tweet.
Now the social network has an integrated URL shortener that no longer creates these problems.
The QR Codes also encountered several problems, in fact a too long and sophisticated link made it very difficult to generate black and white squares to form the code.
In fact, it is always advisable to use a shortened link to originate a QR Code.
Since then URL shorteners have come a long way, but still today it is useful to remember that shortening your links is a fundamental operation to be taken into consideration.
However, there are still users who do not use URL shorteners and who share heavy and unnecessarily long links.
To deal with the problem, Google also created a shortener called “goo.gl”, to find out more, read: this article.
Over time, many other sites have also started to create services to automatically shorten very long links, in order to make them easier to send.
Some links were shared through SMS, so having a short link led to savings on the expense of the single message.
Even now sharing a short link is much more beneficial and profitable.
2) The difference between short URL and branded URL
Now that we have talked about the importance of shortening links, it is important to move a premise.
We talked about what URL shorteners are, but not about custom URL shorteners.
If you think they are the same, well… you are wrong.
Short links are very useful, but what really makes the difference in a marketing campaign is to use branded URLs.
There are small differences, but really essential.
First of all, with a common URL shortener it is not possible to create branded links, you need to use a custom URL shortener in order to do it.
URL shorteners, in fact, have important limitations:
Many URL Shorteners do not recognize external branded domains, they claim that their domain be used, in this way their brand is also sponsored by your links.
This is fundamentally harmful to your image, because owning your own branded domain leads to an increase in click rate of around 34%.
URL Shortener, in many cases, do not allow you to change the destination of the URL, a custom URL shortener, however, can do it.
A link generated by a URL shortener is not a tracking link and therefore cannot track information and offer a detailed analysis for visits and clicks obtained like a tracking link can do.
Having short links is important because they are easier to share, but owning branded and personalized links is even more important.
Your aim doesn’t consist in having the shortest link ever.
All you have to do is create a link that you can read at a glance and that you can remember quickly.
You need a link with a custom domain to increase user interest.
Remember to enter keywords in your URL alias and make it understandable.
Your visitor need to recognize the origin of the URL and its destination in a short time.
In the end, your link must be useful for your digital marketing campaigns, so it must offer you statistics and analysis in real time on what is happening on the websites or on the pages where you have shared them.
So don’t worry if your link isn’t extremely short, that’s fine.
The important thing is that you made it legible, and customized it to adapt it on your brand identity.
3) Why customization is so important?
Customization is essential.
Being original is a sort of a super-power, it is that special feature that always manages to highlight us compared to others.
This concept applies perfectly to the context of URLs.
Using a custom URL shortener offers the possibility to 100% customize every aspect of your link and to become: unique.
Here are all the benefits of using a branded link:
First, it is easier to find in search engines or by other users.
Branded URLs serve to differentiate themselves from others, especially from competitors who deal with your own topics or sell your same products. Customization it’s essential to win customers and more visits.
The world of the internet is very competitive, remember that.
Every day billions of contents are uploaded on internet, personalizing your links and your brand with distinctive signs is essential in order to leave your mark.
To be successful you must be remembered and be able to appear in the first pages on google.
A branded link has a 34% greater chance of being clicked than another link.
These links allow you to make a good impression and improve the reputation of your business.
They are easy to read and to share, they also can contain keywords and therefore be optimized for SEO.
This aspect is extremely important, SEO greatly affects the positioning in search engines and the possibility of being easily found by your users.
For this reason, having a branded link is important.
Having the ability to 100% customize the appearance of your URL and make it exactly how you want it is possible, using the right tool.
You have to create something that is ONLY yours, carefully choosing your branded domain and taking care of the appearance of every single link you are going to share.
By following these guidelines you will get many more visits, conversions and success, improve your brand’s reputation and become competitive on the market.
These are valid advice for every sector, you don’t need to deal with digital marketing to need to share and track your links.
4) Which custom URL shortener should you use? JotURL is the answer.
Many shorteners can be found on the internet, but which custom URL shortener is best suited for you?
JotURL is what you are looking for.
Don’t you know what JotURL is?
JotURL is an all-in-one and accurate tool that allows you to manage, organize, redirect, track, target, remarket, increase conversions and monitor the status of all your links.
And yes, JotURL can also shorten and customize your links.
Creating a custom branded link with JotURL is really easy and intuitive.
Simply sign up, create a new tracking link and enter your very long URL as a destination URL.
Then you can add your branded domain and choose the final appearance of your URL, customizing it 100%.
In this way, will you get a totally personalized, short and easy to read branded link.
You will also make your URL a tracking link with all the benefits that this entails.
A tracking link, in fact, gives you the opportunity to track every aspect of your URLs, wherever you have shared them.
JotURL is the best solution for creating a branded link because it is a tool that includes many functions in a single program.
You can add many additional options to your shortened URL, such as: CTAs, conversion codes, Facebook remarketing pixels, deep linking, QR codes, and much more.
All this without ever having to leave the JotURL page!
JotURL also offers a 14-day trial period, in which you can create all the URLs you want for free.
You will have many more exclusive features available than any other shortener.
With JotURL you can also boost your links and make them even more effective and powerful, also thanks to the guaranteed monitoring 24/24 h, every day of the week, your URLs will always remain safe.
If you want to know more about this topic, we recommend reading this article.
In this way you will find out why JotURL is the best custom URL shortener you can find online.
If you are not yet convinced just take a look: click here.
Cheers!
JotURL Team
