Shorten Your URLs
URLs can get really really long. As an example, go to Yahoo! Maps and enter your address. The resulting URL will probably look something like this:
The URL works fine when pasted into a browser, however there are several challenges with long URLs. For one, writing down long URLs can be tedious. If you mistake a plus sign for an ampersand, the entire URL is useless. Two, long URLs frequently break in emails, requiring the recipient to cut and paste the URL back together so it works. Finally, they’re difficult to remember. How many of us can remember a string of 148 characters?
Fortunately, a photographic memory isn’t required for remembering long URLs anymore. Several web services have come about which shorten URLs for you:
TinyURL, where tiny is better, creates tiny URLs for you to post in email messages or use on web pages.
Shorl is another great service that shortens URLs. An additional advantage of use Shorl is that it also keeps statistics on the URLs you “Shorlify.”
- 4 Jun 02
- tips, url, usability, web design
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Comments
Hmm… that’s odd. The question mark in the URL I use above forces a line break in IE6. Anyone know why that happens?
Joshua on 4 Jun 02
There’s also
http://www.makeashorterlink.com/
Victor on 6 Jun 02
See also http://notlong.com/ which has a survey of the different free services which require no registration.
Eric on 12 Aug 02