why are people posting short URLs on twitter?

TinyUrl is great for this, I have been known to blog upto and beyond 2000 words at a time, with only 140 characters I can easily exceed this by describing the taste of a raspberry.

It is simply a space saver.

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efwebm 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Sparhawke

I can easily exceed this by describing the taste of a raspberry.

This is why I don't do twitter
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- Rashell 14 years ago
  
  I use the Pretty Link plugin for WP to make my own domain the url shortener. (can shorten any link out there) Has some tracking but granted not as pretty as the bit.ly interface.
  
  Yourls is another "own domain" shortener that works without WP.
  
  Shorten2Ping autoposts blogs posts with my domain as url shortener from my blog to ping.fm which then autoposts out to several other networks. I choose not to use any auto shortener (ie bit.ly) in the ping.fm settings option to maintain my domain as url shortener.
  
  Twitter Friendly Links is another WP Plugin. However, this integrates with other plugins like Sexy Bookmarks so visitors can "tweet" the post using my "own domain" as url shortener.
  
  There's a lot of "no follow" added to the social networks but there are enough "do follow" that it becomes an easy way to auto-add a few links here and there.
  
  Rashell
  
  Thanks
  
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R Hagel

14 years ago

Yes, it's a space saver (and Twitter does it automatically).

As someone reading these posts, however, it's not something that makes me do cartwheels. I like to see what URL I'm going to rather than clicking on a blind link. You never know what nasty surprise might be hiding on the other side of those links.

Cheers,
Becky

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Kevin Riley 14 years ago

Originally Posted by R Hagel

I like to see what URL I'm going to rather than clicking on a blind link. You never know what nasty surprise might be hiding on the other side of those links.

Becky

I use HootSuite. Simply hover over the plus sign beside short URLs and it gives you info in a pop-up. Saves clicking through on many tweets.
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grayambition

14 years ago

Originally Posted by R Hagel

As someone reading these posts, however, it's not something that makes me do cartwheels. I like to see what URL I'm going to rather than clicking on a blind link. You never know what nasty surprise might be hiding on the other side of those links.

If you use Tweetdeck, clicking on a shortened url displays the full link. Then you can click again to open the link if you want. So no scary surprises.

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GeorgR.

14 years ago

well i just tweeted an url of my blog but it didnt get shortened?

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Scott Ames

14 years ago

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

well i just tweeted an url of my blog but it didnt get shortened?

Here's why George... I stand corrected. This change was made in Dec.

Does Twitter provide URL/link shortening?

Submitted Dec 11, 2009 by Nachtigal
URL/Link Shortening

Twitter used to shorten links automatically but we do not any longer. Here' s a link to a list of possible services you can use.

We are also currently working on this feature, so be sure to keep on eye on this page for further developments.

[ 1 ] Thanks
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Dan C. Rinnert

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

Here's why George... I stand corrected. This change was made in Dec.

Does Twitter provide URL/link shortening?

Submitted Dec 11, 2009 by Nachtigal
URL/Link Shortening

Twitter used to shorten links automatically but we do not any longer. Here' s a link to a list of possible services you can use.

We are also currently working on this feature, so be sure to keep on eye on this page for further developments.

That can't be right. I've tweeted blog links this past week, and two of them were automatically converted to bit.ly URLs.

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petelta 14 years ago

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

well i just tweeted an url of my blog but it didnt get shortened?

it won't shorten automatically. I use Hootsuite. It's free and can post to all your social areas like facebook, facebook fan pages, twitter, etc. It has an automatic url shortener.

You need that extra space to add the "Please RT"
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petelta 14 years ago

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

well i just tweeted an url of my blog but it didnt get shortened?

use hootsuite, you can post to all your social spots from this and it has a url shortener right next to the message entry area.

You need that extra room for the "Please RT"
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InternetMarketingCenter

14 years ago

Bit.ly also offers some analytics information on links that you shorten -- a great resource. But mostly, it's just a space saver!

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JNFerree 14 years ago

Originally Posted by InternetMarketingCenter

Bit.ly also offers some analytics information on links that you shorten -- a great resource. But mostly, it's just a space saver!

Yeah, the Bit.ly stats are handy to see where your links are getting action and how often they are getting clicked.
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Hamish Jones

14 years ago

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Like bit.ly etc ? Simply because of the limited space?

I use tweetdeck and it shortens the URL's for me automatically.

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Ross Bowring 14 years ago

The shorter the URL, the more room for inane Twitter banter.
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Mukul Verma

14 years ago

Tweetdeck does shorten it.

I think its also so people dont know its an affiliate link. I get nice tweets that go straight to sales pages often.

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Michael Oksa

14 years ago

That's an interesting question, George. You really answered your question by asking it. Twitter limits characters. The perfect solution is t

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sahail

14 years ago

It is to save space. Long urls are beginning to look ugly now

Tweetlater (now SocialOomph) do it pretty much automatically.

Thanks
1 reply

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UnstoppableJoy 14 years ago

Here Is A Marketers Link Shortening Tracking Trick

Sign up for a free account on bit.ly and you will get stats on how many folks clicked and when.

It is a great free service that allows an additional tracking level.

Tweetdeck will even connect your bit.ly account so you automatically have stats on your tweetdeck shortened links.
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Marketstriker

14 years ago

There was a time, when every character counted. There were even special services, which reduced long URLs to tiny forms. Now TinyURL is down, so you don't have to shorten your URLs. But as mentioned short URL still gives you a lot of prefferences.

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YourPalAl

14 years ago

You can post as long as URL as you wish on Twitter as long as all characters are within 140 total characters. Great third party twitter clients like tweetdeck, hootsuite have built in url shorteners. You can also go to bit.ly or tinyurl as well. Additionally many of the service allow you to track clicks to see which links and tweets are more effective than others. Want to learn more about twitter? Check out twitterwatchdog.com

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HigherPrThanGod 14 years ago

Isn't twitter no follow? And as such, if you're linking to a domain or page you want indexed or followed wouldn't it be better to put the full URL?

I've noticed that Google will inadvertently index the full post, along with it's URL which DOES help with PR. At least I think it does..

But there's so much confusion, who the hell knows? lol
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usable_brand

14 years ago

I use bit.ly for tracking. Thus I can discover which of my tweets were successful at getting clicks.

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DogScout

14 years ago

leave off the 'http://' and it doesn't auto shorten

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Heidi White 14 years ago

Originally Posted by DogScout

leave off the 'http://' and it doesn't auto shorten

ohhhh - thanks, I never realized that!

For Affiliate link cloaking and URL shortening - I've used Cli.gs at times with good results.
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Woody C

14 years ago

I use Brizzly and it auto-shortens using bit.ly. I'm not sure if Twitter itself still auto-shortens or not.

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hydseo

14 years ago

twitter use application which shortens the URL'S due to lack of space in message box

Good luck

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Colin Evans

14 years ago

You don't need to use a url shortener with Twitter for WordPress blogs, just use links in the default permalink format. For example:

http://colin-evans.com?p=195

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Ralf Skirr

14 years ago

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Like bit.ly etc ? Simply because of the limited space?

Limited space is the main reason, but there's another one:

some URL shortening services will track the clicks and give you detailed statistics.

Ralf

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Andy Wood

14 years ago

to save space and to enable tracking. Bitly tracks clicks on it's url's. So if you tweet a link and want to know how many people clicked it you can.

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paulie888

14 years ago

If you do use a shortener with Twitter, use bit.ly, and more importantly sign up for a free account with bit.ly so that you can save all your links there. In addition to that, having a bit.ly account allows you to track the clicks from the links that you have created, and you also get to create custom URLs (I'm not sure if you can do this without an account, I'm guessing that you probably can as well).

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Chris Worner

14 years ago

I lurk in the dark-side and alot of black-hatters use these services to spam as well. I think they call it e-whoring.

join a webcam affiliate program, find a cam-girl you like, take a couple of screen-captures, then set up a fake twitter account under that persons identity, then they setup automated tweets to try to look like a legit female account and occasionally in the tweets they use the link shortening services to post their affiliate link.

plus as mentioned you have limited number of characters so it makes perfect sense to do so.

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sandra.IMqueen

14 years ago

Short URl's for space primarily after all 140 characters keeps you focused. Long urls' are a turn off and so short makes a difference. but as with all things juts check out where you are being led.

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piplaw

14 years ago

I think it's because of the lack of space plus for some tracking. It is hard to track people to your site comingvia twitter.

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karlhadwen

14 years ago

Just for long URL's such as blog posts etc and Twitter tends to do it automatically sometimes.

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JonMills

14 years ago

Try tweetdeck its a good tool and will automatically shorten for you your url

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SeanSupplee

14 years ago

as long as its a referral url or affiliate url I shorten it. People are used to seeing this and its not a big deal. However if its my main domain name then I will leave it as such for branding purpose and its normally shorter then if I use this service.

Many plugin apps though will automatically shorten any url such as with blogging tweetmeme

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kevinfar

14 years ago

I guess it's a habit. I tend to automatically shorten my URL when I get it out due to it possibly being too long and ugly.

So just a quick head over to tinyUrl and I'm all set.

At least that's my opinion.

Kevin

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Lance K 14 years ago

Space saver, sure. But why use tinyurl, etc.?

Why not get your own short domain that you can "brand" to a degree and just use a new subfolder to redirect anything you want?

Say I bought LanceK.com and used it for all tweets. If I wanted to promote Traffic Secrets 2.0, I could use LanceK.com/TS2 for the url. You're not going to get a tinyurl shorter than that.
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digigo

14 years ago

the downside is.. you lose the ability to promote your brand.. for a lot of marketers.. website is their brand.

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rypher21 14 years ago

Originally Posted by digigo

the downside is.. you lose the ability to promote your brand.. for a lot of marketers.. website is their brand.

true..but just put a meaningful and catchy description in your tweet
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dsmpublishing

14 years ago

Hi guys

i use short url because of the size issue but a lot of the time twitter will do it for me

kind regards

sam
X

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digitalstar

14 years ago

I use bit.ly because of 140 character limit on twitter and also for tracking of clicks.

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Why9999

14 years ago

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Like bit.ly etc ? Simply because of the limited space?

It's important to go well less than the 140 so that if someone want to retweet you and maybe add a comment or two, they can do it easily.

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TheRichJerksNet

14 years ago

I do not use any 3rd party short url's .. Bad idea ... I use my own system and the reason why is :

1. Because I do not want to use a 3rd party like bit.ly
2. If I use my own system then I have full control
3. I know my links will be live without any problems
4. Because my short urls drive additional link juice to my site thus meaning increased rankings.
5. Using a 3rd party you are only helping them out and not yourself because the fact is the short url will be indexed and not the redirected url.

James

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Troy_Phillips

14 years ago

Guess what happens in 6 months when the third party you use to shorten goes out of business ?

Just sayin

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TheRichJerksNet 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips

Guess what happens in 6 months when the third party you use to shorten goes out of business ?

Just sayin

Exactly why my members have access to not only 1 short url but 2 different short url's that can only be used by my members and the domains are owned by me ...

James
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eric w 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips

Guess what happens in 6 months when the third party you use to shorten goes out of business ?

Just sayin

Good point Troy! I use tiny url.....haven't used bitly, yet.

What's a better way to cloak an affiliate link?
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- Troy_Phillips 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by eric w
  
  Good point Troy! I use tiny url.....haven't used bitly, yet.
  
  What's a better way to cloak an affiliate link?
  
  I like redirects myself
  
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Mac the Knife

14 years ago

Personally, I stick to my reg url's. Then again, I am looking to brand the url's and want people to see the website name which includes the company name as well. I would rather be creative with my message using few words than shorten my brand...

Mac the Knife

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JNFerree

14 years ago

I use Bit.ly on Twitter and FB and on my Blog so I can shorten the URL and track the clicks and where they come from.

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hisnibbs

14 years ago

Tweetdeck is your friend - and it's good Tweettiquette to shorten your URLS, don;t want long strings of boring . forward slash htm : etc. Get to the juice and that 140 character limit is very easy to run up against!

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createyouwealth

14 years ago

I believe your answer has been answered correctly by the fellow warriors. I saw a couple that were wrong though, twitter does not automatically shorten your url for you, you have to go to bit.ly or whatever shortening service you use to shorten your links. And yes it is a very good space saver with the limited characters they allow. All the best.

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bizfox

14 years ago

If you sign up to bitly you can check metrics

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inspiro

14 years ago

Bit.ly is pretty reliable... it also does 301 redirects so the link "juice" is passed on.

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hisnibbs

12 years ago

Doesn't bit.ly recycle short urls? So your clickthroughs get muddied by those of other marketers who may have shortened the same URL?

And aren't clickbank hoplinks verboten???

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Mark72

12 years ago

It is primarily because of the character limit, but bit.ly also offers click tracking, bot filtering and some other stats showing geographical information.

Another reason to use bit.ly is that people on twitter are used to seeing it and so don't hesitate to click if they see something that interests them.

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Dimitris Skiadas

12 years ago

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Like bit.ly etc ? Simply because of the limited space?

1.Lack of space.Only 140 characters for a tweet to be made.

2.Tracking results.Maybe it's an affiliate offer or maybe you want to see how many people read your tweets and visit the links you post.

Personally i use URL shortners for both reasons

Dimitris

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TheNewJames

12 years ago

Yup, 140 characters, why fill it up with a long site?

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mmg1865

12 years ago

Redirects are good, but for Twitter they are too lengthy.

Agree with the other poster too, if company goes OOB.

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tanjiehao

12 years ago

Twitter only allows 140 words whenever you post a Tweet to make the system short and sweet. A long link will probably take up a lot of those words and TinyUrls are the way to go for posting links. It takes up only about 10 words and its very simple to use!

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marketinguk

12 years ago

Yep like most folks here are saying it's a lot to do with the length restricitions Twitter imposes on people posting. I have myself in the past used bit.ly until I one day realised that I didn't want to click on other people's bit.ly links as i have no idea where they're redirecting me to.

Joel

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moneymakerway

12 years ago

The reason is simple ⇨ to have more space for your message!

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why are people posting short URLs on twitter?

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