by Andy Brudtkuhl on November 3, 2008
Ask Andy – “Why should I use a URL shortener?”
1. To shorten your long links, duh
There are several reasons to shorten long links – from Twitter’s character limit to email truncation. To ensure your links pass usability standards, formatting issues, truncation, and character limits – URL shorteners are a great resource.
2. Analytics
I admit it – I am a sucker for analytics and most of the best URL shorteners have these tracking features baked in. You can see how many people click on your URLs, usually with different reports and views – like traffic based on time among others. I love to measure reach and effectiveness of messages I broadcast and tracking clicks on links I share is critical. I also use URL shortening services in my email marketing campaigns to track clicks in emails. (Note: you can also do this using aWeber)
3. Hide Affiliate Links
Another popular use of URL shorteners is to mask affiliate links. I do this – but not for masking links. I use URL shorteners for my affiliate links so I can accomplish reason #2 – analytics. By using these services I can gauge the effectiveness of different affiliate links based on the content to help determine if the affiliate is a good match for my readers or community.
What services do we recommend?
Well, right now we are really liking Zi.ma because it offers tracking, deletion, and twitter services. We are also digging TweetBurner for those of you interested in great Twitter integration, analytics, and dead simple usage…
If you want to know more about specific URL shortening services, please see the URL Shortener wiki I have started. If you have used any of the services listed, please leave your review. If you know of any other services, feel free to add to the wiki (note: entries must be approved).
Other URL Shortening Resources
SEOMoz – The Benefits and Pitfalls of URL Shorteners
What other uses do you have for URL shorteners? Let us know in the comments…
by Andy Brudtkuhl on July 10, 2008
A couple of updates for the website. I’ve added the Daily Digest feature and RSS feed. If you don’t want to read what I have to say – you can read what I am reading. You can read it here and in RSS feed form here. Secondly I’ve added the Social page – which is basically my FriendFeed widget. More to come with this section.
Oh, and if you have an internet business, web development, or web strategy question – don’t forget to Ask Andy…
by Andy Brudtkuhl on July 1, 2008
“Hey Andy – Your recent posts on Googles new products lead me to do some research. check out this link … I’d love to get your take on it. Do you think Google is stepping into areas best left to Nielsen and the tracking agencies, or is this the next logical progression for them?!? Link Keep Cooking!” Andrew Clark
It’s only natural for Google to step into the areas that have previously been dominated by the likes of Nielsen and Comscore. Why? They have the data to do so. With such a majority in search technology it is easy for Google to mine these analytics, and with the economies of scale at Google – they can provide this information for free. This does directly undercut the business models of the companies mentioned in the link you provided. Will these companies go out of business? No.
While the business models conflict there are other issues at hand. Two of those are data integrity and different sampling methodoligies. The article you cited makes a great point…
Some experts wonder if Google’s Ad Planner service may be a conflict of interest. Will advertisers trust data from a source that sells them online advertising?
The point made is whether advertisers will trust analytics provided by the company they purchase advertising from. My bet is, yes, they will because it is so cheap to do so. The other issue is methodology which directly reflects sampling issues. Google gets 70% of search traffic meaning they don’t have analytical data on the other 30%. The traditional firms like Nielsen use statistical practices such as samples and controls. Regardless, as the article points out, “…the main argument being
that Web usage is too fragmented to be accurately represented by a limited
sample size. Reporting solid results about Internet usage becomes tricky when using a restricted number of participants.” This thinking affects both sides.
I think the industry that should be worried more than the analytical industry is the actual ad firms that do media planning. A couple years ago I built a media planner website for a local ad agency. This directly targets their business model, and with Google’s scalability and affordability, the AdPlanner could directly impact their business – especially when companies like mine exist to help these consumers use the inexpensive tools provided by Google.
Thanks to Andrew Clark for the question.
Do you have a question? Maybe you should Ask Andy!
