5 Benefits of URL Shorteners

If you've ever copied and pasted a link onto your social media profiles, you've probably had one thought: That looks so ridiculously long. This is where URL shorteners come in! URL shorteners do exactly what you think they do. They take long, sloppy URLS and make them shorter and easier on the eyes.

Let's talk more specifically about some of their benefits.

5 Benefits of URL Shorteners

1. They Offer the Ability to Track the Performance

Most of the best URL shorteners provide analytical data. All shortened goo.gl links (which is what eClincher uses) do so, and this information is easily accessible within eClincher. But wait — why should you care about this?

By tracking the success of links, a business can understand what their audience is engaging with and adjust their strategies accordingly. What are people clicking on? What are they passing by without a second glance?

These analytics are an excellent way to find patterns of behavior and determine what your audience wants (and doesn't want) to see.

2. They Use Fewer of Your Precious Characters

When it comes to Twitter especially, saving every possible character is critical. Getting your message across in 140 characters or less can feel like rocket science at times. Now try doing it with a link that is 75 characters long. Seriously. Try it. It‘s nearly impossible. Also, consider that the optimal tweet length is somewhere around 110 characters and you can see the problem.

Using URL shorteners leaves you more space to get your message across and also add in important elements like hashtags.

3. URL Shorteners Promote Sharing

Which one looks easier to share?

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/special-columns/2015-03-06/socially-stephanie-how-increase-click-throughs-twitter

OR

https://goo.gl/rplLef

Shorter links make sharing significantly easier, which promotes sharing as a whole. We are all hoping to get as many shares as possible when we post. So, why would we want to make the process of sharing any harder than it has to be?

4. People Are Used to Them

If everyone was jumping off a bridge, would you? We would recommend you don’t, but when it comes to URL shorteners, joining the majority makes complete sense. Shortened URLs have become so common that most people don’t even pay attention to them. However, an unshortened URL sticks out like a sore thumb and some readers might even consider it unprofessional.

5. They Lead to a Higher Click-Through Rate

People are used to seeing shortened links on social media. Due to this, using shortened links will increase your click-through rate. It's one of the simplest changes you can make to your posting strategy in order to increase the effectiveness. Not convinced? Try it out yourself and check the analytical data! See, being able to track your shortened link’s success is already coming in handy.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to social media management tools, shortened URLs are the only kind of URLs. If you're not already using them, it's definitely time to start. The beauty of posting with eClincher is that by simply copying and pasting a URL into the text box, the URL shortener automatically kicks in and the title and image will be attached. On top of this, analytical tracking will immediately begin. Give it a try for free and see for yourself!