Internet Marketers often use shortened URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) or shortened web addresses (for example, http://short.to/1i7a2, in place of the full web address); especially when re-tweeting these links in Twitter or when posting links in articles, social networking site messages, blogs or on other websites.
But why bother? Why go to the trouble of shortening their URLs, when it may just seem like extra work to some? Here are some reasons why it’s a good and necessary practice for online marketers:
1. Perhaps the most obvious is the necessity of short messages when tweeting in Twitter because of the 140 character limit. You want a catchy message and the full URL is just too long.
2. Shorter and more precise marketing communications are more easily read and assimilated by online customers. Especially when using online media sites for your marketing messages, web users don’t want to be bothered with reading laboriously long messages. Something short, sweet, and to-the-point is more effective and short links are much more likely to get clicked on.
3. Some internet marketers want to hind their true web address to keep the suspense. Web users who are attracted by introduction messages might be inclined to click on the shortened web-link because their curiosity has been piqued.
In some cases, using the full URL reveals what the message is about killing the suspense factor, and if the user recognizes the link name, would be less likely to follow it.
Affiliate marketers also use this practice to protect affiliate links to avoid losing commissions and prevent the buyer from going to the main site.
4. One huge advantage to using shorted URL services is they usually provide click-thu statistics which, depending on the service used, can be quite detailed. Tracking is essential for marketing online to determine effectiveness of different ad sources – which campaigns are getting the best results allowing for needed adjustments which could save much time and cost.
Of course there may be disadvantages too, but using shortened URLs allows marketing messages to be kept simpler and more accessible to potential customers.
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