The world of technology and the internet is changing with rapid speed. So, it becomes critical to rightly get familiar with these changes and apply the ones that benefit a business. Many of these changes are smart and practical moves; an example could be link shorteners.
It is not the best strategy to share extremely long links as it can send quite the opposite effect. However, it is equally important to ascertain when it’s best to use a link shortener. So, let’s shed some light on link shorteners the pros and cons associated with them.
What is a link shortener?
Just as the name suggests, link shorteners are tools that can be utilized to shorten a link. These tools can make the link a new and brief one. A shortened link will have a reduced character count and will be looking more attractive and appealing to the reader.
Pros of link shortening
Link shortening works in many critical situations. Subsequently, it might not be the best approach when it comes to specified situations. So, it pays to know the pros and cons of link shortening before you decide to give it a try.
- Attractive outlook
It’s the time of social media, and the most valuable thing is characters. Twitter since long had a limited character count for its tweets. A shortened link would seem more attractive and can be easily put without worry. However, a long link might not even have a chance to be posted because of the length. So, shortened links make for quick and attractive marketing tools.
On the other hand, a long link can serve as an obstacle in this scenario. It will also lack the appeal that comes with a crisp and short link.
- Customization options
The next benefit that comes with shortening a link is the opportunity to customize it. You can easily customize the link as per your requirement to make it look more attractive and even catchy. So, a small link can convey all the necessary information without going overboard with unnecessary character count.
It comes without a surprise, but this benefit can’t be utilized for a long link. Long links can’t be customized to suit the creator. Hence, they can appear boring and not unique.
- Convenient tracking
A modern benefit that comes with link shorteners is that they can track the link. The tracking feature can come extremely handy in getting the number of clicks on the link. Additionally, these tracking features can also tell you about the geographical location of the users. It can prove to be beneficial with marketing links. Additionally, getting to know the number of clicks can help the creator understand and analyze the popularity of the link.
- Ease of copying
A good majority of internet usage has transferred to smartphones. So, it comes as no surprise that websites and their respective elements should be smartphone-friendly. Link shorteners are a blessing in this case as they are easy to copy and paste from one place to another without occupying too much space.
This ease can’t be there with links that are in full motion. Longer links can make it difficult to post them on social media. We have mentioned that they take away valuable space. Additionally, they might also appear unattractive in a short or long post. So, choose carefully.
- Tracking of analytics across different platforms
Nowadays, shortened links have more benefits apart from the existing geographical tracking and number of clicks. Shortened links instilled with tracking codes can help with tracking their performance for specified campaigns across different platforms. You can easily analyze the performance of shortened links on a centralized dashboard.
Some cons of link shortening
While link shortening comes with a handful of powerful benefits, there are some cons too. Let’s look at them.
- Possibility of dead links
One disadvantage of link shortening can come in the form of dead links. If the service that provided the shortened links discontinues, the link will stop working. It can be a critical downside. However, it can be easily avoided. You may be wondering how by this point. Well, a reliable link shortening service like Linktrest is the answer to your problem. Getting these reliable link shortening providers on board means that you will never have to worry about a dead link.
- Blocking at some platforms
Just as Twitter used to have a space limit that encouraged using link shorteners, some social media platforms don’t accept shortened links. One of the most prime examples of that is Wikipedia. Wikipedia only accepts full-length URLs, and it will deny anything with a shortened URL. A similar case is of Yahoo. Yahoo answers will not accept answers that have shortened links in them. So, it can be a hindrance with a few of the online platforms not accepting shortened links.
- Slow loading of web page
A disadvantage that is often associated with shortened links is the slow loading speed of the respective web page. It can take the visitor away from the web page, and that is harmful to the website. However, it’s a con that can be avoided by picking up better, suitable, and reliable link shortening providers. Many a time, new services are functional, smart, and time-saving. However, their performance can vary from provider to provider. So, it makes sense to do your research and pick authentic and trustworthy advisors like Linktrest. With Linktrest as your link shortening provider, you will never have to worry about slow loading speed or other functional issues.
All in all, it boils down to the usage and requirement of link shortening. So, take a look at your need and then decide. With trustable and efficient providers like Linktrest, there will be no worry about things like a dead link or slow loading speed. Additionally, you will be getting all the useful benefits like tracking analysis, attractive shortened URL, and a customized link as per your need.