What are URL Shorteners?

As the name suggests, a URL shortener is a marketing tool that transforms any long URL into a shortened URL. This new shortened link is more readable and when a user clicks they are redirected to the original link of the webpage. Indeed, URLs are quite difficult to memorize, type out or even distribute. As a result, short URLs have proven to be more convenient, reliable and content-friendly.
In addition, with the arrival of social media platforms, lengthy URLs started to present a problem. At that point, Twitter limited their messages to a maximum of 140 characters, and they counted every character in a link. Therefore, URL shortener tools appeared to solve this sharing content problem. Furthermore, shorter URLs are more engaging and have more visual appeal. Although this might not seem important, a shorter URL could make the difference in convincing someone to click on your affiliate links. According to a study by Rebrandly, branded links are proven to increase click-through rates by up to 39%.

4 reasons to use URL Shorteners

1# Short URLs provide a better user experience

Appearance matters in all aspects of any online business as this influences user decision of either visiting a website or not. That being said, shortener links ensure that your links look as professional as possible. In addition, short affiliate links will make your links more user-friendly, improve click-through rates, and help protect your commissions from fraud.
In fact, to provide a better user experience we need to strive to structure our URLs to maximize readability. Find below some factors that impact the readability of your links that you can use to optimize your URLs:

  • Use hyphens, not underscores
  • Between three to five words and try to use a max of 60 characters
  • Use lowercase letters
  • Add 1-2 keywords per URL
  • Avoid keyword repetition
  • Always use HTTPS instead of HTTP


2# Shortener links make it easy to remember your brand

URL shortening is useful and helps you save valuable space when sharing it. It is also highly recommended when creating new branding opportunities and to make your URLs instantly recognizable, memorable, and trustwort ...

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