Will a URL Shortener Help or Hurt your SEO?
Cotswold Web • 2 March 2020
The SEO sphere is constantly changing and as a business you have to adapt your strategy once in a while to ensure that your rankings aren’t badly affected. As you know, content represents a huge part of your SEO strategy, therefore it is crucial that you don’t miss any opportunities that help you share it properly and efficiently. This is where the use of URL shorteners can come in handy.
URL shorteners are basically online applications that help take longer URLs (which can be over a hundred characters long) and transform them into manageable links that almost never exceed 20 characters.
They are not new, they’ve been around for longer than most people realise. A popular example is Tiny URL
, which was launched by web developer Kevin Gilbertson in January 2002 and still remains popular today.
Link shorteners were primarily used to keep long URLs from becoming fragmented within email clients. This was due to text wrapping concerns with displays used at the time. However, URL shorteners are particularly popular for social media applications. Short URLs are both aesthetically and functionally more beneficial for platforms such as Twitter, where long URLs hamper ease of reading and the length of your tweets.
There are quite a number of popular URL shorteners such as Bitly
,
TinyURL
and Google's URL Shortener
that each have their own specific features. Now we’ve established the background behind link shorteners, let’s take a look at whether they will help or hurt your SEO.
Shortened URLs have more aesthetic appeal
URL shorteners are absolute gold when making a URL look prettier and easier on the eye, especially as mentioned above, when sharing your content on social media. However, they can also be extremely useful when designing content for different purposes. Take an infographic for example, or a print ad. If you want to add your link, it will look far more aesthetically pleasing if you don’t include a link that’s 180+ characters long. It is also important to note that mobile or tablet users will enjoy a much better user experience if they see a shorter URL in your content, making it more likely that they’ll click on the link to view your content.
URL shorteners can come with traffic monitors
If analytics are a priority for you and you’re eager to find out how well your content was received you can use a URL shortener, such as Bitly, which allows you to track the sharing activities of your post/tweet over a specific period.
Bitly has received a lot of attention lately, due to the comprehensive data that it provides in the form of live click data, geographic location, where the link was clicked, and more. This type of information is invaluable to webmasters and businesses - it shows where customers are coming from, when they are coming, and what interests them. This data can be really useful for businesses when planning to produce more targeted content.
On the other hand, it is extremely important to ensure that your URL shorteners are not detrimental to your SEO efforts. Of course, the more content is shared the better it is for your SEO, but it’s important to check that those links are recognised by search engine algorithms. They can lead to spamming and endless redirections.
URL shorteners are like gold dust for spammers as the links hide the final destination. Over the years, spammers have had the opportunity to conduct their business without being caught out straight away. They are able to hide their harmful links in shortened URLs, so that people will end up on undesired websites. This is unfortunate for honest businesses who are using URL shorteners to purely post their content. It gives a bad reputation to shortened links, meaning that people who have been a victim of spamming are less likely to trust those links again.
There are sites (such as URLex.org or CheckShortURL.com) that offer destination previews of shortened URLs so that users can figure out what the links are, but not everyone is that patient. Many people will just skip the article and go elsewhere to find a link they have more trust in.
People may be less likely to click on a shortened link
The increasing proliferation of so-called ‘fake news’ means online viewers are potentially more likely to be wary of shortened links. Even if you’re not sharing a malicious link or even one with multiple redirects, because users are unsure where you’re sending them. Being wary of these links makes them less likely to click through in the future. If you use a full link, they’re in control and are able to make an informed decision.
Some URL shortener recommendations
Bitly
Bitly is probably one of the most popular URL shorteners, due to its easiness of its utilisation. It occurs regularly on Twitter and allows you to use a custom domain specific to your company/brand and to track your links.
TinyUrl
One of the earliest URL shortener services to appear on the internet. Like Bitly, you are also able to customise the URL you just shortened – if the customisation you want is still available.
Google’s URL Shortener
Another great one to use to shorten your URLs. You can also add it to your Chrome toolbar and have quick access to it when needed.
Yourls
Yourls allows you to run the URL shortening service yourself, removing the middleman. You can completely customise the link however you wish.
Fur.ly
Fur.ly is a very handy one to use, because you can use it either for a simple link or if you want to transform a group of links into a shortened one.
Link shorteners offer a range of pros and cons, and it can be difficult to know when is best to make use of them. It is worthwhile putting some thought into which URL shorteners are right for you.
You may be still asking yourself, should I still use URL shorteners? Short answer: Yes. If you are using a URL shortener from a reputable provider, you should not expect any negative SEO benefits. Using an SEO shortener allows you to create concise and aesthetically pleasing links, while also being able to gain additional information about your performance. You should also ensure you include URL shorteners in your content marketing campaigns. Just remember not to use them where the URL is not visible, like with anchor text.
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