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There are many way to shorten a URL, you can copy the long URL from the address bar while on the site you want to create the link for or from an email or post. You would then paste this link into a form on a short URL services site, creating a short URL. This short URL is normally anywhere from 1 to 7 characters in length after the domain name. It would look similar to "domain.com/v4Ds8W". If the short URL service allows for sub domains, you could have the characters before the domain name. It would look similar to "v4Ds8W.domain.com". There are also a ton of applications and browser plugins that URL shorteners are built into. With these it's just a matter of clicking a button on your toolbar or in the application. These applications may have additional functionality, for example; you could post a URL and a message directly from the application to Twitter without going to the Twitters website and automatically shortening the URL in the process. With another click of a button you are now posting on a different social networking site like Friendfeed. There are many of these apps out there for most mobile and pc operating systems.

Here is an example of a long URL to a map of New York City:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=10101&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.374125,113.818359&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=New+York,+10101&z=16

Take that long URL and create a short URL that redirects back to the same place:

http://sl.ly/f11

This link can now be emailed or text to friends, colleagues, or posted to your favorite social networking site. One of the main reasons to use a URL shortening service is to post to Twitter and other microblogging sites. Twitter only allows for 140 characters in each tweet (post), which means you are very limited in what you can say. A short URL will allow you to send a link in your Twitter post and to also keep as much space as possible for your message. How about texting a link to your friends? Long links can be shortened the same way on your phone and sent to anyone that you may want to share a link with. Many apps have been created for the various phone operating systems and also many URL redirection services have implemented a mobile friendly design. Another very common reason for URL shortening is email. Long URL's break in some email clients, so the recipient must copy and paste the URL out of the email. Some users wouldn't be able to follow the link if they were not computer savvy or know how to deal with it. With a short URL it will not break in an email so anyone can follow the link. There are many more reasons to use a short URL service but these are just a few.

A few common things to look for in URL shortening services are custom tags, statistics, plug-ins or tools and ease of use. A custom tag means you get to change the tag that is after the domain name to anything that you may like or anything that is not already taken. You are able to create a short URL like http://sl.ly/shortenit . This gives the URL a custom look and maybe a bit of fun in some cases. Statistics or analytics give you information about the people that have clicked on your link. This is where many URL shortener's compete. Some services allow you to see how many times your link has been clicked, what sites the clicks are from, the IP and/or location of the users, and whether the clicks are from humans or non-human bots. Some services will give you custom stats on specific sites like Twitter and FriendFeed. From a business or site owners perspective sites with detailed analytics are the most valuable URL shortening services. Ease of use is all about user friendliness and looks. Some sites are very basic with just the form for the URL while others that may be a bit more advanced and are filled with all sorts of extras tools for you to use. These advanced services provide features such as browser detection for mobiles, QR Codes, image/file upload, bookmarklets/browser plug-ins, application intergration, auto posts to social networking/bookmarking sites, and more.

Take a look through some of the many URL shorteners we have listed here as we are sure you will find a few favorites. We will be listing the specific features of each shortener in the future which will give you a better understanding of what options are available at a particular URL shortening service before you visit. Once you have a found a few favorites, please take some time to register here at URLShortener.org and vote for and/or comment on your favorite services. With hundreds of shorteners out there and all the advanced features you see it would be nice to have some new faces in the top URL shortening stats.

If you own a URL shortening service and would like to be listed on URLShortener.org, please submit your site Here

If you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to use the contact link at the bottom of the page.

Note: All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. We are not affiliated with Twitter or Friendfeed but we do use them.

Thank you,

Staff