Objective

Have an easy-to-understand recap on the different uses of URL shorteners.

Related Resources

• Leapworks — The Ultimate Guide to URL Shorteners
• Wikipedia — URL Shortening
• Bitl.y — The Complete Guide to Using Short Links for SMS
• Appsflyer — Everything a Marketer needs to know about deep linking
• Adjust — The Guide to Deep Linking
• Just Eat — Deep Linking at Scale on iOS

Last Updated

November 2021

Table of Contents

<aside> 💡 This guide is meant to provide basic knowledge on a complex topic in the most concise manner. Never take anything as the gospel truth, read from multiple sources before acting.

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Introduction

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📖 Definition

What is a URL shorteners?

Definition

URL shortening is a technique used to make a URL substantially shorter and still send the visitor to the required page. This is achieved by using a redirect which links to the web page that has a long URL.

Examples

• The URL "https://example.com/assets/category_B/subcategory_C/Foo/" → Can be shortened to "https://example.com/Foo"
• The URL "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortening" → Can be shortened to "https://w.wiki/U"

Often the redirect domain name is shorter than the original one. A friendly URL may be desired for messaging technologies that limit the number of characters in a message (for example SMS), for reducing the amount of typing required if the reader is copying a URL from a print source, for making it easier for a person to remember, or for the intention of a permalink. In November 2009, the shortened links of the URL shortening service Bitly were accessed 2.1 billion times.