Link or URL shortening tools are used to create shorter and easier-to-read URLs that redirect to a webpage. The shortened link is useful for social media networks where the number of characters is limited such as Twitter.
Link shortening tools also provide analytics and click tracking on the shortened links. Many social media management software products provide link shortening functionality natively and/or integrate with standalone link shortening tools.
Features common to URL shorteners are:
Easy to read real word links
Branded links and short domains
Link analytics and tracking
Deep linking
Campaign creation and performance metrics
Mobile optimization
Security and guaranteed link uptime
User matching to track visitors across platforms
API and social platform integrations
Popular URL shortening tools have free editions providing a limited number of links and custom domains. They also provide limited feature sets. Paid link management plans offer a larger volume of links and more custom domains. Paid plans are also more advanced and supply customer tracking and analytics. Enterprise level plans support campaigns with A/B testing, marketing functionality (e.g. retargeting), and live support with onboarding and coaching.
Bitly (Bit.ly) is one of the most popular link shortening tools. The vendor says it shortens 1 billion links per month. The company is privately held, based in New York City, and was founded in 2008.
Branch provides a cross-platform linking and attribution platform, offering solutions that unify user experience and measurement across devices and channels. Branch powers mobile links and cross-platform measurement to more than 3 billion monthly users across the globe. It provides cross-platform...
Rebrandly is an easy way to create, share and manage branded links. The vendor offers companies and individuals the possibility to brand and shorten the links they share using a specific domain name of their choosing.With Rebrandly, users can create and share branded links directly through the br...
gShift is the flagship cloud-based search engine optimization platform from the Canadian company gShift Labs headquartered in Barrie, Ontario, launched in 2009 to simplify and "demystify" organic SEO. Billed as a comprehensive and integrated suite of tools, gShift offers keyword analysis across m...
GetSocial helps eCommerce websites increase their sales by generating highly qualified traffic, boosting visibility and purchase intent, and providing data on their visitors. We do so by providing a simple tool to create social action buttons. Companies now use regular social action buttons (Face...
BudURL is an enterprise link management system. Users can create custom domains and vanity URLs and manage links with intelligent routing by device, location, language, time of day, and date. The BudURL dashboard includes advanced and custom click analytics, tiered user roles, link shortening, li...
Geniuslink is a link shortening tool and also provides affiliate linking capabilities to app developers, music labels and Internet marketers with international audiences.
Short.com is a white label link shortener.