Your Own URL Shortening Service
Link shortening started with Email Marketing.
Shorter URL's were needed that didn't break in an email the way long
ones can. Affiliate marketers wanted to send links without them being
so obvious.
Necessity being 'the mother of invention' and innovation, bright programmers launched services like TinyURL and SnipURL where you could go and shorten yours. Your original links are stored in their database and you use a short link which is redirected using their software.
Then came social site giant Twitter who only allows 140 characters per 'tweet'. For tweeters even shorter links means being able to maximize the amount of important message you can cram into your tweet. This need spawned bit.ly with it's domain hack name and about as small a link as you can get which makes it the choice of most for short links.
Potential downsides to using these services.
The March 2010 edition of Backbone magazine did a piece about serious security concerns arising from their ubiquity. Hackers and malware distributors quickly realized what a powerful tool they were for distributing viruses and malware. We are all more likely to trust a link from a shortening service. The old 'wolfe in sheep's clothing' trick.
Quote from Backbone Magazine: "Online criminals have begun using these services to mask the real identity of malicious URLs that infect victims’ machines with malware, or take them to spamming Web sites. bit.ly, among others, has introduced technology that scans shortened URLs to see if they match a database of malicious sites, but this is a constant uphill battle, as spammers and malware peddlers try to beat security services to the punch. As the number of Twitter users grows, and as services such as Google’s URL shortener Goo.gl join the fray, expect to see more URL shortening abuse in 2010. "
Here's a link to the article at Backbone (using one of our own branded urls): http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/u/5
Another potential problem is services may not be available in the future or may become a pay service. You could loose your links entirely or ending up paying a monthly subscription to view click statistics and create new links.
You can have your very own shortening service
There are now very good open source scripts that will allow you to have your own URL shortener. You can have a stand-alone site or a sub-domain or even as part an existing site.
If you need a really short domain, using a 'domain hack' like bit.ly then you will have to first find a suitable one and have it as a stand-alone site. If it doesn't need to be quite that short, then installing into a folder at your existing site would be a great solution for you.
One last reason why you should bother with this
Wouldn't you rather use a link with your own URL instead of someone else's? If you owned a restaurant, would you use napkins from MacDonald's with their logo on it? I think not... Having your own link shortener ensures brand consistency.
How can you have this?
Unless you are techie type, even if you can find the right software, you need help with installing it and perhaps a little training. For as little as $75, JBCR installation service can help you get started. We'll install it and show you how to use it if you need help with that. Please note... This service is for Linux based web hosted sites only.
Click here to contact us for a no-charge check to see if your hosting fits the script requirements.
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