You’ve undoubtedly heard of bitly and Google URL shortener, but perhaps you don’t know all the details of how they work and what they can do. These are both tools that are used to shorten URLs before they are placed into Tweets, Facebook posts, emails, texts, or instant messages.
Because of the 140-character Tweet limit, Twitter users in particular need ways to economize on the number of characters. URL shorteners are very popular because of Twitter’s character limitation. URL shorteners can also neaten up long, unsightly URLs before they are displayed within Facebook posts, emails, texts, or instant messages, making them more pleasing to the eye and easier to click.
Originally, URL shorteners were designed to shorten longer URLs that would break within the body of emails. Now, URL shorteners such as bitly and Google URL shortener do more than just shorten URLs. They also provide users with important analytics for each of their shortened links.
