URL Shorteners 

URL shortening services allow users to transform long links into shortened, abbreviated URLs, which act the same as the original URL, but have far fewer characters. For example, if I wanted to shorten one of our recent blog posts using goo.gl.

I would enter the original URL,

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6295775&contentType=Conference+Publications&sortType%3Dasc_p_Sequence%26filter%3DAND%28p_IS_Number%3A6295732%29%26pageNumber%3D2 ,

and using their service, I could shorten the link with just one click to: http://goo.gl/0YZ9w.

By shortening a URL to 18 or 19 characters instead of 100+, users are provided with a more manageable, cleaner and easier to recall URL. Additionally, a shortened link cuts down on the number of characters a user has to copy and paste into an email or tweet, as well as preventing error when copying over characters from an excessively long URL.

Some URL shortening services, like bit.ly and TinyURL, allow users to create custom URLs. Custom-built links are more readable and memorable, and can help you to establish your brand in a recognizable, shortened format.

Tracking shortening services such as bit.ly and goo.gl offer users insight into their shortened URLs, such as click rates, visitor profiles, referring sites and real-time traffic overviews.

Here’s a list of some of the most popular URL shortening services

1. bit.ly
2. TinyURL
3. goo.gl
4. t.co