Twitter Tools: The Incredible Shrinking URL

I am a writer, graphic designer, and ranked by Google,MSN and Yahoo America's Favorite Love columnist I am engaged to Rick London a writer, cartoonist and brand designer, together, we own the seo and branding firm Pen And Ink Inc.

In the Twitter world of 140 characters or less shrinking the URL is not only the new normal but it has become an imperative. Data across the Internet is now fetched from sub sections of websites with extensive distinguishing codes making many of the longer URLs unable fit in the allotted 140 characters space even if no additional text was added. To facilitate the size reduction there are currently over 100 URL shrinking sites on the Internet offering a variety of features from custom names to tracking and keywords.

A good example of the new larger URLs can be found on eBay http://cgi.ebay.com/Baseball-Chase-Field-Dedication-09-23-05-3D-Crystal-LED_W0QQitemZ370150311957QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_SM_Fan_Shop?hash=item562ead8815&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A30. This URL which has 213 characters will be the model for the conversions in each of the examples of the Small URL sites visited and tested.

When you have only 140 characters as on Twitter size does matter and three small URL sites all claim to create the smallest. First Tinyurl http://tinyurl.com/ is one of the best known for this magical feat of compacting size and the larger URL was reduced to http://tinyurl.com/nwpnkn. The next site twtr.us http://twtr.us/twtr.html it claims to create smallest tiny URL's on the planet with the resulting URL http://tw6.us/RF. Last is 3.ly http://3.ly/ claims it is the tiniest 3 letter URL result http://3.ly/Ubz and was the smallest URL and had helpful browser add-on function.

URL shrinkers that had a reliable browser add-on include RubyURL http://rubyurl.com/home it’s advantage drag drop toolbar add-on URL which reduced the URL to http://rubyurl.com/mYNC. It was quick to set up and use disadvantage takes you back to the ruby site to copy and paste. Is good http://is.gd/ has a Firefox add-on with a URL shrink result of http://is.gd/10oRG. An advantage to is.good add-on is it places new link in clipboard for rapid pasting.

To customize your small URL with a keyword for easy recognition http://doiop.com/ allows you to choose the name for the compression to give it some context creating the resulting URL http://doiop.com/chasefield. Another small URL keyword site FON Get Simple Naming http://www.fon.gs/ created this URL http://fon.gs/chasefield/.

If you are seeking link tracking for your shortened URLs http://www.tiny.cc/ provides traffic statistics with a URL result http://tiny.cc/chasefield the downside is currently if you lose the link to tracking they cannot retrieve it for you. Another site Shrinkster http://www.shrinkster.com/ created the URL http://shrinkster.com/176z and it allows you to access stats by entering the URL end code. Finally Dwarf http://www.dwarfurl.com/ created the URL http://dwarfurl.com/1f666 and you receive a link for tracking http://dwarfurl.com/1f666/654 . The resulting URL is password protected via 3 digit extension so statistics are only available to you.

As new sites and programs change so has the amount of data we enter into the information spaces. Whether you need the tiniest URL, browser add-on, Keyword and or tracking there are many reliable sites that can accommodate your preferences. These new smaller URLs are perfect for IMs, Tweets, facebook postings and emails.