7 Powerful URL Shortener Of 2019

URL shorteners are the services for shortening a URL link. Out in the market, there are a lot of URL shorteners but choosing the right one is a callous decision.

Each company has different prospects and features that make them unique and choosy. And since every business is different, operating them are also different.

That’s a good reason why all the URL shorteners have different working methods and techniques.

In this article, I’ll tell you about the seven best powerful URL shorteners that will help you not only to shorten the URLs but also turn your visitors into your custom audience.

Let’s dive deep and get to know them.

How URL shortener Works

URL shortening can be both simple and complex at the same time.

Why is that? Well, most of the people think it is used for shortening a URL link only. Now the question is, URL shortening services are paid services and why should anyone pay just for shortening a URL???

Confused? Let me help you.

Well, these services are used not only for shortening the links but also for other purposes like- product advertisement, brand representation, sales increment, etc.

URL shorteners focus on a few things:

• Link tracking
• Link analytics
• Embedding UTM parameters by using a URL Builder
• Link retargeting
• Link branding

And other factors such as reliability, speed, and uptime are also very important.

So if you are using your own domain and hosting for your URL shortener, this might bring some extra effort. You need to make sure your links are up 100% of the time and redirected as fast as possible.

I’d suggest you to choose any of these services rather than relying on your own domain as these companies will be already working for you and make sure the uptime of the shared links.

Note: Many people don’t know, but most URL shorteners actually focus on serving heavy traffic sites.

Choosing the right one

Choosing the right URL shortener depends on your business platform. In case of personal usage, you need to decide on how many links you plan to generate and how much traffic you wish to get back using the URL shortener, the amount of your budget, and the reason you are using the URL shortener for. Is it only limited with in social media? Or any kind of online advertising? Or Affiliate marketing? Personal branding? Etc etc.

In most cases, people look for a free URL shortener.

And if you are using it to share only a handful of links on your personal social channels, or if you are running a small local business, then you really don’t need to go for a paid version.

But if you’re handling a medium to large business, or your entire company revolves around digital marketing and inbound traffic generation, then you might be looking for some sort of paid solution at some point.

URL Shorteners & Changeable Branded Links

We’ve been discussing a lot about URL shorteners, are another point that matters is, what if you could also feature your brand’s name by it? A branded link, also know as a custom short link, is simply the short version of the URL you’re sharing on online that’s built around your own brand rather than the brand of the shortening tool you’re using. For example, ‘abcd.xyz/dji125‘ becomes ‘Brandname.link/keyword.

When you share the links with your brand name, you’re actually associating your company with the content it shares, promoting your company to newbies, building brand awareness, increasing the brand recognition, and increasing trust among your audience.

The 7 best URL shortener

ClickMeter

ClickMeter, one of top service provider working for advertisers, affiliate marketers, and enterprise level companies. Their service is to monitor, compare and optimize all your marketing links in one place to increase the conversion rate. That means you’ll know how many of your visitors bought your represented product and turned into your trusted client.

The conversion tracking method which they are providing is not given by a lot of other URL shorteners.

Supportive Features

• Custom Domain
• Custom URL Slug
• Tags
• Integrations
• Link analytics dashboard
• Purchase Custom Domain
• Change Destination URL
• UTM Builder
• Link Privacy
• Retargeting

Non-supportive Features

• Not found

Clk.im

Clkim offers almost every feature you need in a solid price point and user interface, and work hard to educate their users. If you are looking for interstitial ads, anti-adblocker, and monetized campaign management, then head towards Clkim.

Supportive Features

• Custom Domain
• Custom URL Slug
• Tags
• Integrations
• Link analytics dashboard
• Purchase Custom Domain
• Change Destination URL
• UTM Builder
• Link Privacy
• Retargeting

Non-supportive Features

• Not found

Retargetkit

RetargetKit is another best tool I’d ever seen. It offers every feature you are looking for in an affordable price. The service is fast and and very reliable.

The service is a URL shortener retargeting pixel for retargeting a content hosted on a third-party website. A content written on a third-party website and shared on social media accounts can lose track. A visitor may click the link, read the post, and leave. There is no chance to get back to them. The author or seller cannot remarket other products/posts to those visitors.

With RetargetKit, one can shorten the long URL of the third-party website content with retargeting pixels and turn it into a retargeted link. All he/she has to do is to share the new link. Once the link is clicked, RetargetKit will notify the ad platforms. Now authors or sellers can remarket their product/post.

This tool is great for content writers or affiliate marketers , because when you send people to someone else’s site, you might lose them forever. But using this service, you can convert some of them as your custom audience.

This service comes with FREE signup and a 7-day free trial version

Supportive Features

• Custom Domain
• Custom URL Slug
• UTM Builder
• Retargeting
• Link analytics dashboard
• Change Destination URL

Non-supportive Features

• Link Privacy
• Tags
• Purchase Custom Domain
• Integrations

Sniply

Sniply is a largely service provider as it is a great URL shortener for those who create content and are hustling to build an email list or driving to additional traffic.

You might have come across a Sniply link before. When you click on a Sniply link, it looks like you’ve been taken to a website. But the truth is, when you click the link, you’re being shown the website or page in an iFrame and in the bottom you’ll notice “Join me” or “Check out the related post.” type popup.

Supportive Features

• Custom Domain
• Custom URL Slug
• Link Privacy
• Retargeting
• Integrations
• Link analytics dashboard
• Purchase Custom Domain

Non-supportive Features

• Change Destination URL
• UTM Builder
• Tags

Branch.io

Branch is an analytics company focusing on deep links and improved attribution for versatile mobile applications. If you have a mobile app and have a very slim website, then this service is probably for you. Their core deep linking features and analytics visibility are completely free, but for more advanced premium solutions, you will be charged.

Supportive Features

• Custom Domain
• Custom URL Slug
• Tags
• Integrations
• Link analytics dashboard
• Change Destination URL
• Link Privacy

Non-supportive Feature

• Purchase Custom Domain
• UTM Builder
• Retargeting

YOURLS

YOURLS stands for Your Own URL Shortener. It’s a small set of PHP scripts that will allow you to run your own URL shortening service.

Running your own URL shortener is fun, geeky and useful but also takes effort and troubles in maintenance. Your have to keep an eye for uptime.

It is kind of open-source solution that is absolutely worth mentioning but it is also not going to be the right solution for most of the people. Only if you’ve got some experience in coding and your own web server, this one could be for you.

Supportive Features

• Custom Domain
• Custom URL Slug
• Change Destination URL
• Integrations
• Link analytics dashboard
• Link Privacy

Non-supportive Features

• Purchase Custom Domain
• Tags
• UTM Builder
• Retargeting

Bitly

Bitly, a URL shortening tool completely focus on enterprise solutions. It is the most renowned name in this field for the free services. Their blog are highly appreciable in the industry, and they have great funding and a great team too.

If you have or represent a large brand or company, then Bitly might be absolutely right for you, but not for the other 90%.

Supportive Features

• Custom Domain
• Custom URL Slug
• Tags
• Integrations
• Link analytics dashboard
• Retargeting

Non-supportive Features

• Purchase Custom Domain
• Change Destination URL
• UTM Builder
• Link Privacy

Ending

Now for marketing, choosing the right tool for your business will be not a tough job. Most people want products that are affordable and can cope with business later as their business expands, and have low switching costs and flexible user interface.

I’ve disclosed the important features of the best tools. Now it’s up to you which one you’ll choose. Let me know if this post is helpful for you or not.