Using URL shorteners to gain information
Posted by administrator on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
Have you seen links that start with bit.ly, tinyurl.com, or goo.gl? These websites generate shortened, compact URL out of long URLs. For example, the URL to this blog post is http://www.websitesforquilters.com/blog/2011/11/23/using-url-shorteners-gain-information/ -- a very long URL. I could use a URL shortening service, such as bit.ly, to take that looong URL into a shorter one, such as this: http://bit.ly/v2jQa6 . Shorter URLs make it easier to share by text message, tweet, email, or discuss what would otherwise be a very long link. When someone types in or clicks on the shortened link, the link shortening service quickly redirects them to the intended page.
One neat thing that many of these URL shortening services provide are tracking services. For example, bit.ly can tell you how many times the link was access, from what page the link was accessed, what time of day the link was accessed, what countries the visitors was from, etc. With this information, you can test how well your particular campaign is going. For instance, you can put shortened links in your e-mail newsletter and be able to track how many people clicked on the links in the newsletter.
Shortened URLs are not limited to web pages alone. It can be any link -- a link to an image, for instance. You can just make the source of the image be a shortened URL and you'll be able to track how many times the image was accessed (and by whom, etc.).
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