Long URLs look messy and do little to entice your targets to click on them. Smart marketers serious about maximizing their content efforts realize short links play a big part in their success.
Short links are URLs created to replace long, rambling links. Once you begin shortening URLs, you can add them to your blog posts, social media pages, and website. They look sharp and can even be branded.
The big question is, which link shortener tool should you use? There are lots of choices in today’s market, and they aren’t all equal.
We’ve done some of the legwork for you by highlighting the best URL-shortening services available, along with why they made our list.
What to look for in a link shortener service
Following good link-shortening best practices is important to maximizing your marketing success. To pick the right URL shortener tool for your business, you need to think about what you want it to do. Your quick answer, “I want it to shorten links!” isn’t the complete story. The best link shorteners obviously do that, but they give you more. They can help gather important metrics, strengthen your brand’s credibility, and maintain a seamless process.
Choose a link-shortening tool that:
Provides easy link tracking and analytics
One of marketing’s most important responsibilities is measuring marketing campaign results against the planned key performance indicators (KPIs). Pinpointing valuable information like which marketing channels collected the most clicks, which calls to action (CTAs) resonated best, and which landing pages performed strongest is vital. Link-shortening tools that track clicks and provide detailed analytics help you make data-driven decisions that are helpful to marketing’s success.
Allows for customizable links
Brands can up their marketing game and strengthen their recognition with branded links. For example, instead of a link that looks like this:
www.si49fkfig9we43-dk.com
You can have one that looks like this:
www.companyname.com/benefits
Since the shortened URL is basically a description, these links help the reader know why they’re clicking the link. Plus, it’s one more time they are exposed to your company name.
Customized links, or branded links, give your company’s marketing a boost of professionalism and consistency to the look and feel of your messages.When you’re figuring out the best URL shortener tool for your company, pick one that offers custom URLs.
Integrates with other tools
You’re probably already using other marketing software tools to help automate your processes and save time. The link shortener service you decide to use should offer seamless integrations with your current software suite.
For example, if you use Slack, Salesforce, Zapier, and Canva, you’ll need to ensure your link shortener works with them. If you don’t see the integrations you need, there may be an application programming interface (API) that can connect your tools.
Creates secure links
If a URL shortening service doesn’t have protocols for security, you can end up with damaging results. Broken links, incorrect redirects, and spammy clicks can upend your buyer’s journey and cause inaccurate analytics.
You should only use link shortener tools that employ advanced features for security. This way, you can be confident when you share links and review your metrics.
The 5 best URL shorteners
Using the criteria above as a roadmap, we looked at a wide variety of tools that create short URLs. We took pricing plans and ease of use into account, too. In our opinion, we’ve come up with the best ones on the market. Our top 5 choices (along with why we think they’re good bets) are below.
1. Bitly
This link shortening and QR Code generating option is one of the most well-known in the market. Packed with intuitive functionality, Bitly gives its users a straightforward way to shorten links and do so much more. Small businesses and large corporations can rock their link management with this tool’s robust dashboard and endless features.
Key features
- Provides a way to custom-brand links by using your company’s domain name in the URL. This gives you brand recognition and helps optimize SEO.
- Collects real-time data from every click. This feature helps you measure your campaign’s effectiveness, understand which channels perform best, and pinpoint your most compelling content.
- Invests in top-level security. Every link is encrypted to keep it safe. This gives you the peace of mind you need.
Pricing options
- Free plan includes 10 short links per month.
- Core plan costs $8 per month (paid in a one-time annual charge of $96) and includes 100 short links each month.
- Growth plan costs $29 per month and includes 500 branded short links each month.
- Premium plan costs $199 per month and includes 3,000 branded short links each month.
- Bitly for Enterprise, a custom-priced plan tailored to each company’s needs with 10,000+ branded short links each month.
2. TinyURL
TinyURL gives you a way to create custom branded URLs, track links, and gain insights into your buyer’s wants and needs. Plus, it’s an easy-to-navigate tool with almost no learning curve. And, while you don’t even need to sign up for an account to use TinyURL, if you do, you’ll be able to view a history of your shortened links.
Key features
- The TinyURL dashboard makes link management across your marketing channels quick and easy work.
- All the subscriptions offer link creation from your company’s custom domain name to drive credibility and increase click-through rates.
- The tool gathers real-time analytics to help you track your metrics and measure a campaign’s performance.
Pricing options
- Free version is ad-supported. It’s best for individual users.
- Pro plan (TinyURL’s most popular package) starts at $9.99 per month. It provides 500 active TinyURLs.
- Bulk 100k starts at $99.99 per month and includes 100,000 API credits.
3. Rebrandly
Rebrandly’s superior functionality helps with social media management and link tracking. Plus, it has tons of integration options that help you scale as you grow.
Key features
- Provides helpful data points from each link, like how many people have clicked the link and information on those demographics.
- Gives users healthy traffic control, from 301 SEO redirects to link retargeting to mobile deep linking.
- Offers extensive team security options like multiple access levels, two-factor authentication, and activity audit logs.
Pricing options
- Free plan provides 2,500 clicks tracked per month and 250 total branded links.
- Lite plan costs $12 per month (paid in a one-time annual charge of $138) and includes a custom domain.
- Essentials plan costs $28 per month (paid in a one-time annual charge of $336).
- Professional plan, Rebrandly’s most popular option, costs $85 per month (paid in a one-time annual charge of $1,020) and includes 150,000 clicks tracked per month and 15,000 total branded links.
- Pro+ plan costs $359 per month (paid in a one-time annual charge of $4310) and includes five custom reports per month.
- Enterprise plan is custom priced based on an organization’s needs.
4. BL.INK
BL.INK made our list because it provides a generous helping of functionality, the ability to dig deep into the resulting analytics, and its seamless scalability. BL.INK’s platform is easy to use but is a powerhouse that helps teams streamline and automate their linking strategy.
Key features
- Link management feature lets you chop your long links, monitor every click, and edit them quickly as needed.
- Branded links help find your custom short domain to use for recognizable links that work well with SEO efforts.
- Advanced features provide flexible user permissions, granular analytic details like clicks by date, time, and device, and the most stringent data security available.
Pricing options
- BL.INK does not offer a free URL shortener plan, but does give new users a 21-day free trial.
- Expert+ plan costs $48 per month and includes up to 15 domains, three users, and unlimited redirects.
- SMB plan costs $99 per month and includes 250 dynamic links.
- Team plan is $299 per month and includes 500 dynamic links and up to 30,000 clicks tracked per month.
- Business plan costs $599 per month.
- Enterprise plan is custom-priced.
5. T2M
T2M was built to help businesses create, use, and track shorter URLs, efficiently and strategically. Its feature-rich platform made it impossible for us to leave this URL shortener option off our “best of” list. In addition to unlimited link creation and granular metric collection, you can use its automation features, like creating bulk links, to cut down on repetitive tasks and save time.
Key features
- Use branded domains to create custom, editable links and QR Codes that never expire.
- Take advantage of security measures like password-protected URLs, 404 redirects, and built-in GDPR privacy.
- Manage links easily with its simple-to-navigate, robust dashboard that provides helpful filtering capabilities.
Pricing options
- Users can register for a 15-day free trial of the platform.
- Basic plan has a one-time $5 fee—from there, it’s free forever.
- Standard plan costs $9.99 per month and includes Dynamic QR Codes and lifetime validity of URLs and clicks data.
- Pro plan (T2M’s most popular) costs $29.99 per month. It includes QR Code branding and detailed geo-location analytics.
- Premium plan costs $89.99/month and includes 10 branded custom domains and API access.
- Dedicated plan, requires a custom quote.
Shorten links with Bitly
Using short links in your marketing initiatives offers several benefits. It lets you create links that promote your brand, establish credibility with your audience, save space when character count is limited, and track clicks and other analytics.
Use this list as a starting point for choosing the URL-shortening tool that best fits your company goals. Make your decision on the one that will serve your purpose and fit seamlessly into your current processes.
Are you adding a URL shortener to your tech stack? Or looking for an alternative to TinyURL or another link shortener? If you want a tool that shortens your links, creates QR Codes, tracks clicks, and more, trust Bitly. We’re experts in helping customers of all sizes with all aspects of their link management.
Try out Bitly for free.