The Problems of Short URLs ... and How to Overcome Them!

If you have ever gotten interested enough in URL shortening to start investigating it, you are just as likely to have found pages telling you why short URLs are the scourge of the Internet as pages that explain why they are so vital to Internet marketing success! Today we are examining some of the problems that URL shortening can bring up, and how smart companies can overcome them with a little planning, some diligently followed processes and smart choice of URL shortening provider.

1. Short URLs don’t pass link love or add to Pagerank
   This downside to some URL shortening services comes from the fact that Google doesn’t recognize clicks on your shortened URLs as visitors to your domain, since they are redirected. Therefore the clicks that you get through your short URLs don’t contribute to your Pagerank, or so the argument goes. However, some URL shortening services do offer URL shortening and re-directs within your own domain to counter this problem. Also, in the internet marketing equation your Google ranking and the effectiveness of your website in converting visitors are two equal, but separate pillars of profitability. Just get the visitors to your site using the shorter URLs, and use other strategies to bump up your Google ranking -- this is the prevailing advice.
2. Short URLs contribute to linkrot on the web
   We all know how annoying it is to decide that you want to read a page, only to find that the link is broken. If a short URL service stopped working, then all the redirects it had put in place would also. This possibility worries website owners and developers alike. However, in 2009 a project known as the ‘’301 Works’’ was begun by the Internet Archive with initially 20 collaborating companies. If your service is listed, then your short URLs will always work, no matter the end fate of the business providing them. This should also stop people going automatically to larger services through worry about sustainability, and increase competitiveness.
3. Short URLs are vulnerable to spam and behavioral tracking
   All that is needed is a little communication with your URL shortening service to ensure this isn’t the case. Make sure they seem like a reputable company – that you can actually call their offices, that they answer emails, and that they are located in a country where the Internet is well-regulated. If every person using short URLs did this, their general reputation would skyrocket!