The web site tr.im was a URL shortening service. Most of you have probably used one of these before, such as bit.ly, sn.im, is.gd and of course TinyURL.
Some examples of why people shorten long web addresses:
- Character limitation. Examples are Twitter, MySpace/Facebook status update, cell phone or any other environment that imposes an under-200 character limit.
- Client/service limitation. In instant messaging, if you try to send a huge link (such as one from Google Maps), you run the risk of the message not being "translated" properly by your recipient’s client, resulting in a bad link. Or, the IM service simply won’t allow it, period.
- Email "readability". If the recipient of the email you’re sending has messages that purposely enter in line breaks after 76 characters on display (which many do), this may "break" a long link, rendering it useless at that point.
- Print considerations. Some use shortened URLs on business cards.
- Space-saving. Many use shortened URLs in email signatures.
The lesson learned from tr.im is that you shouldn’t shorten a URL unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Here are some examples of do and do-not situations concerning shortening URLs.
In Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Instant Messaging: Do shorten.
This is a semi-instant/instant style of communication with short-lived history, so it’s not exactly paramount that links need to stay "alive" for any indefinite period of time.
In Email: Do not shorten.
Email has much more permanence compared to Twitter and IM. An email you send someone may be referenced to six months later. If the shortened link is dead, the information in the email is worthless. And of course, when that person contacts you, you’re obviously not going to remember what you linked six months ago.
Fortunately the solution is simple: Hyperlink your text. All email programs and web-based mail services allow this.
It’s the difference between this:
http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.com
(that’s a real web site by the way)
..and this: crazy-long web site URL.
Both do the same job; the linked text is obviously the better way to do it.
Example with Hotmail:
Make sure Rich Text is chosen at top when composing an email:
Highlight some text:
Click the Globe with chain link icon, type in your address, then click OK:
Your highlighted text will turn blue and underlined. That means it’s now linked to the URL you entered.
Note that this also works in the email signature.
Example with Yahoo! Mail:
First, enable the Rich Text editor when composing an email. Look to the far right of the subject field. If you see a "Rich Text" link, click to enable:
Type some text and highlight it:
Click the hyperlink icon (globe with chain link, right next to smiley icon). You will get this notice:
Type in your web address you want to link to, then click OK. Your text will then be blue and underlined, indicating it is successfully linked.
As with Hotmail, hyperlinked text can also be used in your email signature as well.
In Print: Depends on the type of print.
On business cards you’re better off purchasing short domain names specifically to link whatever you need to. "But all the good ones are taken." Not so. There’s a lot more than just dot-com, net and org. On a GoDaddy search there’s .ag, .am, .asia, .at, .be, .cc, .eu, .fm, .me and many others. Odds are at least one of them has the name you’re looking for. Yes, they will cost you more, but it’s a minor expense if it gets you business clients. Your best bet is searching for a dot-me.
For printed instructional documentation, the best thing to do is to have several different addresses for the same thing. If you provide a TinyURL, also provide a bit.ly, is.gd and sn.im as well. It only takes a few minutes and you have "backups" in case the first one goes dead.
In email signatures: Do not shorten.
You do not shorten for the same reason you do not shorten in the body of the email: You have the availability to use hyperlinked text.
Note that links are not the same as taglines due to the fact taglines usually do not link anywhere; those can be longer because they’re supposed to be descriptive phrases/sentences.
A few things to remember about linking:
Broken/dead links happen often on the internet. But with link shortening services, now there’s not one but two ways for a link to not work. Whenever possible it is always better to direct-link to an address rather than shorten it.
If a URL shortening service goes down, you most likely won’t be notified. Chances are you’ll probably find out about it from someone you emailed prior who writes you and says, "Hey, that link doesn’t work anymore!" And by then it will be too late because you have no clue where the original link went to.
I’m not saying not to use URL shortening services, but if tr.im is any example of where URL shortening is heading, it would be in your best interest to learn how to hyperlink text in email and never use a shortened address on a printed business card.
For your perusal:
If you want to get an idea of how many people use URL shortening services and moreover how it is a distinct concern that too many people are using it:
http://archiveteam.org/index.php?title=TinyURL
Check out all the URL services available near the tail of that page, and the usage numbers below it.
This will give you a very clear idea of what happens when one of these services goes down, i.e. it creates millions upon millions of dead links. Not good.
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