Best URL Shorteners
When every character counts, the right URL compacting service can mean the difference between saying what you want and desperately trying to fit a coherent thought into a few insufficient words. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite URL shrinking tools, and now we’re back with the five most popular answers. Read on for a closer look at the five best URL shrinkers and to vote for the site you like best.
Cli.gs (Current Default Size: 20 characters)
Cli.gs is the most feature-rich URL shortener of the bunch. It combines the click tracking analytics of Bit.ly with the editing capabilities of SnipURL, then rounds it off with a competitive default size. Cli.gs has way more features in its analytics than Bit.ly, including a nice graph of hits, a world map of visitors, referrer stats, blog engine sightings, and even references on sites like Twitter, FriendFeed, or blogs. And—naturally—don’t forget to install the Cli.gs bookmarklet if you like it.
Is.gd (Current Default Size: 17 characters)
Is.gd (pronounced “is good”) has won over a lot of users by simple making small URLs even smaller—shrinking URLs to a tiny 17 characters by default. It’s not packed with features, but if you don’t need anything but a shrunken URL and quick redirect, it does the job. You can preview an Is.gd link before taking the redirect ride by simply adding a hyphen after the generated URL (so http://is.gd/4FsT becomes http://is.gd/4FsT-. Plan on using it a lot? Try installing the is.gd bookmarklet or Firefox extension. If you’ve got space to spare, you can add your own context to an is.gd URL by adding a “/” to the end and adding your own keywords, like http://is.gd/4/news-site/for/nerds.
