menu
menu

TinyURL

Free link management software for social media influencers and affiliate marketers

8.4

53 Votes

TinyURL is a link shortener and redirection feature. It allows users to take a website and a long URL and compress it into a "tiny" URL, allowing for people to visit a website just by clicking on it. For unwieldy websites, Tweets, or other social media uses, using a "tiny" URL can help to save invaluable character space. This also works well for academic citations where using an extensively long URL may not be a viable formatting option.

This is not the only function that TinyURL serves, however. Users who use the service can also get analytics from it, potentially enabling them to see how many people click on their links. TinyURL has also recently unveiled a preview button. This allows people who go to click on a link to see where they are being redirected. This is very important, as TinyURL's can be used by malicious actors to direct people to virus websites or fake URLs. Indeed, the use of this feature by hackers would otherwise hurt TinyURL's credibility and safety, so it is a smart move by developers. 

Additional features allow for URLs to be customized. Thus, instead of using a string of random numbers or letters, users can name a TinyURL, thus enabling the URL to be customized using a relatively brief string of characters. Furthermore, a toolbar feature allows users to take advantage of a TinyURL by creating one without ever leaving the website that they are visiting. While this feature works well, some users have expressed concerns that the toolbar can sometimes be challenging to use on a mobile device.

There are other challenges with the service, mainly in terms of its Search Engine Optimization. As noted by many users, TinyURL's are not captured by search engines the same way that other links are. As such, users who take advantage of a TinyURL are potentially sacrificing their ability to be discovered in a search engine.

The service is completely free to use, a huge win for such a valuable service. However, that does come at a cost: Their website is loaded with multiple advertisements. These ads can get distracting and unquestionably detract from the overall usefulness of the service. 

Pros:

  • Offers a valuable and useful service that can be applied to a variety of areas. 
  • Allows for customization of the URL that users are using.
  • Offers additional services, such as analytics and previews of what website users are clicking on.
  • Free to use!

Cons:

  • Toolbar can be frustrating on a mobile device.
  • May damage your search engine optimization. 
  • Website is loaded with distracting advertisements.

Highest-Rated Features:

  1. Historical Shortlink Tracking
  2. Branded Shortlinks

Lowest-Rated Features:

  1. Link Analytics
  2. Bulk URL Creation
Company
TinyURL
HQ Location
Blaine, MN
Year Founded
2002
LinkedIn® Page
https://www.linkedin.com/company/210328 (96 employees)
Top 3 TinyURL Alternatives

Bitly

Link shortening and digital marketing analytics to help businesses launch personalized advertising campaigns

Rebrandly

A link tracking and URL shortening tool used by thousands of the world's largest brands

GoLinks

A URL shrinker that makes long website links into short, easily readable ones