{"id":19802,"date":"2020-01-28T12:49:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T12:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/url-shortener"},"modified":"2026-06-26T11:44:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T11:44:59","slug":"url-shortener","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/url-shortener","title":{"rendered":"URL Shortener"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"boxpad wp-image-23355 size-full alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/url-shortener.jpg\" alt=\"URL Shortener\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/url-shortener.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/url-shortener-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A <em><strong>URL shortener <\/strong><\/em>is a free online web service in which you enter a long URL and get a much shorter URL that redirects to the source address. This is usually useful for when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/uri\">URL<\/a> is too long, for aesthetic aspects, you want to hide the text that contains the URL or you need to use fewer characters, as in the case of some social networks. It also allows to obtain statistics on the times that the link has been clicked from the networks in which it has been shared.<\/p>\n<p>Url <strong>shorteners are originally sourced<\/strong> experienced a boom which caused hundreds of them to emerge, however over the years their popularity has plummeted, among other reasons because short URLs have a greater propensity to be linked and can be used to hide the fate of the link and thus perform scams, although the security of them has improved markedly over the years. Most of the websites of shorteners live on the advertising they insert in them, while others have chosen to offer additional paid services to users<\/p>\n\n<h2>Advantages of URL shorteners<\/h2>\n<p>Url shortener websites offer us multiple advantages, of which we highlight:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>They provide us with useful information.<\/strong> At the level of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-analytics-agency-spain\">web analytics<\/a>, it allows us to obtain different metrics related to clicks on the link such as geographical location, the volume of clicks or those users with the highest activity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increase traffic to our website.<\/strong> At the marketing level, the option to modify the URL is interesting since we can deliver a smaller link to the client or personalize it with relevant words or calls to action.<\/li>\n<li><strong>More attractive content.<\/strong> In addition, in certain social networks such as Twitter whose content is limited to a series of characters these tools become essential both aesthetically and functionally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How a URL shortener works<\/h2>\n<p>The vast majority of shorteners work on the basis that every top-level domain has a primary key associated with it. Knowing this, the shorteners generate a new base 36 URL (combination of the 10 numbers from 1 to 0 and the 26 letters of the Western alphabet) which belongs only to a certain web page, as if it were an identification code.<\/p>\n<h2>Examples of shorteners<\/h2>\n<p>For example, if we enter the URL of the Arimetrics glossary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\">https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital<\/a> we will see the following shortened links:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TinyURL<\/a> will offer us the <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">link https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/glnd7le<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.bitly.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bit.ly<\/a> will give us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\">https:\/\/bit.ly\/2WSfUTm<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions about URL Shortener<\/h2>\n<div class=\"geo-faq-block\">\n<details class=\"geo-faq-item\">\n<summary>What is a URL shortener?<\/summary>\n<p>A URL shortener is a tool that converts a long web address into a shorter link that is easier to share. It is used to simplify URLs, improve their readability in channels with limited space and, in some cases, measure clicks or manage redirects.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"geo-faq-item\">\n<summary>What is a URL shortener used for in digital marketing?<\/summary>\n<p>It is used to share links more cleanly on social networks, emails, documents, offline campaigns or messages. Some shorteners allow tracking to be added, the slug to be customized, click statistics to be controlled and the performance of different channels to be compared.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"geo-faq-item\">\n<summary>What risks can using URL shorteners have?<\/summary>\n<p>It can generate distrust if the destination is not clear, make SEO control more difficult if unnecessary redirects are used and create dependence on an external platform. It can also break links if the service stops working or if campaigns are not documented correctly.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"geo-faq-item\">\n<summary>When is it advisable to use a URL shortener?<\/summary>\n<p>It is advisable to use it when the long link makes communication difficult, when specific clicks need to be measured or when the channel requires short URLs. It is usually not necessary in permanent internal links on a website, where a clear and stable URL is preferable.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@graph\": [\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"DefinedTerm\",\n      \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/url-shortener#definedterm\",\n      \"name\": \"URL Shortener\",\n      \"description\": \"Definition of URL Shortener in the Arimetrics Digital Glossary.\",\n      \"inDefinedTermSet\": {\n        \"@type\": \"DefinedTermSet\",\n        \"name\": \"Arimetrics Digital Glossary\",\n        \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\"\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n      \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/url-shortener#faq\",\n      \"mainEntity\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"What is a URL shortener?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"A URL shortener is a tool that converts a long web address into a shorter link that is easier to share. It is used to simplify URLs, improve their readability in channels with limited space and, in some cases, measure clicks or manage redirects.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"What is a URL shortener used for in digital marketing?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"It is used to share links more cleanly on social networks, emails, documents, offline campaigns or messages. Some shorteners allow tracking to be added, the slug to be customized, click statistics to be controlled and the performance of different channels to be compared.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"What risks can using URL shorteners have?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"It can generate distrust if the destination is not clear, make SEO control more difficult if unnecessary redirects are used and create dependence on an external platform. It can also break links if the service stops working or if campaigns are not documented correctly.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"When is it advisable to use a URL shortener?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"It is advisable to use it when the long link makes communication difficult, when specific clicks need to be measured or when the channel requires short URLs. It is usually not necessary in permanent internal links on a website, where a clear and stable URL is preferable.\"\n          }\n        }\n      ]\n    }\n  ]\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Definition: A URL shortener is a free online web service in which you enter a long URL and get a much shorter URL that redirects to the source address. This is usually useful for when the URL is too long, for aesthetic aspects, you want to hide the text that contains the URL or you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[962],"class_list":["post-19802","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-conceptos-web"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/19802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=19802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}