How to Use Bitly, a URL Shortener
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Need to shorten that huge, unsightly (and unwieldy) URL? Then use Bitly, one of our favorite URL shorteners. Here's a quick slideshow that walks you through the Bitly process, courtesy of the MarketingProfs Affiliates Program.
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How to Use Bitly, a URL Shortener
- 1. HOW TO USE BITLY (A URL SHORTENER) September 26, 2012 Quick Tips for MarketingProfs Affiliates
- 2. What you’ll learn bitly Why use it? How to use it. How to track your results with bitly.
- 3. Two reasons to use bitly 1. bitly gives you metrics. When you shorten your links into bitly URLs, you’ll be able to see how many clicks they’re getting. 2. Twitter only allows 140 characters per tweet. bitly offers a way to take those long URLs you’d like to share via Twitter, and shorten them. Here I’ve put a long URL into Twitter, and it has used up 119 characters. This doesn’t leave much room to say anything about the link in my tweet. If someone RTs this, they won’t have space to say anything about it either.
- 4. How to use bitly Sign up at www.bitly.com Or, without signing up, you can paste a URL in the field on the home page, and get a shortened link. (However, we recommend creating an account. You’ll see why in a minute.)
- 5. How to use bitly I’ve created an account. Each time I log in, I see this page. Here is the long URL I want to shorten – a monster, eh? http://www.marketingprofsu.com/course/2064/social-media- marketing?utm_expid=31364234- 7&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketingprofsu.com%2Fcourse%2Flist%2F I click on the field (where the arrow is), and paste in the long URL.
- 6. How to use bitly As soon as I hit enter, bitly has taken the link and shortened it. Click on the shortened link to copy it.
- 7. How to use bitly Now, we can take our shortened link from bitly back to Twitter, and enter it in the tweet field. Here is a screenshot where I’ve put the shortened URL into Twitter. I now have room for a description and my affiliate promo code. If someone RTs this, there is some room for them to add their own thoughts too.
- 8. How to track response to your links So how can you tell if anyone clicked on your shortened link that you broadcasted through Twitter? Two steps: This tells you how many people clicked on other shortened links 1. You’ll need to that started with have created an the same URL. account with bitly to see this page. 2. Just click “Stats” to view your metrics. Easy! This tells you how Your latest shortened many people links are here. saved the link. This tells you how many people clicked on your shortened link.
- 9. More information about bitly If you need help with bitly, click “Help” in their footer, or go to: http://support.bitly.com/knowledgebase Good luck with posting your affiliate tracked links! Feedback? Suggestions? Questions? Write to us at partners@marketingprofs.com