I have just launched a new site that provides URL shrinking and cloaking service for free. The site is called ProvideMe.Info.
Just type in your long URL,type an extension you would like to use with the URL (optional) and press GO. The page will then automatically generate a new shorter link for you that will redirect to your original URL.
Benefits of using a URL shortening service:
- Make lengthy URLs shorter and easier to remember
- Hide/cloak affiliate links
The site currently only has the script installed and there are no other links or advertisement displayed. It looks neat and clean and that is how I like it. I might be adding an advertisement or two in the future.
Another similar service that is very popular and has been online for a long time is TinyUrl.com.
Another advantage of using ProvideMe is that it is brand new and you can still get any URL extension as they are still available.
However,these two above mentioned services will not track the number of clicks your links get. Another service called ViralUrl provides URL shortening/cloaking service and also tracks the number of clicks your links receive. This is also a free service but they will put a small ad bar on every redirected pages.
Tracking the number of clicks your links get is a great way to test out ads and sites that have visitors interested in your offers. You can create a unique redirect extension for each site and track the number of clicks each link get to learn which sites are referring more traffic to your URLs.
Many auto responder services such as Aweber and Norabots also provide link cloaking,shortening and click tracking services without an ad bar but these services require monthly fees.
Similarly,you can use php or java scripts to do all these functions with your own domain. You can create redirect/cloaking pages for each link and upload them to your server. There are definitely more options and advantages to using this method such as full cloaking,customized page titles and much more. I will leave this topic for some other time.
URL shortening does have its benefits,no matter which service you choose to use. Leave a comment below and let me know if you are using any of the above methods to shorten,cloak or redirect your links and which ones are working for you.

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