Ugly, weird, and suspicious.
Those are the perfect qualifiers for long URLs, especially when sharing them for business purposes.
A long URL doesn’t look ugly only on itself; it speaks a ton about its sender.
Knowing how to shorten a link is a basic internet ethics, whether on social media, emails, chat apps, or digital workspaces.
Case in point, Twitter allows 280 characters per tweet. A typical Google Docs link takes 100.
What happens with 2 links in a tweet?
You guessed right.
Solution: Learn how to shorten links.
Frequently asked questions on how to shorten a link.
How do you rename a link to shorten it?
Go to a link-shortening website like Rebrandly, paste your long URL, and hit enter to get a shortened link.
With Rebrandly, you can customize and personalize links with your brand domain name, or any other name.
What is the best URL shortener?
Bitly and TinyUrl are two of the best URL shorteners. But other URL shorteners are best for specific purposes.
If you are looking for the best URL shortener for advanced analytics, Bitly is a great business tool. But for a typical URL shortener, TinyURL comes with a few bells and whistles
How do I shorten a URL for free?
Bit.do is the best 100% free tool to shorten a link. All other platforms are free-to-paid.
There’s a limit to the number of links you can shorten and the data you can access with their free accounts. Every feature on Bit.do is 100% free. No link limit. Forever free account.
How to Shorten a Link [Step-by-Step Methods]
You can use many online tools to shorten URLs, and most of these services have a free plan.
Unless you want something robust, the free plan on any of these platforms suffices to shorten a link.
No two URL shorteners are built the same.
While some have features that allow you to track link engagement, others are made for instant link shortening.
We’ve rounded up 5 of the best URL shorteners and how to shorten links on each of them step-by-step. Check them out below and choose which best suit your purpose.
- How to shorten a link using Bitly
- How to shorten a link using Rebrandly
- How to shorten a link using TinyURL
- How to shorten a link using Cuttly
- How to shorten a link using Bit.do
How to Shorten a Link Using Bitly
Bitly is more than just a URL shortener. This tool has many business-moving features to make online selling a breeze.
Bitly has a forever free plan that allows you to shorten up to 50 links per month. The free plan also comes with basic link analytics like visitors’ location, the number of shares, and frequency of engagement, all of which you can access from a unified dashboard.
You’ll have to update to a paid plan to create more than 50 shortened links per month. The basic plan on Bitly is $29/month. This plan gives you a free custom domain, up to 1,500 branded links per month, and advanced link analytics data.
So if you are the type that shares a lot of links and you are interested in your link performance, Bitly will be an investment worth every penny.
How to shorten a link using Bitly step by step
Open your browser and visit Bitly.com
Create a free or paid Bitly account (optional)
On your Bilty dashboard, click on Create New at the top left corner and select Link from the options.
Add the link you want to shorten in the Destination box.
Scroll down to add an optional back-half to your link. You can only add a custom Domain with a paid account.
Add a Title to your link for easy identification then click on the Create button at the bottom right of your screen.
Now can edit your shortened link or copy and share it to anyone.
How to Shorten a Link Using Rebrandly
Rebrandly is a URL shortener and a link customization tool that allows users to create branded links.
You don’t need an account to shorten links on Rebrandly. But to customize, track and edit links, you’ll have to sign up.
With a free plan, you get up to 500 branded links. And you can track link performance up to 5,000 clicks.
Unless you run a link-heavy business, at $24 per month for 5,000 links and 25000 click tracking, the Rebrandly starter plan is more than enough for any small business.
You can link your domain to make sure all your links carry it. If you don’t have one, all your shortened links will have their root domain as rebrand.ly.
How to shorten a link using Rebrandly step by step
Open your browser and visit rebrandly.com
Sign up for a free or paid account (optional)
On Rebrandly and click on the New link button at the top right corner of your screen.
Paste the link you want to shorten into Destination URL box, add a slash tag (optional) and click the Create link button.
You will see your new link branded with rebrandly.ly/slash tag at top of the page. Now you can copy and share.
How to Shorten a Link Using Tinyrul
If you are pressed for time and need a tool to shorten your link and get back to work instantly, Tinyurl is yours. The platform doesn’t require sign-up.
The only drawback of using a free TinyURL account is that your audience have to click past an ad before landing on the link destination.
You can keep track of all your shortened links by creating an account. For advanced features such as branded domain, link customization, and analytics, you’ll have to subscribe to a premium plan starting at $9.99 per month.
How to shorten a link using TinyURL step by step
Open your browser and visit tinyurl.com
Sign up for a free or paid account (optional)
Paste the link you want to shorten, add your link alias (optiona) then click the Make TinyURL button. 
Your TinyURL will be generated. You can proceed to edit, copy and share.
How to Shorten a Link Using Cuttly
Cuttly is an advanced link management platform for bloggers, and affiliate marketers to shrink, customize and organize URLs.
Thanks to its advanced link analytics, you can explore how people interact with your links, from the device to the channels and locations they are coming from.
A free Cuttly account allows you to add up to 3 branded domains and create unlimited branded links with basic analytics only for the previous 30 days.
For more analytics options, you’ll need to subscribe to one of their paid plans starting at $25 per month.
How to shorten a link using Cuttly step-by-step
Open your browser and visit tinyurl.com
Sign up for a free or paid account (optional)
Locate the link box on your link management dashboard, paste the link you want to shorten, and click the Shorten button next to it.
After your link has been created, you can copy and share instantly or use the toolbar under it to customize it further.
How to Shorten a Link Using Bit.do
Bit.do is a 100% free URL shortener that allows you to create unlimited short links. The platform enables you to share links and track clicks in real-time.
Despite being free, you can personalize your links further on Bit.do by putting some branded text next to Bit.do on your shortened link.
To be able to manage links, you have to create a bit.do account. Bit.do is free forever.
How to shorten a link using Bit.do step by step
Open your browser, visit bit.do, and sign up for a free account (optional)
Paste the link you want to shorten, add some customization text and click the Shorten button at the bottom.
You will see your new Short URL and the link to a traffic stats page where you can track link clicks.
Wrapping Up
Shortening your links makes them easily shareable on social media and other messaging channels.
And now you have 5 fantastic URL shorteners to do it.
So everything comes down to preference and the features you want.
Bit.do is just a URL shortener and nothing more. Cuttly is a link management tool for marketers, and Bitly is a business link analytics service. Choose wisely.
Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
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