Sharing long links over Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter and other social sites can be a pain if the sites develop a technical slag. The best practice, therefore, is to shorten the URL that never expires. That said, there are dozens of services that offer this capability of shortening long URLs.
Short URL generators
Which one is ideal for you? Take a look at some of the Short URL generators below:
- Goo.gl
- Bit.ly
- Tiny URL
- Mcaf.ee
- Ow.ly.
1] Goo.gl
This URL shortening tool has been designed particularly for users who have the penchant of sharing URLs over their Google + accounts. It keeps a track of all the short links you create in Goo.gl Access. Besides, it supports the automatic spam detection technology as found in Google’s Gmail application. This helps assure recipients the link they intend to open is safe.
2] Bit.ly
One of the widely used ‘short URL generator online’. It does not require you to link the application to an account of any sort but offers the functionality of creating short links, check stats, and if necessary, tweet a shortened link, right from the sidebar of your browser. The core Bit.ly application is free.
3] Tiny URL
This was probably the first one! Simply click and drag long links to your links toolbar and have it changed to shortened form with the click of a button. The tool has been there around for years and was one of the first link shorteners to be widely used on Twitter. Note: The tool is compatible with most web browsers and platforms so long your bookmarks or favorites support JavaScript.
4] Mcaf.ee
A more secure way to create short and compact URLs! This service automatically checks the content of sites for which it is providing a compressed link, thereby assuring you the link so created by it is secure, has no malware, and not directing you to a malicious site.
5] Ow.ly
ow.ly is Hootsuite’s built-in URL shortener that you can access via your Hootsuite dashboard or on the ow.ly site. It has an appetite for shrinking hundreds of thousands of links daily.
TIP: Learn how to find out or check where the link or URL redirects to.
Short URL Expanders
While short URL generators help you share long links over your social network accounts quickly, they pose one grave danger – they may hide suspicious elements like malware. You should always take some precautions before you click on any link. URL Expander is a tool that expands shortened URLs to their original long URL and finds if it carries malware along the way. This prevents importing illegal content before you actually visit the link.
Here are some Short URL Expanders:
- URL X-ray
- CheckShortURL
- LongURL
- Where Does This Link Go
- LinkExpander.com
- GetLinkInfo
- LinkPeelr.
1] URL X-ray
Find out where shortened URLs lead to without clicking and obviate malicious links with URL X-ray. It has a very simple interface and offers a bookmarklet for quick expansion of URLs.
2] CheckShortURL
A web service that helps you find the full URL address. Just above the full expanded URL, CheckShortURL also provides search links on various search engines like Bing, Google, Bing, and others via Web of Trust, McAfee SiteAdviser, etc.
3] LongURL
Supports most URL shortening services like bit.ly, Snipurl.com, and others. It prevents you from visiting websites running malware, phishing by examining short URLs beforehand.
4] Where Does This Link Go
Simply visit wheredoesthislinkgo.com, enter the short URL, and find it expanded in second’s time. It’s a simple URL revealing service that is solely dedicated to expanding the short URLs, not supporting any details about the expanded URL.
5] LinkExpander.com
This Link Expander & Decrypter service that can unshorten URLs in no time.
6] GetLinkInfo.com
This tool tells you where you are gong by expanding the short URL.
7] LinkPeelr
A very useful Short URL expander service that imports a URL and peels it to show you the URL that you will actually be directed to. Its available for download as a Chrome extension.
Do share with us if you know of any more Short URL generators and Short URL expanders.
