URL Shortening
What a URL shortener does, and when to use one
A plain-language guide to how short links work, what happens when someone clicks one, and the situations where they help most.
By Lumara Links Team
4 min read
A URL shortener takes a long web address and gives you a much shorter one that leads to the same place. The idea is simple, but it helps to know what is happening behind the link before you put one on a poster or in a campaign.
How a short link works
When you shorten a link, the service stores two things: your original address and a short code that points to it. The short link is just the service's domain followed by that code.
When someone opens the short link, their browser asks the service where to go. The service looks up the code and answers with a redirect to the original address. The whole exchange usually takes a fraction of a second, and the visitor ends up on your page as if they had typed the long address themselves.
When a short link helps
- Print. Nobody types a 120-character address from a flyer. A short link with a readable alias is realistic to type, and it makes a simpler QR code too.
- Messages with a length limit. SMS and some social posts count every character.
- Spoken links. On a podcast, in a talk or over the phone, a short alias is far easier to say and remember.
- Tidy documents. Slides, invoices and PDFs look cleaner with a short link than with a tracking-laden address.
- Counting clicks. A short link can tell you how many people opened it, even when the destination site is not yours.
When to skip it
Short links hide the destination, and that is not always welcome. In a context where trust matters and space does not, such as a link to your own site in the body of your own website, the full address is the better choice. People like to see where they are going.
It is also worth remembering that a short link depends on the service behind it. Use one for things you share, not as the only permanent record of an important address. Keep the original link somewhere safe.
Good habits
- Test the short link before you publish it, on a phone and on a computer.
- Choose an alias that describes the destination, so the link explains itself.
- Shorten the final address. If your page moves, a short link that points at the old location breaks with it.
- Never shorten a link you would not be comfortable showing in full.
Try it yourself
Shorten a URL