The most obvious reason to use a short URL is because of Twitter’s 140 character limit. The not so obvious reasons can range from sending them to mobile devices via SMS (text message), avoiding long ugly links when sending them via email and lastly, tracking the stats of that link. I am sure you can figure out the first two with out my help so I will explain the last example.

In the sea of URL shorteners, plenty offer similar features; one of the best features is stat tracking. I say this is one of the best for a few reasons.Say for example I send an email to someone and link to an important site or document stored online. If I use a short URL, I can see if the link was clicked and how many times. I use these links when I email clients information they request. If they come back and say they never got the link or say they looked at it but are asking questions I have already answered, I know if they looked at the link or not.

Another way I use these short URLs are in my newsletters. When I am linking to a program download page or other external resource I will use a short URL I can track. This way I can see what my audience is interested in and shift my focus more towards what want to read.

Here are a few of the more popular shorteners. All of them allow stat tracking of some sort along with other features. Play around with a few and see what best fits your needs.

Ow.ly

Programs like Hootsuite offer a built in URL shrinking service built in (ow.ly). This is extremely helpful for the person who wants to use a web based Twitter monitoring and posting service. Hootsuite also offers the convenience of a bookmarklet which they have aptly named a “Hootlet”. The Hootlet allows for fast posting or delayed tweets without needing the Hootsuite page to be open all the time. The stand alone Ow.ly page can be accessed here.

Bit.ly

This is Twitter’s golden boy for the time being. Bit.ly is the default URL shortening service of Twitter and many 3rd party apps. It offers anonymous accounts to just shrink a long URL as well as click tracking. Bit.ly allows custom names for shortened URLs. Very handy if you are running a comparison or promotion of some sort.

Awe.sm

Awe.sm is more of a behind the scenes service. It offers integrated tracking via Google Analytics and URLs for your own website. Here is an older post on the TechCrunch blog about Awe.sm

Snipr

When using this service, you have the choice of four URL “prefixes”: Snipr, Snrl, Sn.im or Snipurl. All four have the same abilities to track total clicks vs unique clicks. URLs can also have a custom nickname if you want to clue people into what the URL is linking to.

Su.pr

Su.pr (Stumbleupon’s shrinking service) is one I use quite a bit. It offers a tracking feature I haven’t seen in the others; the best time of day to post the link. I don’t know about you, but I think this feature is HUGE if you are trying to get your message out there.

This shortener has many of the same features as the others; scheduled tweets, tracking, a bookmarklet… Just like Awe.sm, they have an option to create a custom URL shortener for your site.

This was a very brief run through of the many URL shorteners available. Wikipedia had this article about them if you’d like to read more or see more examples.

Love them or hate them, they are here to stay. Share your thoughts on URL shrinking in the comments.