# Should I Shorten Links?



## BML (Nov 25, 2001)

My question is primarily about external links that I have on a wordpress-built page. Some links' URLs are quite long- for example, sharing a Google Map. What is the best way to format them: should I use the full original URL, or shorten the URL using a URL shortener such as tinyURL or Bit.ly (I also have some old ones using Google's own now discontinued shortener Goo.gl), or should I use a Wordpress plugin that will allow me to make a custom URL using my own domain - for example, mydomain.com/map which would re-direct to a specific Google map.

Which is the best way to put links on a page? Will it have an effect on google's ranking of the page?


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## OpiDial (Jun 15, 2020)

you can shorten external URLs in whatever way you want. Just stay consistent with that and use the same tool for everything. 

And for sure WP plugin looks best for that. Easy to use, track, and work with.


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## Xsage (Jan 8, 2016)

From a security perspective I would be very cautious with shortening links especially with services like tiny url. This is because many malicious sites hide malicious payloads using this technique and when you click on the link you never know what your are going to get and where it will direct you to. So much so that many security centric browser addons block any content on a webpage that refers to these domains which could impact the usability of your website for your users.

The best way to "shorten" a link is to change the description in the html tag e.g:


```
[URL=https://www.w3schools.com]Visit W3Schools[/URL]
```
Which when rendered in the browser will look like this:

Visit W3Schools

In the example above, the raw link can be as long as you want, and the only the text "Visit W3Schools" appears to the user, but if they hover over the link they get a full description along the bottom of their browser about where the link will take them.


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## lunarlander (Sep 22, 2007)

I agree with Dave. If I hover over a link and see a shortened URL, I will never go there. One never knows the real site destination and whether one can trust the link.


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## amaramartin (Aug 11, 2020)

BML said:


> My question is primarily about external links that I have on a wordpress-built page. Some links' URLs are quite long- for example, sharing a Google Map. What is the best way to format them: should I use the full original URL, or shorten the URL using a URL shortener such as tinyURL or Bit.ly (I also have some old ones using Google's own now discontinued shortener Goo.gl), or should I use a Wordpress plugin that will allow me to make a custom URL using my own domain - for example, mydomain.com/map which would re-direct to a specific Google map.
> 
> Which is the best way to put links on a page? Will it have an effect on google's ranking of the page?


You can shorten the URLs or hyperlink them on your specific word.


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## Zee01 (Sep 11, 2020)

BML said:


> My question is primarily about external links that I have on a wordpress-built page. Some links' URLs are quite long- for example, sharing a Google Map. What is the best way to format them: should I use the full original URL, or shorten the URL using a URL shortener such as tinyURL or Bit.ly (I also have some old ones using Google's own now discontinued shortener Goo.gl), or should I use a Wordpress plugin that will allow me to make a custom URL using my own domain - for example, mydomain.com/map which would re-direct to a specific Google map.
> 
> Which is the best way to put links on a page? Will it have an effect on google's ranking of the page?


Sometimes shortening the URL change the destination, for example, recently I have shortened my google map link from Bitly. But when my friend opens the URL it gets redirected to Bitly site. So, my opinion is to avoid shortening URL of Google maps.


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## bassfisher6522 (Aug 8, 2008)

Xsage said:


> From a security perspective I would be very cautious with shortening links especially with services like tiny url. This is because many malicious sites hide malicious payloads using this technique and when you click on the link you never know what your are going to get and where it will direct you to. So much so that many security centric browser addons block any content on a webpage that refers to these domains which could impact the usability of your website for your users.
> 
> The best way to "shorten" a link is to change the description in the html tag e.g:
> 
> ...


No real answer to OP but a question to you Xsage is; In word-press that the OP uses....can one insert a hyper link like we do in this forum by highlighting a few words and then inserting the url in the texl. I guess that would be on the software mfg itself if that is allowed. I wonder of MS word allows that.

Just thinking out loud as some users are put off by code.


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## Xsage (Jan 8, 2016)

bassfisher6522 said:


> No real answer to OP but a question to you Xsage is; In word-press that the OP uses....can one insert a hyper link like we do in this forum by highlighting a few words and then inserting the url in the texl. I guess that would be on the software mfg itself if that is allowed. I wonder of MS word allows that.
> 
> Just thinking out loud as some users are put off by code.


Yes that is correct, I haven't used wordpress a whole lot, but from my understanding wordpress users can highlight text and use the "Insert Link" button like you can do on this very forum and many others like it to get the same result through a more user friendly way.

MS word also allows this type of hyperlinking through the right click context menu here:


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## esourceparts (Sep 14, 2020)

You can use long URL as an anchor text format on-page.


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## BML (Nov 25, 2001)

Xsage said:


> Yes that is correct, I haven't used wordpress a whole lot, but from my understanding wordpress users can highlight text and use the "Insert Link" button like you can do on this very forum and many others like it to get the same result through a more user friendly way.
> 
> MS word also allows this type of hyperlinking through the right click context menu here:


Yes. In the current version of WP you can highlight however many words and create a link from them, copy & paste the full URL into the link maker.


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## BML (Nov 25, 2001)

Xsage said:


> From a security perspective I would be very cautious with shortening links especially with services like tiny url. This is because many malicious sites hide malicious payloads using this technique and when you click on the link you never know what your are going to get and where it will direct you to. So much so that many security centric browser addons block any content on a webpage that refers to these domains which could impact the usability of your website for your users.


That's a good point, I didn't think of that. You never know where a tinyURL can lead. I'm building a site now and linking to some specific Google Maps and of course those URLS can get pretty long. I didn't know if the full length links had any bearing on SEO.


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## varunas (Oct 12, 2020)

Most of the free shorten URL tools, removes the links after few weeks, this will create a 404 link, so while you are including, search if there is a shorten link ( most of them provide these days ) or else go with any premium ones.


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