Posts Tagged ‘Snurl’

If you send a lot of Twitters or SMS messages where character count is limited there are some services out there to help you gain some precious characters. When sharing URL’s it is not uncommon to have some so long that your message barely fits. An average URL is at least 50-100 characters long, but two services, TinyURL and Snurl help you shorten these to 25 and 23 characters respectively.

TinyURL

TinyURL has been around for quite a while, and quite frankly it shows. Despite the lack of features and a mediocre site design it does its job well. Enter any URL into the field, click “Make TinyURL” and you will receive a 25 character URL which now functions in exactly the same way as the original. You can then use this in your Twitter or SMS messages to save space, you’ll have enough room to comment on it.

Snurl

Snurl is a service I recently found, which offers the same basic functionality as TinyURL, but has a host of added features for the power user. For the casual user the process is the same, enter any URL, click “Snip it” and use the 23 character new URL. Also, both services automatically copy the link to your clipboard so you can go ahead and paste right away.

If you want a load of advanced features you can sign up and change settings like the prefix (snurl.com, snipr.com, snipurl.com), change auto clipboard settings, add a private code to make some snips private and so on.

The most powerful features is the snip manager where you can see all your snips listed. You can copy, modify and email each snip, but what’s realyl cool is that you can also bookmark it to services like del.icio.us. It also shows clicks and unique clicks for that snip, which is a handy tool for bloggers and website owners. You can sort by name or clicks and so on, giving you a powerful reporting and tracking tool.

Other uses for a short URL

In reality, short URL-s are a great way to share links anyway. Even in emails or documents where you have plenty of space you can use Snurl and TinyURL because a small URL blends in better with the text and won’t cause any weird line breaks (or rather lack thereof).

Creating a database of links can also be easier using this method, since all you need to do is refer to a link with the unique number the prefix. You can then add description rows, but all you really need is the number at the end.

There are a number of cool (and some not so nice) uses for these URL shortening services. If you need the power and productivity of extra services I would go for Snurl which is, but if you’ve been using TinyURL for a while and don’t need the bells and whistles there’s really no need to switch.

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