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Monday, March 19, 2012

How to shorten those long web addresses using bit.ly

There are many url shortening online programmes around, and I could never quite understand the need for them until I started sharing and networking! For example when using Twitter a long web address will use nearly all your 140 characters! The application I have tended to use is Bit.ly.com, so I thought I would do a quick share on how it all works. Below is a screenshot of the Bit.ly interface.  


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Whenever I start communicating with my PLN using Twitter, the first thing I do is open Bit.ly  So let me explain how it all works. 

1. Open https://bitly.com/ and join as a member. You don’t have to join, but if you do you’ll find a record of everything you have shortened! When Bit.ly starts you’ll get this empty blue box at the top. That s where you will paste your web addresses.

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2. Copy the web address you wish to shorten and paste the long address into the blue piece. It will immediately shorten it to a new short address. From this...
 
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3. ...to this! The new shortened address happens almost immediately! All you do now is copy it and use it!
 
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So, to summarise. Join Bit.ly and it will keep a record of your shortened addresses for you. The shortened address is easier for people to click on and it works especially well with Twitter and Facebook where you have a restricted number of characters.
 
Why not give it a go!

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