Link shortener/tracker must-haves?

[Darren Olander]

I'm wondering who is/isn't using a link shortener or tracker and why?

 

If you were to choose one, what are must have features? What are things you'd like to see?

 

 

[Joel]

Personally, I don't like to use link shorteners because they're not reliable, and have a bad rep on some sites.  Twitter, for instance, likes to suddenly decide that a bit.ly link may be malicious.  And then there are the shortener sites that like to disappear out of the blue.  I do use bit.ly for some things, otherwise I create my own with a PHP redirect, which is very Web friendly, even Google doesn't choke on them.

 

Trackers? I'm ashamed to admit I've never tracked, so I can't say much about that.  ...except that I really should start tracking. (yes, I've lost a few points off my Internet Marketers Club card now, lol)

[apsuccess]

I do track my ads. I see the number of hits and the number of conversions. Tracking has been helpful to me in determining which traffic sources are working.

 

URL shortners I use mainly for my articles;for when I am giving samples. I use bit.ly for them. I use tinyurl for other links.

[John Priestley]

I track my ads, too. I use a mixture of trker and trck. I know these are not shorteners in the strict sense, but they have a similar effect of reducing the length of links somewhat and the added advantage of giving some useful stats.

 

The only problem with adding the extra hop is that the links could fail every now and then if the service provider has trouble.

 

What do other people use?

 

Best regards and looking forward to hearing from you soon, John.

[Garrett Hutsko]

In another location on this site I asked about link shrinking and someone shared direct track pro 

which I use extensively, I see the links for other link trackers and/or shrinkers but this one works for me. One thing for sure when a character count is important a link shrinker can be worth using.

[captkirk]

I'm wondering who is/isn't using a link shortener or tracker and why?

 

If you were to choose one, what are must have features? What are things you'd like to see?

 

Hi Darren,

 

I can't imagine promoting sites without tracking the links.

 

The main thing that I look for is a tracking service that shows me where the hits are coming from.

[jonjenkins]

I use the shortener at IBOtoolbox for some links. For better tracking (and advertising), I use LeadsLeap.

[joyhealey]

I use the free WordPress plugins StatCounter and PrettyLink on my blog. But I must admit I'm not good at tracking.

 

I started off using one of the free cloakers (THINK it was bit.ly) but then had a shock one day when I revisited links I'd previously created (and checked) and found they were pointing somewhere completely different to what I'd started with. This happened to me more than once, so I don't think it was just me being inept. Has anyone else noticed this?

[captkirk]

I'm wondering who is/isn't using a link shortener or tracker and why?

 

If you were to choose one, what are must have features? What are things you'd like to see?

 

Tracking my links is the best thing that I could have ever done online second to none.

 

BTW, I won't post an ad or send an email without tracking my links.

[Guest mrclean0325]

I have mixed feelings on trackers and link shorteners. I have tried many over the years until they started having a problem. Just about every one of them at one time or another, breaks and you usually don't know it. You will get the hits registered, but that doesn't mean your site was actually viewed. Unless you get into some higher end trackers they are just glorified hit counters. They will tell you that you got hits from one site or another but usually not which hit from which site and at what time you got a signup or sale.

 

This comes down to if you don't trust the site to give you the hits from the amount of credits, why use them? It is different if you are doing solo ads and pay for the clicks or other paid options to make sure you get the clicks. It still doesn't mean the click is actually a view on your site though. When you see your site in a mailer or TE and it is a blank page...what good are the trackers then?

 

After the first time this happened with a tracker I got into the habit of checking my tracking links every day. When I see a blank page, the link times out, or for some reason your site doesn't show and the site itself is working fine - not a good thing. When you have a LOT of tracking links out there using the same service and it has a problem - you are out of business until they fix it or you go through and change them all EVERYWHERE. Otherwise you waste all your credits, time, and money. Not what I call a fun day. Done that too many times.

 

The last one I used a few months ago (I won't name it) I got a notice that my site was denied since it was blank at a new TE. Checking the tracking link and yep, a blank page and the original site worked fine. Spent 2 days changing links everywhere. Grrrr!

 

Most people have no idea if the link is actually showing their site since they get hits registered. In one case I had a totally different site, which was not mine, get shown in MY tracking link. Trying to hedge my bets and using several different trackers to limit my exposure to a broken link or problem with a tracker is a real PITA to manage.

 

Since I have experienced this with just about all of the ones out in our realm, I am a bit gun shy on using them again. They can be another part that can break. There is no such thing as "100% uptime" online. So I use them very sparingly if at all in a lot of cases. I have other things i like to do than try to change a HUGE amount of links when a service goes south on me.