If You Want People to Read a Web Document or Visit a Crucial Web Page, You Probably Need This Free Service.

Gary North

So, you want to persuade someone to read a document on the Web. Maybe it's a Web page on your site that sells something. What if the Web link -- the URL -- is 30 to 80 characters long?

The person won't type it. If he does, he will type it incorrectly.

Let's face it: some Web address URLs are long. Nobody wants to type them. It is easy to make a mistake typing. If it's longer than 60 characters, the Web cannot find it if you hand-type it. Why, I don't know.

Solution: use a free URL shortening service. I have used www.tinyurl.com and www.snipurl.com in the past. Today, I have my own on my shortener on my site. This gives me 100% control over the links.

So, when you find an article you like, electronically cut the long URL (ctrl-C). Go to the shortening server's site. Paste it in. You get a short one. With snipurl., you don't have to paste. It recognizes the URL in your clipboard. Easy!

You can even name it, if no one else already has, with www.snipurl.com.

If you list a shore link, people will be much more likely to visit a page that you think is important.

This is really important on your business card, if you are trying to get people to visit a specific page on your site or blog.

As you know, in my newsletters, I use my own site's shortener. I can fit long links into my newsletters. Clicked, they are a little slower than the full link, but typed, there is no comparison. The short link is better.