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Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning

Note to University of Guelph Communications Staff

Staff in communications roles at U of G should use the University’s secure, custom URL shortening service for marketing and communications materials. Custom short URLs begin with https://uoguel.ph.

Learn more about the URL shortening service from CCS.

Below are other well-known URL shortening tools that are widely used. Please note that when clicking on short URLs there is a security risk, as it is not clear where the links will take you and they may lead to malicious sites that aim to steal your information. For tips and tricks about safer habits when using short URLs, please see this blog post from U of G's Information Security team.

Bit.ly

Bit.ly is a URL link shortener and a powerful online marketing tool used to track clicks, see site referrals and get an idea of which geographical locations most clicks are coming from.

With a free account, users have access to:

  • 50 words/month of custom back-half (words at the end of a link)
  • 1000 links/month 
  • Unlimited link clicks

Bit.ly is best for

  • Making links suitable for twitter and other social medias
  • Identifying trends and analytics
  • Collecting media insights:
    • Gathering audience intelligence
    • Giving context to a click
  • Optimizing marketing

Limitations

  • No mobile app version.
  • Some privacy concerns from past users

Resources

TinyURL

TinyURL is a URL shortening web service, which provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs. 

TinyURL is free for anyone to use.

TinyURL is best for

  • Making links suitable for twitter and other social medias
  • Creating email links
  • Customizing links
  • Stronger marketing

Limitations

  • No analytic tracking

Resources

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