SmallBizResource Blog -- Internet

So That's How You Do It, Part 1: TinyURLs

Posted by Gayle Kesten Thursday, May 15, 2008, 02:49 PM ET

Some things are just *so* simple...if only someone lets me know about it in the first place.

A few months ago I began noticing these "TinyURL" addresses. Where the heck did they come from? How does everyone else seem to know about them? And why didn't I get the memo?

As it turns out, TinyURL.com is a handy little service that lets you plug in a ginormous URL, hit enter and then receive right back on-screen an abbreviated address that won't break up when you paste it in an e-mail. (Shout out to AHG3 for showing me the light.)

Plain and simple, doing so makes for a cleaner presentation and lets your email recipient click on the link to launch the Web site, rather than having to cut and paste the URL piece by piece. TinyURLs also work when you want to redirect a visitor within your site or if you don't want people to know the address you're posting is an affiliate link.

For what it's worth, TinyURLs also comes in handy when posting a message on Twitter, which only allots 140 characters for you to communicate with your faithful followers.

Speaking of which, can someone now enlighten me about all the noise around Twitter? Yes, I'm on it, but I just don't get it.

Internet