Remembering the address - can we make better use of shortened URLs?
 Graham Jones believes shortened URLs need to be rethought. (If you don't know, the URL is the address of a webpage on the Internet. More here) His argument is that the shortened version, provided by sites like bit.ly, may be useful for Twitter and their ilk where space it at a premium, but they're not really useful for people.
Maybe so, but I think he's missing a few points.
The most important is that we don't generally remember web addresses. Our tendency appears to be to work from links, which we either bookmark in our browser for future reference, or pass amongst eachother by eMail or link exchanges. The address is often hidden from us, or at least blind to us, because we click on the blue underlined text and away we go into the ether.
Second, the main reason for having longer, more descriptive URLs has little to do with making them memorable and more to do with search engine optimisation. If the aim of a blogger or business is to get their site noticed in the current mass of content using descriptive phrases and terms within the page's web address will certainly help.
Finally, if, as he suggests, a URL is important enough for him to want people to remember, there are other tricks that we can apply to redirect visitors from brief, memorable addresses to their eventual, more complexly addressed destination. (If you want to try this out type www.rossahall.com/downloads into your browser. You'll notice it takes you to a specific page on this site where you can download reports etc). And whilst we can, as he suggests, invest in new domains to redirect people, as I have shown above, we can use simple redirects and preserve the brand we're trying to build.
So do we need to rethink shortened URLs? No, but do need to understand how, when and where they need to be used.
Previously on this blog...
the global leader in Contact Center Consolidation 2.0
2.0 has become a meaningless addition to already poor tag lines.
A dozen beautiful images of Saturn
Wired presents a dozen of the best images from the Cassini mission
Setting up shop in a new country: beyond the website
Building a website for multiple languages is not just about translation. It is a critical business decision that has to be taken carefully.
Why call centre staff deserve your respect
If call centre staff set the first impression for your business, why do we treat them so badly?
Becoming a Specialist? A hard decision to make ...
Specialising requires hard strategic decisions to be made about your business.
When good people move on
Losing a member of staff to another company is not necessarily a bad thing
The quest for quality in Agile Software Development
Why quality assurance remains a central part of project management, regardless of the use of Agile methods
© 2010 Ross Hall. All Rights Reserved.
If you wish to use any of the content from this site please contact me.
All contents provided for information purposes only.
|
|
About Ross Hall