We’ve all gotten Twitter spam. We see hundreds of tweets a day with links in them and we have no idea where those links lead. URL shorteners are helpful, as they allow you to create a tweet with more content, and less link. But, they make our links look like everyone else’s…
If you have a fairly short URL, or could register a shorter version of your current domain, you could have your own shortened url’s for Twitter!
For me, being able to shorten a link like this:
http://www.ericasays.com/1876/ask-aardvark-your-questions/
Into this:
http://ericasays.com/1876
is quite helpful. No, it’s not as short as some of the url’s you’ll see on Twitter, but, it’s branded and people know where they’re going when they click that link.
How do you get this?
Simply install the Twitter Friendly Links plugin for WordPress. It’s free, and very easy to use. I had this set up within a couple of minutes, then was pleasantly surprised to come back to my post editor later and find a new box labeled Twitter Stuff which will display the shortened link for you!
I just installed this and not really sure how to use it actually but I'm curious to find out more.
I really like the fact that it's a brand of your personal site address. That's cool.
Go to Settings/Twitter Friendly Links for the settings. Enter your URL. (I leave off the WWW. to make it shorter) and make sure the format is Generic (numbers only). If you're using a sharing program like Twitter Tools, Tweet-This or Sociable, check the appropriate box, and walla!
Nice idea, branding your links.. but don't forget that Twitter is no follow! by the way I love your new theme! bright!
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Thanks for the tip and reminder, Hesham! And, for your kind words about my new design!
Thanks for the tip and reminder, Hesham! And, for your kind words about my new design!