Bit.ly: Link Shortening Analytics with Attitude

Courtesy of recent trends in social media, truncated, shorter blog postings are proving to be useful for those looking to embed links and information in Facebook statuses, Tweets and away messages. Several free link-chopping sites are out there to transform a lengthy URL into a web address that clocks in at 25 characters or less. Sure, this is a great way to promote your link and get it out there on multiple social media networks, but what about SEO? What about stats, numbers, and tracking the success of your website now that you’ve significantly shrunken a link to it?

Enter: Bit.ly. Unlike other link-shortening sites, there’s now a new option that enables viewers to see the statistics and clicks to the link in question that’s as simple as typing in an extra character. After you shorten your link using Bit.ly, all you need to do is add a plus sign (“+”) to the end of your URL: For example, instead of leaving your Bit.ly link as “http://bit.ly/14d7yE”, you would type “http://bit.ly/14d7yE+” in order to see all the tabulated statistics regarding the traffic your link has seen.

This helpful hint was provided by Danny Dover in his talk, “Make SEO Tools Work For You” at the SEOmoz 2009 PRO Training Series in Seattle. For more helpful SEO and search marketing-related tips and tricks, SEOmoz is a proven dependable resource and forum for online marketing professionals.