Shorten URLs For Students and Printed Newsletters

Sharing a very long website address is easy when you are using some type of digital tool like a website, email or QR code.  But this is significantly more difficult if you are sharing that URL on a printed poster, newsletter or telling someone face to face.  The answer: URL Shortening Tools!

Below are three of the many shortening tools that are out there. These have a proven history and have different strengths. These can be life-changers, so find one that works for you specific needs.

Goo.gl 

First login to your AISD Cloud (or Gmail) account so that the short URLs that you create will be linked to your Google ID account and leave you with a library of shortened URLs. 

Pros: Goo.gl keeps a list of all shortened URLs; the Details link for each URL also provides a QR code and usage statistics. Has a Chrome extension that makes creation even easier.
Cons: You cannot choose the alias; the aliases are case-sensitive and can sometimes be confusing.
Video Tutorial: How To Use Goo.gl

Bit.ly

My own go-to choice. No login is required to create a short URL at http://bit.ly . Paste your long URL in the top box and you are automatically given a short URL.
Pros: Create a free login to keep track of created URLs; you can create custom aliases using the ‘customize’ option; aliases are not case-sensitive. Has a Chrome extension that makes creation even easier.
Cons: You cannot dynamically change the original URL without buying a Pro account.

TinyURL.com

A long-time favorite, it remains a very fast URL creator. Frequently rated as one of the fastest URL Shortening tools, http://tinyurl.com has no account creation. You just paste your long URL into the box and click “Make Tinyurl”. Add an alias before you make the URL to customize your short URL.
Pros: Tinyurl.com lets you create a custom alias (tinyurl.com/alias).
Cons: Tinyurl does not keep track of your previously-created URLs.