Permanent URLs for Twitter?
-
Hi everyone -
The site I am working on is going to start giving users the option to tweet that they completed an action. It reads, for example, "I just took the first step to ( ) with (site): (shortened link) via (Twitter name)"
Here's my question:
Should I worry about the fact that the shortened URL (we're possibly going to use Twitter's shortener T.Co, but I'm not dedicated to it) changes each time? Should we instead have a permanent short URL for the homepage (where we are going to direct people who click the link in the tweet)?
Thanks!
-
Rand talks about URL shorteners and their effect on link juice etc here: http://www.seomoz.org/q/is-there-anyway-for-redirected-links-to-still-provide-seo-value - Very good info (as you would expect from the bearded one...)
-
Roger, I do not think it is necessary, but from a branding perspective, to stand out from the crowd of normal bit.ly users (I'm one of them, btw), it could be a good idea. It may be for my site.
I'd say it depends on the site and the niche.
-
Is your own shortner really necessary? I can't imagine it is.
-
bit.ly pro would work. Personally I use yourls.org
-
Thanks. This is great info.
-
The actual URL takes up too much space. Also, you rarely see people using full URLs in tweets. From a "we know what we're doing here" perspective, the full URL might not be a great idea. Do you disagree?
Matt Cutts said (in the video linked to above) that any decent shortener will 301 redirect the shortened URL and thus pass link juice. I guess I am more concerned about it from a branding/tracking perspective now.
-
This sounds like a good idea. What service do you recommend for creating a custom short URL? Would bit.ly PRO work fine for this?
-
Exactly. It's why I created the http://seoaud.it shortener for my own needs.
-
Can use use the actual URL? That would get you a direct link.
Or, your idea of a permanent short URL that is 301 redirected on your main site would be a good alternative.
Links from tweets are sometimes used elsewhere and getting that linkjuice would be nice.
Also, if you use the actual URL or have complete control over the shortened URL you don't have to worry about it being changed on you.
-
-
I would not be worried about the different URLs. Almost all url shorteners 301 to the destination URL and pass link juice. Even though the shortened URLs are different, they would all be passing the juice to the same spot.
-
It's ultimately irrelevant from an SEO perspective - so it comes down to click tracking. If you have different actions, you'd want a unique shortened URL for each action.
I'd also suggest considering setting up your own URL shortener, rather than relying on 3rd party. As great as Bit.ly is, and as much as Twitter offers their own, the only way to ensure a short URL that's generated is always going to be around is to have your own.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Twitter Analytics
We are looking for top engagers for one of our clients - anyone know of any good resources besides twitter analytics and followerwonk?
Social Media | | CGR-Creative0 -
Do having social sharing icons such as Twitter and Pinterest slow down site speed?
We are debating a redesign of a travel site and wondering whether having social sharing buttons including Pinterest and Facebook above each image would slow down site speed and therefore have a negative impact on our rankings. We are deciding between having the icons above each image or just in the side bar of all pages. Many thanks, Penny
Social Media | | Pday0 -
Short Facebook page name/vanity URL
Does anyone know how to go about getting a page name on Facebook of less than 5 characters? I saw Moz was able to claim facebook.com/moz (BTW, congrats on the redesign!), and many other brands also have claimed page names under 5 characters. Has anyone else had success claiming a short page name? Do you have to know the right person at Facebook, or are there other requirements? We have around 35K likes on our page, and our site gets a pretty good amount of traffic. My boss doesn't like any of my ideas that are 5+ characters... she really wants the short URL. If anyone has any insights on what I need to do (or who I need to talk to at Facebook), I'd really appreciate it!
Social Media | | john4math0 -
How can I track on my facebook page shared links without using short url redirect service?
Hi, I wondering how can I track and analyze on all my shared links in my facebook business page without using short url redirect service like: “Tiny” url or “bitly”? Thanks in advance.
Social Media | | JonsonSwartz0 -
Twitter Hash Tags Leave Me A Liitle Confused :-(
Good Afternoon from 9 degrees C wetherby UK I'm trying to get a better understanding of how search results are retrieved in Twitter. Take this scanario for instance. Via twitter search (see screen grab for illustration [IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/hash-tag-query.jpg[/IMG] ) you enter Vintage Clothing. The results
Social Media | | Nightwing
show tweets where some have #Vintage #clothing in the text whilst others just have the term vintage clothing in the tweet. So my question is please... "If your client asks how do i get my tweets picked up by searchers looking for vintage clothing should i ad hash tags or not bother and just mention the term in the tweek" Put another way, why do some tweeters hash tag a key pharse and place term in the snippet. I'm, a bit confused... [IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/confused.jpg[/IMG]0 -
How to Search Twitter Bios for URLs?
Hi Mozzers, Quick question, Does anyone know of a tool that can search Twitter bios for a URL then match the URL to the asscoiated twitter handle? For example, my twitter handle is @rosstav and the URL in my bio is rosstavendale(dot)com. I want a tool that searches bios for a list of URLs and returns the twitter handle. I tried Followerwonk but no joy. Any thoughts?
Social Media | | rtavs0 -
Do keywords in a URL that's linkified provide anchor text benefits?
I'm curious about links that are just URLs (e.g. http://www.google.com/reader) or in a URL-like format (e.g. Google.com/Reader) vs links with plain-word anchor text (e.g. Google Reader). If a link that is just a URL (or a partial URL) has keywords in it, do those keywords provide anchor text relevance benefits? I'm particularly thinking about URL shorteners that provide customized links, and social media. Many web tools (twitter, blog comment systems) don't render HTML but will automatically link URLs. If http://boston.craigslist.org/jjj/ gets linked to through custom shortened URLs like http://bit.ly/Boston-Jobs, is it more likely to rank for the term "Boston Jobs" than if it received the same number of links using a non-custom shortened URL like http://bit.ly/ejq5uX9?
Social Media | | Jay.Neely0 -
Linking to a twitter account? Best to use the /#!/ or not? or no difference?
So if I am linking to someone's twitter account should I use the ajax code #! or not? http://twitter.com**/#!/**thos003 vs http://twitter.com/thos003 Bonus Question: I have also seen in the past that google splits a domain that has as a secure protocol. https://twitter.com vs http://twitter.com Does does that split link juice?
Social Media | | Thos0030