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
-
Why isn't open graph working for this URL?
When I post this URL (http://goo.gl/iDMsJq) to my Facebook page, the image is small, and it isn't pulling the correct description. I checked FB object debugger, and it looks fine - so why isn't it working properly when I post to Facebook? https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/og/object?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthline.com%2Fhealth-slideshow%2Fquit-smoking-timeline
Social Media | | nicole.healthline0 -
How can I find the most liked, tweeted, and +1'd URLs on a domain?
As part of a content audit, I'd like to identify the most popular content on a domain. I've tried Google Spreadsheets + API's from the services, but the call limits have stopped me as I can only check 50 URLs at a time. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this? I can get the list of all pages on the site with Screaming Frog, but then how do I find metrics on those URLs? Any tips or tools would be appreciated!
Social Media | | brianspatterson0 -
Twitter cards - one account, various domains?
Hi guys, I have a number of events run by the same company, all with their own websites. For a number of reasons, these individual events don't have their own social channels. Instead, the company's main social channels are used to promote the events wherever possible. I want to implement twitter card markup into each of the sites and associate the markup with the company's main twitter account. Does anyone know whether it's possible to get twitter cards approved for one account across multiple domains? I'd hate to apply for one site using the account, only to find out I can't apply for others! So before I venture into the unknown, was hoping someone could shed some light on this. Cheers 🙂
Social Media | | cos20300 -
Does adding a twitter or facebook feed to a website help rankings in regards of providing fresh content?
I have been asked if this is a sufficient way to provide fresh content to a website, however I am unsure if Google considers this as "fresh content", and I can't seem to come across a clear answer. Any thoughts?
Social Media | | pderas0 -
Possible to automate/semi-automate twitter followers into specified list(s) after the fact without doing so one-by-one?
I have a list of about 3,000 Twitter followers and would like to segment my followers into separate lists for "emergency preparedness" and "travel." Is there a tool that can help me automate this without reviewing each profile one-by-one?
Social Media | | Timmmmy0 -
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 -
Tool that recognizes twitter spam accounts
I seem to remember seeing an online app mentioned here that allows you to enter a twitter username, and it reports back metrics on the likelihood of each follower being a real person or not. Does anyone have the link, or did I imagine it?
Social Media | | nbyloff0 -
How much weight do Twitter Lists carry in Google's determination of user influence?
I have come across a number of Twitter users that have 1000+ Followers, and they typically follow 1000+ people. I've noticed as of late that many of these people are found on fewer lists. I also know that many twitter users are selective about who they actually allow in their main twitter stream and therefore create lists to manage who they follow. Any thoughts on if /how twitter lists contribute to a user's authority and/or influence from the SERP's perspective?
Social Media | | Thos0030