And, of course, the mighty Twitter needed to step up. In March 2010, Twitter started experimenting with its own URL shortening service for private messages, using the twt.tl domain, before it purchased the t.co domain. By June 2011, Twitter announced and started using its own t.co domain for automatic shortening of all URLs posted on its website, only available for links posted to Twitter and not available for general use. All links posted to Twitter would now use a t.co wrapper. During this time, other URL Shorteners continued to develop. Particularly in terms of offering Custom Branded Links and Advanced Analytics. In September 2011,
Twitter announces 100 million monthly active users, worldwide. And in December, Twitter would make an important announcement, increasing the length of its t.co wrapped links from 20 to 22 characters if you used a Cork House Clearance Services non-HTTPS link, and from 21 to 23 characters if you used an HTTPS link. This caused some debate, as, even though it shortened the longer URLs, it was frustrating to have this a set character count when sharing shorter URLs. Either way, this was Twitter’s rule and it was here to stay. This move by Twitter, although seemingly frustrating to some, ended up propelling the evolution of custom branded links. Now that all URLs posted to Twitter only take up 22 or 23 characters regardless of their actual length,
The main point of a URL shortener is to make the links in your tweets and other social media postings look neater and more professional and to make tracking easier. Having your own custom short URL offers benefits like consistent branding, brand awareness, and increased link trust. At this point, URL Shorteners had moved far beyond simple link shortening. They were now becoming valuable marketing tools for brands. Tools that could inevitably elevate your customer engagement online, and ultimately add value to your Brand’s ROI. ClickMeter Moves in to Offer Tracking And Help Marketers Optimize. A few of the URL shorteners were offering link tracking at this stage, but there was room for a lot more growth.