8 URL Expanders to View and Investigate Shortened Links

Several years ago, I have posted the presentation devoted to the URL shorteners, and offered there some examples of when and how they can be potentially useful for the Internet users. However, there are opposite cases, when you get short URL might hide spam link or direct you to the fishing sites in order to capture personal information, or even worse, can redirect you to malicious web sites containing dangerous malware, which is unhealthy to your computer.

If you are not sure, what can be hiding behind the short URL, and you want to expand it to the real URL address, which will allow you to make more informative decision, if you want to go there, as usual you can get help from the free Web services. These services will uncover the original links, when you submit the questionable shortened URL.

This is a short list, selected by the platform.

Web-based Services

1. LongURL.
2. URL  X-ray.
3. Clybs.

Firefox Plugins

LongURL Mobile Expander.

Google Chrome Plugins

1. Tactical URL Expander.
2. ChromeMUSE. This plugin presents the possibility to expend the short URL, or shorten the real URL, working both ways.
3. Miniscurl Universal URL Shortener/Expander. The same as previous service, can offer both links shortening and expansion.

Android Smart Phones

Long URL Expander.

Free Top Level Domains from Dot TK

One of the readers asked to give overview of the free top level domains provided by Dot TK. I am using several of them for many years, and they serve as an additional traffic source for my Blogger blogs. However, I would not say that these domains fit everybody’s needs. If you register the attractive domain just to forget about it, you will not get any advantages, as it will disappear soon without traffic, no matter how low the requirements are. However, if you are serious to use it actively and promote your sites and business, that might be a good help since you can find excellent short domains for free, which are already costs millions on COM, NET, or ORG.

Dot TK is the country code top level domain registry that offers free domain name registration services.

Dot TK is the leading provider of free domain names - domain names that used to have mandatory commercial advertisements included on their site. From 2008, these mandatory advertisements have been removed from all the websites that bear a .TK domain name.

Dot TK domains are often used to rename long and hard-to-remember URLs into easy and memorable domain names with the .TK extensions. To prevent dormant (but desirable) domains and domain hijacking, all free domain names registered should have at least 25 hits every 90 days to stay active. This is a serious limitation to the users who plan to capture free domains forever and do not have any plans for their promotion and development.

This restriction does not apply to paid domain name registrants, who not only receive the user-rights but also get the licence-rights for the domains - a reason why medium and large-size companies buy their .TK domains.

Dot TK is a joint venture of the Government of Tokelau, its communication company Teletok and BV Dot TK, a privately held company.

Why you need Top Level Domain Name?

Your business website should definitely have its own top level domain (TLD) name. This means a name like yourcompany.com. It doesn’t mean a subdomain of someone else’s domain name, such as yourcompany.someisp.net.

Sometimes persons hesitate to register a proper domain name because of cost, lack of knowledge, or indecision. However, paying the nominal fee charged by the domain registrar for your own domain name can reap rich dividends.

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Internet address like (ignoring the http part) someisp.net/hosting-accounts/yourco/, or yourcompany.someisp.net, just doesn’t look as professional as yourcompany.com. It might be free (as in included with your web space) but it just doesn’t cut it.

Consider: If you put your URL on your letterheads, business cards, signs, et cetera, which Internet address looks more professional?

If you mention your URL on your radio advertising or to a customer over the phone, which one will be easier to remember?

As well, what if your web host goes out of business or you decide that you want to change to another provider. Now, you need to notify everyone that you have now changed to yourcompany.someotherisp.net. You will also need to change all your stationery, signs, and advertising to reflect the change.

On the other hand, the domain name yourcompany.com, could be transferred from one web host to another simply by informing your domain name registrar of the change.

So, to avoid losing business and incurring unnecessary additional costs, be sure you have your own top level domain name.

Limitations and Disadvantages

Here are some of the restrictions noted on the Dot TK website.

• You may register no more than three free domain names.
• The ownership of the free domain remains with Dot TK. This means that you can’t sell it. (Of course, if you pay for the domain you do own it and can transfer it to a new owner.)
• Also, if you don’t have 25 visitors come to your home page within a ninety day period, your free domain name registration is cancelled.
• You need to have existing web content somewhere so that your dot tk name can be forwarded to it.

Website: http://www.dot.tk/en/index.html?lang=en

55 Free Short URL Redirection Services

The Short URL redirection services are ideal if you want to replace your long website address (or even particular URL to the certain post) with an address that is short and easy to remember. You can create such a short and easy to remember website address (URL) and afterwards use it to browse to your website. In practice, this means that you choose a new sub-domain and thereby create a new website address. When your visitors click on your new Short URL they will automatically be redirected to the website addressed by your original URL.

There are several additional advantages of having short URL:

• Some long and complicated addresses might break up in the email text, and therefore become unclickable. User has to copy and past the URL to the browser to make it work.
• If you want to hide your referral ID in the address to avoid reader’s perception that you might benefit from his click on the link, this is a good solution.
• If you need to give the address by phone or SMS and do not want to mess up with long strings.
• If you want to check the profitability and effectiveness of different marketing channels, you can, among other methods, assign different short URLs to each channel to evaluate.
• Not that I am fan of the “black hat” sites promotion techniques, but having multiple redirection URLs for your site might be handy.

I am sure, that there are more reasons to have a free, nice, and easy solution of having an extra (new) site address. For your convenience, I have created rating list of the 55 top free services with brief description, rating, and access links at my favorite rating site RateItAll. To illustrate the concept, the main Rating List address is:
http://www.rateitall.com/t-26841-free-short-url-redirection-services.aspx