Little Things Make a Big Difference

When you send e-mail out to your clients, you may include a link to something on the web.  Perhaps an article like these examples: 

• New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/us/30bprefinery.html?_r=1
• AZCentral: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/30/20100830arizona-utah-deputy-shooting-capture.html

Those links are 100% accurate, and 100% ugly.  A free link-shortening service like bit.ly will convert those links to:

• New York Times:  http://nyti.ms/BPtoxicspill
  
• AZCentral:   http://bit.ly/suspect_captured

Bit.ly can track how many people actually clicked through to the article, enables you to "brand" your shortened links with your firm name, and much more.   Use it to make it easier on your readers.  All this is doubly true for links in printed materials.