tinyurl.com is a service that provides shortened links for visitors – take a long link (like a PayPal payment link or affiliate) and turn it into something like:

http://tinyurl.com/66vgmr

Now this is a good thing. If you have affiliate links, for instance, it obscures the information (ClickBank links are notoriously easy to hijack, and this makes it harder to pull apart). As well, if you email links, shorter ones have the advantage of fitting on one line – spill over, and the link could be broken.

But tinyurl has a bad side as well…

…YOU DON’T OWN IT.

In the past, sites have built up lists of these links – and then sent them to ANOTHER site. Imagine building up a list of links (say, as links in an ebook you’re using to promote your site), and one day they all point to diet websites – or pornographic websites – or worse.

Or the site simply goes down – forever – and you lose your links.

Now this ISN’T a problem with tinyurl, but it has been with other services.

But a big problem with them is that you can’t edit the link after. So short, but not changeable.

Enter Dave’s Easy Links Plugin For WordPress.

This linking problem motivated me to write a solution – and finally, one that was a WordPress plugin. Now you activate the plugin, and add your links, getting back something like this:

http://ActiveBlogging.com/goto/easylinks

Descriptive names encourage you to click – and control on your own website means you’re safe.

But there’s another feature: easy editing. Unlike tinyurl, you can change the destination of a link.

Why?

• Take for instance you’re writing a report – add EasyLinks throughout, and then fill in the destinations later. AND CHANGE THEM WITHOUT CHANGING THE BOOK. This is perfect for a guide that might be used for years – redirect people to new sites, or changed lists, without editing the report that is already out there.
• Do a timed offer. Send emails out with timed offers – using EasyLinks. Once the offer is over? Change the link to another page – and the email sends people there instead.

It’s no coincidence I use it all the time. It’s an easy solution to linking in your sites.

You can read more about my tinyurl replacement for WordPress plugin here.