Which one is better? Obviously, the Tiny URL is much easier to memorize or work with. It fits where space is limited such as IRC channel topics, text messages or email signatures. A Tiny URL is perfect for posting to a blog or forum. Hide MySpace URLs. Create profiles for Facebook or other social networking sites. Share URLs through email and not worry about links wrapping or breaking. Shorten the link to your homepage and then use path forwarding to any page or subdomain on your site by simply adding the correct extension. You also have an option of creating links based on your desired keywords! Ebay auction pages, YouTube addresses and map links are notoriously long. Make into Tiny URLs before sharing them. Hide or redirect URLs. Have an address that you don't want to reveal... such as an affiliate link? Cloak and redirect it - the recipient will only see a short address containing the tiny.cc domain. URL Basics Uniform Resource Locater is used to specify addresses on the World Wide Web. A URL is the basic identifier for any resource found on the Web (hypertext pages, audio files and images). Here are some advantages to a short or custom URL: # People sometimes guess the domain name of sites they have not visited before; so pick a name that describes your blog, company or brand. # Even when people have been to a site before, they will often try to guess or remember the site name instead of using a bookmark or history list; so create a memorable domain name that is easy to spell. # Shorter URLs are better since people often type them manually. # Social interface to the Web relies on email and networking sites. When users recommend web pages to each other, email and bookmarking sites are second only to search engines; so shorter is better. URLs greater than 78 characters long will usually wrap across a line feed, increasing likelihood of breaking. # Some email clients impose a length limit at which lines are automatically broken; requiring the user to paste a long URL back together, rather than just clicking on it. A short URL alias is much less likely to be broken. Parts of a URL # Web addresses commonly have three parts: Scheme: //Host /Path # http goes to the left of the colon. The host name is an IP address or DNS name. The file path is location of the file (often it is located within sub folders or sub sub folders which is why the URL ends up being so long). # Here is a simple example: http://tiny.cc/example.php (http: is the scheme. //tiny.cc is the host. And /example.php is the path). # The period is called dot and forward slash is justslash. Empty space is never used in a web address. # Two other often used parts include a ?query and a #fragment. A #fragment or fragment identifier is optional and can be used for multiple things. One function that it can have is to point to a specific part of a webpage. This is useful if the page is long and requires a lot of scrolling. The #fragment location can be added to the end of a tiny URL and take the browser to an exact location on the page, rather than just the default beginning of the page.