First, let me acknowledge that I’ve allowed a bit of scope creep here. Originally, I set the editorial calendar out to focus entirely on Twitter for the month of March. We’ll now extend that into April and cover the adjacent URL topic here in three parts, the second of which is this one and which focuses on an issue with using URL Shorteners in and with Facebook.
Last Friday, I referenced an article from CIO.com that spoke to the “web ecosystem,” which is a subject that could take over my entire attention span if I gave it the chance. The aforementioned article links back to this post from Joshua Schacter. Schacter’s post may be a bit heady for the beginning social marketer but it’s an outstanding piece containing essential information for any user, so it’s a strongly recommended read. If it gets too thick, don’t vanish; keep reading and you’ll find the important stuff. If you have questions about what you read, I’m more than happy to respond.
One item Schacter illuminates is an issue I encountered when experimenting with URL Shorteners within Facebook and subsequently hashed out with Mac Heller-Ogden, the creator of shortening service pd.am.
The Situation
Here’s what I encountered: I received an email notification that I had been invited to a book signing; an event that was scheduled on Facebook. I clicked the link and logged on to Facebook, which took me directly to the event page for my RSVP. While I was there, I needed to solicit participation in a survey we had crafted and published on behalf of a client. So, in a separate browser window, I opened and copied the URL from SurveyMonkey. I then visited one a URL Shortener site, created a shortened URL for the survey, and pasted that truncated web address in the link attachment portion of my business Page’s status update.
Good thing Facebook provides previews. The shortened URL pointed not to my survey but rather to the Facebook Page for Ocean Pacific (bringing back memories of corduroy shorts, wayfarers, Vans, The Psychedelic Furs and generally wishing I was cooler so girls would talk to me).
Yes, I could have simply pasted the longer URL into Facebook and it would have shown up on my Twitter feed as a bit.ly link. If I’d done that, though, I wouldn’t have encountered this learning opportunity.
The Explanation
Here’s how Ogden explains Schacter’s “layers of indirection,” specific to my Facebook encounter:
The “problem” with Facebook is that you can be on any number of different pages without the URL ever changing so your URL shortener can’t always know exactly what resource you’re intending to minify. They’re designed to minify the entire link of the page you’re on. This includes what’s called the URL fragment (anything after the # sign), which Facebook uses profusely to control navigation across pages. The URL fragment was not designed for this particular use, so this exacerbates the problem in using a third-party URL shortener with Facebook links.
A Solution in Three Parts
- Always check your links before publishing them.
- Use shorteners that have worked for you in particular environments. Don’t assume they’re all the same, or that they all work the same through different firewalls and log ons.
- Minify the actual source, not a “middleman.”
It’s like the problem at Christmastime: You plug the outdoor lights into an extension cord and that extension cord into another extension cord and that cord into another extension cord and that cord into a power strip along with a bunch of other extension cords and then you flip a switch and short out your fuse box (Not that I’ve done that myself. Not this year, anyway). Plug the lights directly into the wall socket and you’re probably okay.
Next Friday: An in-depth look at Pixel Dreamer’s Automatic Minifier, the best URL Shortener of which you’ve never heard.
Hanbery Marketing's Swift Kick
- The Sales Funnel and Social Media, Part III
- URL Shorteners, Part 1: Recommended Resources
- Job Search and Social Media Part III: Free Tools | Hanbery Marketing
- URL Shorteners, Part 3: The Poop on pd.am
- Job Search and Social Media, Part II | Hanbery Marketing
Swift Recommendations
- The 6 P’s Of Marketing (Resource Nation Blog)
- Bad bosses rule the workplace (Techknow Bytes)
- When the boss is the problem (Techknow Bytes)
- Social Media Marketing and the Year of the Contest (Resource Nation Blog)
- Talking ‘bout a Revolution: A Manifesto on better understanding the collapse of the music industry and identifying some ideas and strategies for building success, amidst so many unknowns in the musi (ryanwines)
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