Technical SEO
URL Shortening
URL shortening is the process of transforming a long URL into a significantly shorter alias using a URL shortener service (such as Bit.ly, TinyURL, or Google's former goo.gl), which redirects users to the original long URL when clicked. Shortened URLs are commonly used in social media, email marketing, and printed materials.
While URL shortening is useful for user-facing links in marketing contexts, shortened URLs in backlinks typically pass link equity through redirects. Screaming Frog can be used to follow redirect chains from shortened URLs to discover their final destinations and audit the associated redirect types (301 vs. 302).
Authority Links
Related Terms
Technical SEO
Redirect Chain
Refers to cases where websites are redirected to other sites more than once.
Technical SEO
URL
Refers to unique web addresses that provide access to a resource on the Internet.
Technical SEO
UTM
Refers to pieces of code that allow traffic-related information to be displayed and analyzed.
Technical SEO
Path/Subfolder
Subfolder refers to a folder on a computer that is located within another folder while a path refers to links formed by the ordering of folders.