How to market a URL shortening service?

**CGM** · 02-10-2010 10:39 PM

Similar to bit.ly?

How does this free service make money?

I have a short (5 letters, includes the extension and easy to remember) and I am exploring the option of doing this.

Mine would be a simple, free, site with a clean layout and a form in the center of the page where you can paste a long link, click submit, get a short link just like that. Simplicity is the key here.

Just curious how one markets such a thing, and can create income off of it.

(This is just a feeler thread, not saying I am or will do it. Just exploring it.)

EDIT: And incase you are wondering, these services are used to make a long URL or link (like a news article) shorter, which then can be posted in Twitter, etc where you only have a limited ammount of characters available to use. Its also good on forums where signatures are restricted to so many letters, so you can have more links.

**joshuaeric** · 02-10-2010 11:39 PM

I would highly advise you do not go down that path.

The value of URL shorteners is the value you get by having so much data about URL's being shared.

**CGM** · 02-10-2010 11:57 PM

Yeah, it was just something I was thinking about today.

Really, the only way I could see it work and be worth it is if the said URLS opened within a iframe on my site. Like when you do a Google Image search, and select an image, you still have the google information at the top.

But, I just can't help think of how this could make sense if I wanted to earn anything.

I'm not trying to make it rich online, thats not my goal. I enjoy the webwork, but would like it to sustain itself...

Oh, incase you were wondering:

lsd.am lsd.fm lsd.tw are available. I was going to have a psychedelic themed site. LSD = Link Shortening Device, and when you submit the long link you want short, you click on, "Make it groovy!".

I may be a pint too deep, though.