One-Step Bitly URL Shortening from the Address Bar

Recently I had a chance to spend some quality time with the folks at Bitly, getting to know more about their terrific service. There's a wealth of data there if you dig in. Not all of my Twitter clients integrate with the Bitly API yet, but I find myself seeking out apps that do allow me to enter my account info since it gives me rich analytics and (hopefully) insights into how I can be more effective.

If you like Bitly, here's a killer tip that Andrew Coen, Bitly's co-founder, recently shared with our team. You can actually shorten a link in just one step right from the address bar in any browser, even a mobile one. All you need to do is either enter "j.mp/" or "bit.ly/" before the address of the page you're on and Bitly will then automatically shorten it for you. What's more, if you're logged into Bitly and it's integrated with your Twitter account, you can tweet right off the page it refers you to.

This has been a real time saver for me and also has me using their service even more.

Comments

[Mike Stenger]

Love this! Thanks for posting Steve, major time saver for sure :-)

[Timo Reitnauer]

Unfortunately this doesn't seem work with custom domains on bit.ly Pro.

[Vikas SN]

Wow! Cool Tip! Thanks for the tip steve.

[Allan Barr]

Even easier if you save bit.ly as a link on your browser bookmark toolbar, then you just click it & you're done!

[ioninteractive]

Awesome tip Steve, thanks for sharing! I just tried it out - definitely going to be a link shortening time saver.

[Laurie Lynard]

Brilliant! Thank you!

[brian murrell]

thanks for the tip (i read you on lifehacker). here's my little one up: add a toolbar bookmark with the following url:javascript:document.location='http://bit.ly/'+document.location;dandy.

[dragonsearchmarketing.com]

I didnt even know this existed! Thank you for the article. I will install this toolbar now and start working with it. Thanks for making my day easier!

[Ileane Smith]

Cool. I'm buzzing this one. Thanks Steve!

[Carlos Castillo]

Excellent tip Steve. I'm a big bit.ly user and really like their sidebar, but when working on another computer this will be they way to go.