{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Gov URL Shorteners and How to Use Them |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Gov URL Shorteners and How to Use Them",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/12/20/gov-url-shorteners-and-how-to-use-them/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Gov URL Shorteners and How to Use Them","summary" : "USA.gov offers two different types of URL shorteners – 1.USA.gov and Go.USA.gov. No matter which URL shortener you use, there are some usability, accessibility, and SEO issues you should keep in mind.","date" : "2013-12-20T09:55:30-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"michelle-chronister" : "Michelle Chronister"},"topics" : {
        
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy",
            "software-engineering" : "Software engineering"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2013-12-20-gov-url-shorteners-and-how-to-use-them.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2013/12/2013-12-20-gov-url-shorteners-and-how-to-use-them.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2013/12/2013-12-20-gov-url-shorteners-and-how-to-use-them.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2013/12/2013-12-20-gov-url-shorteners-and-how-to-use-them.md","slug" : "gov-url-shorteners-and-how-to-use-them","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/12/20/gov-url-shorteners-and-how-to-use-them/","content" :"\n\n\n\n  \n\u003carticle\n  class=\"dg-note dg-note--alert\"\n\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"dg-note__heading\"\u003e\n    \u003csvg\n      class=\"dg-note__icon usa-icon dg-icon dg-icon--large\"\n      aria-hidden=\"true\"\n      focusable=\"false\"\n    \u003e\n      \u003cuse xlink:href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/uswds/img/sprite.svg#report\"\u003e\u003c/use\u003e\n    \u003c/svg\u003e\n    \n      \n        Alert\n      \n    \n  \u003c/h4\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe 1.USA.gov URL shortener was fully decommissioned in 2019.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGSA will sunset the Go.USA.gov URL Shortener service on \u003cstrong\u003eSeptember 18, 2022\u003c/strong\u003e; this page will then be archived. See \u003ca href=\"https://blog.usa.gov/sunsetting-go.usa.gov-frequently-asked-questions\"\u003eSunsetting Go.USA.gov: Frequently Asked Questions\u003c/a\u003e for more information and their email address.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003c/article\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"image image-right image-right-legacy\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/08/250-x-84-Go-USA-gov-URL-shortener-logo.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Go USA gov URL shortener logo\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUSA.gov offers two different types of URL shorteners – 1.USA.gov and Go.USA.gov. No matter which URL shortener you use, there are some usability, accessibility, and SEO issues you should keep in mind.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"1usagov\"\u003e1.USA.gov\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1.USA.gov is powered by \u003ca href=\"http://bitly.com/\"\u003ebitly.com\u003c/a\u003e and open to everyone. If you go to \u003ca href=\"http://bitly.com/\"\u003ebitly.com\u003c/a\u003e and shorten a .gov or .mil URL, you will get a 1.USA.gov short URL. This is a free service and you do not need to register for an account.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnyone can see metrics for a short 1.USA.gov URL by adding a + to the end of it, such as \u003ca href=\"http://1.usa.gov/1hC68Jc+\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://1.usa.gov/1hC68Jc+\"\u003ehttp://1.usa.gov/1hC68Jc+\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"gousagov\"\u003eGo.USA.gov\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGo.USA.gov will turn .gov, .mil, .si.edu, .fed.us, .state.xx.us, and a few other government domains into short Go.USA.gov URLs. It’s a free service that’s only open to verifiable federal, state, and local government employees and you must register for an account.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll registered users can see metrics for short Go.USA.gov URLs. You can find them by using the details link in your history or this short cut: \u003ca href=\"https://go.usa.gov/shorturl/link/xxx\"\u003ehttps://go.usa.gov/shorturl/link/xxx\u003c/a\u003e. For example, the details for \u003ca href=\"http://go.usa.gov/WhzY\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://go.usa.gov/WhzY\"\u003ehttp://go.usa.gov/WhzY\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/a\u003e are available at \u003ca href=\"https://go.usa.gov/shorturl/link/WhzY\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://go.usa.gov/shorturl/link/WhzY\"\u003ehttps://go.usa.gov/shorturl/link/WhzY\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGo.USA.gov is open source, built using Drupal, and is maintained by GSA.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://blog.usa.gov/sunsetting-go.usa.gov-frequently-asked-questions\" title=\"USA.gov Short URLs\"\u003eLearn more about the differences between Go.USA.gov and 1.USA.gov short URLs\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"usability-of-short-urls\"\u003eUsability of Short URLs\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost short URLs do not provide clues about their destination. That’s why we created USA.gov short URLs. We wanted users to click with confidence and know they will reach official government information.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen creating Go.USA.gov, we assumed most users would be clicking short URLs, not typing them into a web browser. We’ve found that using short URLs in printed materials (posters, flyers, brochures, etc.) creates a poor user experience. \u003ca href=\"http://go.usa.gov/node/14\"\u003eRead more about this and suggestions for fixing it\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"accessibility-of-short-urls\"\u003eAccessibility of Short URLs\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShort URLs can actually be beneficial for people using assistive technologies because it shortens the reading time and the cognitive load that longer URLs can create. Imagine listening to \u003ca href=\"http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Government-Unclaimed-Money.shtml\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Government-Unclaimed-Money.shtml\"\u003ehttp://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Government-Unclaimed-Money.shtml\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/a\u003e being read aloud versus \u003ca href=\"http://go.usa.gov/WhzY\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://go.usa.gov/WhzY\"\u003ehttp://go.usa.gov/WhzY\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith that in mind, you should avoid using the short URL as the link title, such as “\u003ca title=\"USA.gov Short URLs\" href=\"https://blog.usa.gov/sunsetting-go.usa.gov-frequently-asked-questions\"\u003eClick here\u003c/a\u003e” (It’s never a good idea to use “click here,” but that’s a story for another day.) It’s ok to use a short URL as the link when you use actual words as the link title, such as “Learn more about \u003ca title=\"USA.gov Short URLs\" href=\"https://blog.usa.gov/sunsetting-go.usa.gov-frequently-asked-questions\"\u003eshort URLs\u003c/a\u003e.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can’t follow this rule when writing messages for social media because there isn’t the option to use a link title. Instead, give a good description first so users can decide if they want to click the link, such as “You can learn more about how to create short .gov URLs at \u003ca title=\"USA.gov Short URLs\" href=\"https://blog.usa.gov/sunsetting-go.usa.gov-frequently-asked-questions\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://go.usa.gov/Whtm\"\u003ehttp://go.usa.gov/Whtm\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.” \u003ca title=\"5 Myths About Social Media Accessibility\" href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/06/26/5-myths-about-social-media-accessibility-2/\"\u003eLearn more about making social media accessible\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"search-engine-optimization-seo-of-short-urls\"\u003eSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) of Short URLs\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eURL shorteners that use 301 “permanent” redirects do not have negative effects on SEO. Both Go.USA.gov and bitly.com (the service that powers 1.USA.gov) use this type of redirect.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCommercial search engines treat short URLs with 301 redirects just like any other link. The short URL’s destination page will receive the social promotion bump and other SEO data (such as anchor text and position on the page) will be passed on too.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis video explains \u003ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMkltd6dZzU\"\u003ehow Google treats short URLs\u003c/a\u003e. For more on 301 redirects, read these tips from \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/2011/10/06/managing-redirects-301s-302s-and-canonicals/\"\u003eBing\u003c/a\u003e and from \u003ca href=\"https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/93633\"\u003eGoogle\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}