Another Good Reason To Avoid Tiny URLs
By Anna Johnson on February 23rd, 2009In response to our recent article, “Here’s Why NOT To Use Tiny URLs” Jason Hillard wrote in and added yet another reason to avoid them: firewalls.
It turns out that the toolbar that comes with at least one firewall upgrade is, by default, configured to block or warn users against visiting websites masked by the tiny URLs provided by TinyURL.com and Shmyl.com.
Apparently the maker of Jason’s firewall has done this to help its customers avoid landing on websites where they may erroneously download spyware or sign up for spam.
Not only does this toolbar block or warn users against visiting certain tiny URLs, but the fact that it blocks or warns against a given tiny URL is also just plain annoying.
But someone who is annoyed about being blocked from accessing a tiny URL won’t necessarily blame their firewall. They may well blame the marketer who uses the tiny URL.
Jason predicts that there will soon be tools and/or toolbars that will block scripts and add-ons that webmasters use for, say, advertising.
He writes:
“Right now, I have a browser which I can use to nominate what I want to see and what I don’t.
For example, I can block Flash displays from appearing. Why? ISP bandwidth. I am on dial-up, so everything loads slow. Thus, I get tired of waiting…and
waiting…for Flash displays to load.Soon there will be tools available to block things like Google Ads, banners of any kind or other plug-ins which web designers use for additional sales and revenue.
Liken it to spyware and viruses: whenever a virus is released, there is a counter-measure that follows soon after.
Thus, there may be counter-tools to enhance the visitor’s experience of your site, not detract from it.
See the difference?
Your visitor’s experience at your website is THE most important component of web design.”
What’s the message in all this? Stay attuned to your prospects, their preferences and the tools they’re using.
Whether it’s re-designing your website to suit the web browsers most of your visitors use… not using tiny URLs… or avoiding intrusive advertising scripts.
And, as Jason, says the bottom line is aim to enhance the visitor’s experience of your website, not detract from it.
Thanks for the heads-up Jason!
