Use your own Bitly links in the newsroom
With custom short links, users can monitor web traffic more accurately.
The use of shortened links in social media releases is very useful, particularly to monitor web traffic. From the beginning, PressPage has used Bitly, currently the most popular short link service, with a variety of tools. It is now possible for users to use their own (customized) Bitly links, both in the 'share text' of social media channels like Twitter as well as for distribution. This way, monitoring web traffic to and from the newsroom can be done even more accurately.
Whether it's for a social media release or a tweet, the use of short (perma)links is useful for several reasons. It goes without saying that the use of a shortened permalink is essential for social media channels like Twitter, where it is 
important to use your space sparingly. Although Twitter reduces links automatically (up to 20 characters), it is better to register your own short link account and use it for all channels. An important aspect of the use of short links is namely the ability to monitor web traffic by keeping track of how many clicks a certain link generates; short link services are particularly well suited for this. It is also possible to manually adapt your shortlinks for a variety of publications, in order to keep track of the traffic generated per channel, allowing more accurate monitoring.
There are several short link services available, of which Goog.le, Bitly and Ow.ly, linked to social media dashboard application Hootsuite, are the most used. Bitly is currently the most popular short link service, with a wide range of tools: in addition to making and monitoring shortlinks it also offer the possibility of making bitmarks, the 'better bookmarks', that enable the storing and sharing of links.
Many companies go one step further in their use of shortened links and register their own domain of shortlinks. Examples include PressPage users Eneco and KLM, with respective shortlinks ene.co/11VSrNR and klmf.ly/ZdHsNd. A custom short link looks better, but it also generates trust and ensures the user that it refers to an authentic source.
Do not underestimate the power of a customized short link: its reliability can provide a huge boost of web traffic and give full control and ownership of your statistics.
Based on functionality and recognition, PressPage has chosen Bitly for shortlinks for distributional purposes: all links are automatically shortened to a bitty-link. Due to a recent update, it is now possible for users to use their own (customized) shortlinks in a release, both in the share module of social media channels like Twitter as in the distribution module. This way, the newsroom offers users even more possibilities for tracking and monitoring the traffic links generate.
PressPage is the leading content-sharing-platform technology provider for social newsrooms, virtual press centres, and online media hubs.Our technology is uniquely designed to add workflow efficiency and distribution effectiveness; allowing brands to tell an engaging and optimised online story that is published straight into the search and social worlds.
Professional UK bodies for public relations practitioners like the CIPR, PRCA, and IPRA all work with PressPage's newsroom technology.