Example of URL redirection

When you browse the web, you often come across interesting links buried deep down in webpages. For example, this link goes deep into a website: http://www.amazingsandwiches.com/index.php/2009/09/spicy-toasted-ham-cheese-sandwich-with-fennel-seeds-and-salami/

The problem is obvious. The link is so long that is may be split across multiple lines of text, causing some mail programs to break it up, and rendering it useless. If you are using Twitter, the problem is aggrevated by the fact that each tweet can only be 144 characters long.

This is why we created GaGaURL. Using our conversion, we can take the above URL and generate a new, shorter version, which points at the exact same location. Here is is: http://www.q-7.us/vOkq

The 114 character long original URL has been reduced to just 22 characters, a 92 character reduction !

Other uses for redirection

There are a number of other situations where URL redirection may come in handy:

  • Providing links to 'mailto:' or 'callto:' adresses that won't be scraped by robots and added to spam lists
  • Hiding your company URL from targeted marketing campaigns

Unfortunately, redirection services can also be mis-used by spammers, to redirect users to crappy websites. For this reason, GaGaURL performs a spam-verification of all web-sites that are submitted, and does not allow spammy ones to be shortened. GaGaURL also shows all users a redirection verification page, with the long URL prominently displayed. This provides users the opportunity to cancel the redirect.

GaGaURL anticipates the rollout of many additional features that will further enhance the security and reliability of our service.

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Why 301 redirection matters

GaGaURL uses 301 redirection to route your GaGaURLs to their final destination. This is important, because the way a link is routed can affect the way search engines ranks them. By using 301 redirection, GaGaURL tells search engines that this is a permanent redirection. The search engine uses this knowledge to correctly transfer page rankings.