Shortening a long link using special services is a convenient way to make a URL more attractive to Internet users. There are many advantages to a short link, especially when you need to post it on social networks or get detailed statistics on visits. Do shortened links affect rankings in the Google search engine and other search systems? Fortunately, there is no difference for Google. The search engine is trained to understand short links as 301 redirects, so there will be no problems with ranking. Other search engines work similarly, so if you used a link shortener and shortened a long link and placed it on your website or social network, this will not harm your ranking.
However, there are several important points to consider when using short links that were created using special services - URL shorteners. Google usually does not index short links but goes to the final URL. Therefore, optimize the final page for Google as much as possible, because it is it that will be evaluated by the search engine. Short links can look spammy or suspicious to users, which affects the click-through rate (CTR). Therefore, make sure that your created short link looks as attractive as possible. It is better to use understandable URLs with keywords.
Short links themselves do not provide SEO benefits, but if they redirect correctly to a quality page on the site, they do not harm the ranking.
In order not to harm the ranking, it is better to use reliable and proven link shorteners. They will help create a stable short link that will be attractive to users and will work without problems permanently.
What are the advantages of shortened links? Short links look neater and are easier for users to perceive than long URLs, especially if these links have parameters and UTM tags. Short links definitely look better.
Some link shorteners provide data on clicks: geography, devices, and transition time. This information is used by marketers in advertising campaigns to assess effectiveness.
However, it is worth considering that if the shortening service stops working, all links may become inactive. Therefore, it is worth using only reliable shortening services with positive reviews from users.
You can find reliable link shortening services online and shorten long links to more memorable ones. It only takes a few minutes, and most services are free.