Unless you're an SEO-type who relishes keyword content in your url, or a PR pro sending your news through a traditional wire service, a shortened url is a quick way to help your readers share your content. If you want your news article, blog post or press release to get viral why not make it easier on the reader by including a "pre-shortened" url?

I've begun to include a shortened url inside each of my blog posts and will continue to use them in my social media releases (SMR). The easiest way to include them in your post is to first, save the post. Then, use a url shortener service to shorten that post's url. You'll then need to go back into the post and add that shortened url. Pretty easy, but considering the amount of time you save your readers, it seems worthwhile doesn't it?

Here are the Top 5 Favorite URL Shorteners (as tallied in a Twitter survey by Brian Solis (http://briansolis.com) ):

1.  TinyURL - http://tinyurl.com/
2.  Bit.ly - http://bit.ly
3.  Is.gd - http://is.gd
4.  BUDURL - http://budurl.com
5.  Tr.im - http://tr.im

To learn more about these services, and others see Brian's Directory of Short URL Services: http://www.briansolis.com/2008/12/saying-more-with-less-directory-of.htm...

When we developed the PitchEngine SMR we wanted to make PR content as sharable as possible. By including a shortened url, in addition to a friendly url (which includes the release headline text), we've made it easier for people to direct-tweet their releases, or copy-and-paste the short links into their own networks and social sharing sites.

So, there you have it, a quick way make it easier for readers to share your blog posts, press releases and news articles via social networking methods.

Share this PitchEngine (http://mediapitch.ning.com) post via shortened url: http://bit.ly/b5aP

Tweet at me via http://twitter.com/pitchengine