Batch shorten URLs with bit.ly & Google Docs in 30 seconds

Wed, Oct 7, 2009

Tutorials

batch-shorten-urls-bit-ly

Have you ever had a long list of URLs that have needed shortening, but you didn’t fancy the arduous task of manually hammering your bookmarklet or another chosen method? Don’t worry, there’s a solution, that quite frankly I’m surprised bit.ly haven’t made more visible, as this is an extremely useful service.

If you visit the tools section of the bit.ly site, hidden away in the goodies section is a Google Spreadsheets Template created specifically for shortening batches of URLs – make sure you’re logged into your Google account at the time to access it. You’ll see a spreadsheet like below:

bit-ly-spreadsheet-template

Go to File > Make a Copy (or Ctrl + Shift + S), now you’ll have your own writable copy.

Simply paste your list of URLs in Column A (longUrl) – this calls the bit.ly API in column B, resulting in your batch of shortened URLs in column C.

Job done!

4 Responses to “Batch shorten URLs with bit.ly & Google Docs in 30 seconds”

  1. Mackeran Says:
    October 15th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    In truth, immediately i didn’t understand the essence. But after re-reading all at once became clear.

  2. Bunker Says:
    October 18th, 2009 at 8:27 am

    I liked it. So much useful material. I read with great interest.

  3. Clemento Says:
    October 20th, 2009 at 5:29 am

    Hmm… I read blogs on a similar topic, but i never visited your blog. I added it to favorites and i’ll be your constant reader.

  4. Crasty Says:
    October 25th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

    Thank you! You often write very interesting articles. You improved my mood.