Free URL Redirection, Free Domain Names (Subdomain Names), Shorter Web Addresses
It takes 11$ atleast to have a domain name like .org or .com or .netHence it is adviced to use services that provide apt .co.cc or .co.nr or .tk like URL's.
If your website has a long URL (web address) as a result of being hosted on a free web host, these free services provide you with either a free subdomain name or at least a shorter URL that you can publicize on your website. When visitors enter that shorter URL, they will be redirected to your actual website. Unless specified otherwise here, you may assume that the free services impose some sort of advertising on your site, whether a popup window, banner frame, text link requirement, or otherwise.
Also listed on this page are some services that say they provide "free domain names". In general, while this is correct in a manner of speaking, in that you can get some sort of domain name which you use for your website, be aware that you won't be able to get a
.com, .org or .net domain names. They are often some sort of domain name of the form x.y.z since the person running the service has probably bought a y.z domain name and are offering subdomains of this. The same arguments against using the free subdomain names provided by a free web host, given in the article Is it Possible to Create a Website Without Buying a Domain Name? The High Price of "Free" also applies to such domains. The services that provide these subdomain names may also provide DNS services as well so as to allow the subdomain name you sign up for to be directed to an IP address.If you can afford it, and you really want a permanent URL for your website, I strongly recommend that you buy your own domain name. There's just no good way around this. A step by step guide can be found in the article How to Register Your Own Domain Name. You may also want to read Important Precautions to Take When Buying a Domain Name.
Free Web / URL Redirection and Free Domain (Subdomain) Names
- TinyURL
- This is a URL shortening service that can redirect to any page on your website. Your URL does not expire. As far as I know, I think it uses a 301 (permanent) redirect.
- Bit.ly: A Simple URL Shortener
- This URL shortening service also gives you statistics on the links you shorten. Note that it also makes an archive copy of the URL you shorten (at the time you shortened it). The redirections are permanent, ie, they use 301 redirects.
- Su.pr
- This web address shortening service provides statistics on your shortened URLs, in terms of the traffic sent through the links (the number of clicks), the referrers (the sites that put those links and sent the clicks), etc.
- NE1
- NE1 is an ad-free redirection service with URLs like yourname.ne1.net and yourname.r8.org. This redirection service offers cloaked forwarding.
- Freedomain.co.nr
- This service provides you with a free subdomain name of the form www.yourname.co.nr. It provides URL cloaking or masking, and forwards the address via URL redirection to your actual website. It also supports path forwarding, META tags support, and Favicon support.
- UNONIC United Names Organisation Free Domains, JOYNIC and Smartdots.com
- UNONIC provides web forwarding for subdomain names of the form *.net.tf, *.us.tf, *.eu.tf, *.ca.tf, *.int.tf, *.edu.tf, *.de.tf, *.at.tf, *.co.at.tf, *.ch.tf, *.ru.tf, *.pl.tf, *.cz.tf, *.bg.tf, and *.sg.tf. JoyNIC provides you subdomain names of the form www.your-name.us.tt, www.your-name.uk.tt, www.your-name.eu.tt, www.your-name.ca.tt, www.your-name.de.tt, etc. Smartdots provides get subdomain names like www.your-name.net.tc, www.your-name.us.tc, www.your-name.eu.tc, etc. The forwarded subdomain names may be cloaked (URL cloaking) and have path forwarding. You also get access the web statistics for your subdomain, a catch all email address (all email messages sent to any address at your subdomain is forwarded to you), and support for your personal favicon.
- DotTK
- DotTK provides you with a domain name of the form yourname.tk which you can redirect to point to your existing URL. They can also forward email messages sent to that domain to your existing email address. You must have an existing website before you can apply, and you must receive a minimum of 25 visitors every 90 days.
- DNSAU.COM.RU
- This service provides you with subdomain names of the form yourname.com.ru, yourname.net.ru or yourname.org.ru. Your site must already exist on a web host that provides name servers to answer to the name you choose. You must be over 18 years of age to apply.
- da.ru Free WWW Redirect Service
- da.ru provides subdomain names of the form yourname.da.ru. They provide DNS zone support as well as web forwarding. The web forwarding appears to support path forwarding as well and cloaked URLs.
- HotRedirect
- HotRedirect provides you with a subdomain name like yourname.hothere.com, yourname.coolhere.com, yourname.homepagehere.com, etc. Your subdomain works with or without the preceding "www". You can hide your actual URLs, and the service provides path forwarding so that URLs like yourname.hothere.com/whatever.html and yourname.hothere.com/directory/whatever.html works correctly. This service places banner advertisements on your pages.
- ShortURL
- In exchange for a 88x31 button link back to them on your pages, ShortURL will provide your site with a subdomain name like *.yourname.shorturl.com, where * can be anything you want ("www", "anything", etc, or even just yourname.shorturl.com). It includes URL masking, traffic statistics, referral reports, path forwarding, frame killers, meta tag support and mirror management. Other domain names that you can choose from include vze.com, spyw.com, alturl.com, filetap.com, etc.
- Za.org
- You can get a free subdomain name, such as http://yourname.za.org or http://yourname.za.net. They discourage the use of this subdomain for commercial use; if you are a non-profit organisation, not-for-profit organisation or individual, you will probably have no problems qualifying.
- WebAlias
- You get three free short URLs for your site: http://browser.to/yourname, http://thrill.to/yourname, and http://WebAlias.com/yourname. In addition, they will hide your site's real URL, causing your users to only bookmark your WebAlias URL. They also provide free banner advertising, usage statistics, and the ability to restrict users accessing your site. EVEN <<<
