Trust in the Little Things

Link URLs, Abbreviated URLs, and Trust

The Web is built on the notion of hyperlinks between pages of information that are spread across an otherwise diffuse network of server nodes. Domain names provide approachable handles for their underlying network protocol addresses—IP addresses—making them easier to enter, remember, and communicate. So, instead of requiring a URL such as http://192.168.1.23, a person can instead use http://mycompany.com.

However, beyond a site’s domain name, which represents its home page, URLs for a site’s internal pages have a tendency to become entirely too long and convoluted to remember. For example, I’d have difficulty communicating the following URL to another person in any form other than writing:

http://www.mycompany.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=
PROD&Product_Code=HA-PB&Category_Code=PS&Affiliate=conklink

In fact, I’d likely need to copy and paste the URL into some kind of document to ensure I didn’t make a mistake in typing it. We rely on bookmarks we’ve created, hyperlinks on sites, and search engines to locate information below the top level in a site’s structural hierarchy. And this very long URL tells potential visitors very little about the information they’re likely to see on the destination page.

Recently, we’ve witnessed the use of so-called friendly URLs in place of these computer-generated, code-centric addresses. The following example is still quite a mouthful, but starts to give me a hint about the nature of the information available on a page and, in so doing, inspires greater confidence that the information is worthwhile and relevant:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/jaques-150-sees-australia-
in-command/2007/11/16/1194766916961.html

Typing this URL also requires less effort on the part of the visitor.

Long URLs are very unwieldy and are especially unsuited to platforms such as mobile devices, which let people send messages via SMS—where character limits are in effect—and use social networking services such as Twitter. In response to this problem, a number of services have been developed that translate a real URL—such as those I’ve shown previously—to an abbreviated URL people can use in its place. One such service, TinyURL, would convert the example URL I gave for The Sydney Morning Herald into something like http://tinyurl.com/7tjy—a much more convenient form of the URL, but not without issues of its own.

When we embed a link in our content, our aim is to encourage visitors to explore beyond the bounds of the information on the current page by following the link we’ve provided. By doing so, we provide both a richer experience for visitors and greater value to them through their relationship with us.

However, abbreviated URLs do have some disadvantages:

• They obfuscate the real destination.
• They eliminate some of the contextual information that gives us confidence we’ll benefit by following the link.
• They require an even greater level of trust—blind trust.
• They introduce a third party into the technical architecture—and potentially, an additional point of failure.

Social Networking and Tiny URLs

In Twitter’s social networking context, shown in Figure 1, we might receive an abbreviated URL that a trusted source or friend has passed along as a recommendation. In this circumstance, we are probably willing to overlook the lack of a direct trust relationship, instead accepting our direct contact’s trust assessment of the destination page.

However, in other environments such as public message boards like Yahoo! Message Boards, which is shown in Figure 2, the use of abbreviated URLs would immediately elevate our inherent level of suspicion. We lack any personal history with a poster providing a link through which we could assess the URL’s associated risk.

Blogs operate more like trusted sources—like the blog Schneier on Security shown in Figure 3—although we might not have had prior exposure to a particular blogger. Our repeated visits to a blog let us assess an individual’s credibility, on which we can then base a decision on whether to follow an obfuscated URL.

For commercial sites, there is a more complicated trust relationship at issue. On one hand is the visitor’s assessment of our credibility as a purveyor of information. More prominent news sources such as the Daily Telegraph in the UK, shown in Figure 4, engender a greater degree of initial trust through brand awareness and their resulting credibility.

However, site operators must remember the fragile nature of online trust relationships and show respect for the trust and faith each visitor places in them. The use of abbreviated URLs—and the lack of transparency they entail—does not demonstrate such respect. We risk diminishing visitors’ trust in our site and our brand if we use abbreviated URLs.

Some guidelines for the use of abbreviated URLs include the following:

• Always provide descriptions of such links.
• Where possible, use meaningful links.
• Don’t assume visitors can understand or recognize abbreviated URLs. Add some explanatory information about such links.

Most importantly, remember that your brand image is in the hands of your visitors and customers. Take care to engender trust through all the interactions visitors have with your brand—both large and small. Respect their trust, and they will reward you by helping you build a positive brand image. Abuse their trust—even in small ways—and you run the risk of damaging a customer relationship to the point where a formerly loyal customer becomes a vocal opponent. Trust matters!