What Is Shortening and How Does a Shortened Link Redirect to the Original URL?

Updated

Shortening is the process of converting a long URL into a short one that, when opened, sends the browser to the original address through a redirect. It suits sharing links in places where length gets in the way — SMS messages, social posts, printed material, or chat — and it requires that the link points to a real landing page. On AI6, for example, you paste the full target URL, click Shorten, and receive a link in the form https://ai6.net/shorty that stands in for the long address.

What a long URL is made of

A URL is the full address of a page on the web. It can be as simple as a domain (example.com), but most shareable links carry more:

  • Domain — the site itself, such as example.com.
  • Path and folders — the location of the page, such as /superlongexampleofalink.html.
  • Query string — everything after the ?, made of key-value pairs like ?still=going&no_not_finished=just_yet. The question mark separates the URL from the query string, and these strings can run past 64 characters on their own.

A link with a long path and several query parameters becomes unwieldy in a text message or a post, which is the practical reason shortening exists.

How a long link becomes a short link

The shortener takes your full URL and issues a short code — a compact domain string that stands for the original. On AI6 the flow is:

  1. Paste the full and correct target link into the input box. The site warns that an incomplete or wrong link produces an error.
  2. Optionally select a link domain; it defaults to ai6.net if none is chosen.
  3. Click Shorten! and receive the compressed link for your page or campaign.

The result looks like this:

Input Output
https://www.exampleofalonglink.com/superlongexampleofalink.html/?still=going&no_not_finished=just_yet&so_on https://ai6.net/shorty

The short code is the piece after the domain. Behind it, the service keeps a record mapping that code to your original URL.

How the redirect works

When someone clicks or types the short link, the browser requests the short domain and code. The shortener looks up the stored original URL and responds with a redirect instruction, and the browser then loads the original page. The visitor sees the destination content; the long address is simply replaced in the address bar by the short one. This is why the short link only works while the mapping exists — the redirect is a lookup, not a copy of the page.

Practical limits to check before you shorten

Shortening is not unconditional. AI6's free version states its conditions plainly:

  • All links go through ai6.net — you do not get your own domain on the free tier.
  • No adult sites and no redirection sites — links are family-friendly only, and anything else is removed by the site's Defender.
  • 30-day no-hit limit — a link with no clicks within that window is subject to removal.
  • Free, registered use — the free version is described as free forever, with a fuller paid version announced as coming soon.

The site also states a suitability rule: if you are not using the shortener to redirect directly to a landing page, it will not suit your purposes. A link that bounces through another redirect, or that points to a file rather than a page, is a poor fit.

When shortening is the wrong tool

Skip it when the destination is not a landing page, when the link must pass through another redirect service, or when you need a branded domain and hit guarantees that the free tier does not offer. For those cases the announced multi-domain and paid options are the relevant path, not the free shortener. For ordinary sharing — a campaign link in a post, a URL in an SMS — the free flow above is enough: paste the full link, shorten, and share.