How to Use Bitly to Share Links Easily with Students
When sharing online materials with students, long, complicated links can be a real barrier. They’re hard to remember, difficult to type, and often meaningless at a glance. That’s where Bitly comes in. Bitly is a free online tool that shortens links, allows you to customize them, and even organizes them for future use — making it one of the most useful tools for teachers managing digital content.
Why Shortened Links Make a Difference
Imagine you want to share a Google Doc or listening activity with your students. The original link might be several lines long and impossible to write on the board or read aloud. It also doesn’t tell students anything about the content. Bitly solves both problems by turning that long URL into a short, memorable link — one that you can share on a slide, write on the board, or even say out loud in class.
Step 1: Create a Short, Custom Link
Start by creating a free Bitly account (paid plans offer extra features, but the free version is more than enough for classroom use). Once logged in, click “Create New” → “Shorten a Link.” Paste your original link into the box, and Bitly will instantly generate a short version.
Better yet, you can customize the link to make it more meaningful. For example:
This tells you exactly what the link is — a Listening Online (LO) activity for B1 level, Class B. Customized links help you stay organized and make it easier for students to remember.
Step 2: Organize with Tags
If you plan to share many links over time, Bitly’s tagging feature is a lifesaver. Tags let you group links by topic, level, lesson type, or class. For instance, you could tag a link as Intermediate, One-Minute English, and Class B so that later you can search and filter your entire library in seconds.
Step 3: Share via QR Codes
Bitly also lets you generate QR codes for any shortened link with a single click. This is especially useful in classrooms or presentations — just project the QR code or print it out, and students can access the activity instantly by scanning it with their phones. This “frictionless access” makes it easier for students to start learning without extra steps.
Step 4: Track and Manage Your Resources
Once you’ve created and shared your links, Bitly also offers analytics tools (even in the free version) to track how many times a link has been clicked. Over time, this data can help you see which activities are most popular and which might need revisiting. And because all your links are stored in one place, you can easily reuse them, update them, or reorganize them by tag.
Final Thoughts
Bitly is more than just a link shortener — it’s a powerful classroom tool that helps teachers share digital resources more effectively. With short, memorable links, organized tags, and instant QR code generation, it removes barriers between students and your online content. Whether you’re managing dozens of listening lessons, sharing class materials, or building an online library, Bitly makes access quick, simple, and organized — all while saving you and your students valuable time.
By integrating Bitly into your teaching toolkit, you give students a smoother, more engaging way to connect with the materials that will help them succeed.
