Typing in long web addresses (URLs) can basically be a pain, and often leads to mistakes. There have been a number of sites which provide a facility to shorten the URL bit.ly and tinyurl are a couple of examples.

Google have their own version at goo.gl, just type in or copy and paste the URL you wish to shorten and click on “shorten” . The resultant shortened address makes sharing the address just a little bit easier.

For  example www.learnextreme.com becomes http://goo.gl/MssF, perhaps not the best example as the original URL is pretty short, however shortening comes into its own if you are looking to link directly with a page buried deep within a site.

Nothing extraordinary about the Google site except what is really cool is that goo.gl come with its own QR code generator.

Type in the shorten address in our example http://goo.gl/MssF and then just add .qr so it looks like this http://goo.gl/MssF.qr

a QR code will be generated for you which you can use when and where you like.

LearnExtreme QR code