SEO friendly URL

Did you know that the URL structure is one of the important factor in improving your website’s Search Engine Optimization? It is one of the most overlooked elements. Yet it plays a crucial role in both Search Engine optimization and User Experience. An SEO-friendly URL can significantly enhance the searchability of your website while providing a better overall user experience.

In this blog, we will explore how to create an SEO-friendly URL. This post will provide valuable insights into crafting URLs that enhance both website performance and user experience. You will also learn the best practices for creating SEO-friendly URLs

What is a URL?

URL means Uniform Resource Locator which is an address of a webpage that directs a browser to a particular resource on the internet. It serves as a method to locate and retrieve a resource such as images, webpage or file. Each webpage has a unique URL. Each URL consists of these elements Protocol, Domain, TLD, Extension and Slug.

What is SEO-Friendly URL and its Importance?

When crafting an SEO-friendly URL, It is important to consider both search engines and users. It should contain relevant keywords that help search engines understand the content of the pages, as it also helps in creating a hierarchy of your site’s content, which can improve navigation and internal linking.

Importance of SEO Friendly URL

  • Improves User Experience – It makes easier for a user to understand what page is about. When user can easily read or understand a URL it is more likely that user will engage with the content.
  • Increase Click Through Rates – A URL is among one of the first things that user notices on Search engine result pages, so a well crafted URL can lead to a high CTR.
  • Improves Search Engine Rankings- The URL is one of the various factors considered by search engines that define the relevance of a page. It helps the search engine read and understand the content of your pages
  • Easier Crawling and Indexing- A well-structured URL helps the crawlers of search engines understand and categorize the content of each page. It provides better interlinking opportunities, which positively affects the overall SEO of your site.

Important Characteristics SEO friendly URL

  • Short and Simple – URL should be concise and easy to understand. They should clearly reflect the content and purpose of the page, making them easy to remember.
  • Incorporating Keywords – Always add relevant keyword to your URL, as it helps improve page relevance and visibility in search result.
  • Avoiding special characters –avoid using special characters such as &, %, $, @, or others, which requires encoding, causes issues for search engines and make them harder to interpret.
  • Use of Lowercase Letters-URLs should be written in lowercase letters, as they are case-sensitive. This helps avoid confusion and ensures consistency across different browsers and platforms.
  • Use of Hyphens-To separate words, hyphens should be used, as search engines treat hyphens as word separators, not spaces or underscores.

Best Practices for crafting SEO Friendly URL’s

1. Adding Keyword in URL

It is important to include keyword in your, as it helps both users and search engine bots understand the content of the page. Try inserting the primary keyword, as it improves the chances of ranking.

For Example:

As you can see the first URL clearly indicates the context of the page whereas the second one lacks context.

2. Go for HTTPS

With the rise of cyber related crime these days, internet user wants to be sure they are using a secure connection.

 HTTPS is the primary protocol used to send data between a web browser and a website. HTTPS stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPS is encrypted in order to increase security of data transfer. It is provided to those websites that have purchased an SSL certificate.

3. Keep URL Short and Concise

Try to keep your URL name as short as possible because in this case short is better. Shorter URL’s are easier to read and understand. That is why most of the people tend to keep their Domain name short as well.

The less complicated the URL, the easier it is for users to find what they are looking for.

For Example:

As you can see first URL is more concise and easy to remember compared to the second one, though both serves the same purpose.

4. Use Hyphens not Space/Underscore

While creating a URL use hyphens instead of space or underscore as search engines understands hyphens as word separators. Using spaces or underscores can negatively impact your ranking.

For Examples:

  • HTTPS://www.abc.com/blog/short-url
  • HTTPS://www.abc.com/blog/short­­_url

First link is the correct way to write a URL.

5. USE of Lower Case Characters

  • Google does not consider letter case in itself as an issue, but should be kept consistent across individual pages because Google treats URLs as case sensitive. So, to avoid confusion and ensure consistency always use lower case letters in your URL’s.

    For Example:

6. Avoid Using Date in URL

Avoid including dates in your URL, as they make your file path longer and may seem like a good idea for time-sensitive content. However, over time, they can make the content appear outdated and less relevant. Dates can also cause issues with robots.txt, such as blocking certain content accidentally.

For Example:

7. Never use Characters in URL

Using special characters in URL are difficult to read and interpret by search engines they may negatively affect search engine optimization. SO, it is best to avoid using special characters like &, %, $, @, and ? in your URL’s.

8. Avoid using Numbers in URL

Avoid using number in your URL’s, as they can confuse users and make it harder for search engine to understand the content. Include descriptive words instead of numbers in your URL.

9. Avoid using dynamic url

A dynamic URL is a web address that changes based on what the user is looking for. Dynamic URLs often contain symbols like ?, =, and &, and can be difficult for search engines to crawl, hindering SEO efforts. Dynamic URLs are commonly used on e-commerce sites, search engine pages, or social networking sites. In contrast, static URLs remain constant and are more SEO-friendly.

For example:

The second example is better because it has no dynamic elements.

Conclusion

Crafting SEO-friendly URLs is a critical yet often overlooked aspect of improving both SEO and user experience. By ensuring that URLs are clear, concise, and relevant, websites can significantly boost their search engine visibility and provide a better navigation experience for users. Key practices like incorporating relevant keywords, using hyphens, avoiding special characters, and keeping URLs short and straightforward will not only help search engines index your pages more efficiently but also improve the overall user experience. Furthermore, making sure URLs are HTTPS-secured and avoiding unnecessary use of numbers or dates will enhance trust and usability. In today’s highly competitive digital space, even small optimizations like these can contribute to higher rankings, increased traffic, and ultimately better engagement from users. As you implement these best practices, your website will be better positioned to attract and retain visitors, all while enhancing its overall SEO performance.