A URL (Uniform resource locator) aka web address helps in specifying the location of a resource on the internet. This resource can be a website a webpage or some other application.
A URL is human-readable text (domain name) and replaces the IP addresses that the computers use to communicate with each other or to any server. The URL specifies the way in which that resource is to be accessed or retrieved from the internet; and this way of retrieving is called “protocol”, such as HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, etc.
The basic format for a URL is as follows:
Protocol://domain-name.top-level-domain/path
The top-level domain here means the type or category of a website. For instance, .edu for educational sites, .gov for governmental sites, .com for commercial domain etc.
Why SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) friendly URLs are needed?
Three main reasons could be given, they are:
- They give us and search engines (SE) a better understanding what the destination page would be about. Even on a web search, if the title tag is hidden or doesn’t tells much about the destination, then also the URL would indicate what the destination page would be all about. This improves the user experience, as they know what they have clicked on.
- URLs play a minor role in determining whether a page is relevant to the search query. The keyword used in a URL may also act as a ranking factor by increasing the site’s search visibility, but still URLs themselves don’t have a major impact on a page’s ability to rank. So, it may be an exercise in vain to create URLs for the sake of keywords being contained in them; better avoid doing this.
- Well-written URLs, which properly indicate their destination page, can act as an Anchor text in itself. These URLs could simply be used as links for blogs, forums, social media pages, online content, etc.
These are some of the ways, through which one can ensure SEO friendly URLs:
- Describe content
An ordinary user must be able to gauge the destination page by simply reading the URL. To achieve this, the URL must contain an appropriate phrase that indicates the page content. URLs must be kept as simple, relevant, accurate, and compelling, as far as possible. They can also contain numbers and codes, but it is better for the sake of comprehension that such things are avoided.
- Keyword inclusion
The most important Keywords could be used in a URL as it provides more information to users and Search Engines. If a keyword appears at the end of a URL, a Search Engine’s crawler may not give much importance to words at the end of URLs. Also, it is necessary to avoid stuffing keywords in the URLs unnecessarily as it may lead to penal action by search engines.
- Use Hyphens
Hyphens can be used to separate words in a URL. This increases the readability as well as its SEO. Use of hyphens instead of using Underscores (_) in between different words of a URL is preferred by Google. This is because hyphens are treated as spaces between words, while words that are connected by underscores are treated as a single word.
For instance,
Hyphenated: http://www.examplewebsite.com/page1/seo-friendly-urls
Underscored: http://www.examplewebsite.com/page1/seo_friendly_urls
- Lowercase letters in URL
Avoid using capital letters in any URL. Search engines can differentiate between lowercase and uppercase characters in a URL. This can lead to duplicate URLs and ultimately it may result in page rank loss and other issues.
For example, http://www.examplewebsite.com/page1/seo-friendly-urls is preferred over
HTTP:// http://www.examplewebsite.com/page1/SEO-friendly-URLs, for the reasons, explained above.
- URLs should be brief
For a webpage, it is better to have as brief a URL as possible. A shorter URL is easy to remember, read and type.
Fewer words in a URL receive much value from a search engine’s crawler. Too many repetitive or similar words in a URL might be seen as keyword stuffing by a search engine and may result in rank loss.
- Use Static URLs
The use of static, non-changeable URLs is preferred over dynamic URLs, wherever possible. Static URLs remain constant at each instance of page loading. Thus, they become friends for users and search engines to read. If possible, try to avoid unnecessary parameters in a URL, because they are the common features of a dynamic URL. Though one can have some flexibility in using parameters URLs prefer not to hard-code dynamic URL directly into a site.
- A bit of caution with Sub-domain
http://anywebsite.com/page1/seo-friendly-urls
It is possible that search engines treat a sub-domain as a distinct entity from the primary domain. This would affect SEO aspects such as trust value and link building. Use subfolders instead of sub-domains; until one has compelling reasons to use a sub-domain.
Optimized URL (preferred): https://www.examplewebsite.com/subject
Not optimized: https://subject.examplewebsite.com
- Limited folders
A URL should not contain unnecessary folders. They should contain just the needed amount of folders and words that are needed for the URL structure. The flatter the site structure, the better it is.
- Build a sound structure of URL for the future
If an organization’s website is to add more pages (in the future) that relates to its products and/or services, then the URLs might become a patchwork of sub-domains and conflicting paths to arrive at similar products. This is not good enough from a user as Google’s point of view as it sends confusing signals to them.
This may occur due to a lack of planning and communication within the organization. It is better to gather information from different teams of the organization about future plans product categories etc. and add the SEO knowledge to shape the site’s architecture. This would provide a more streamlined and better logically flowing URL structure.
Whatever may be the case, always keep the user in mind while creating a URL. A good and SEO-friendly URL helps in higher search rankings for a page and keeps the users tempted to a website. Since Google likes to change the rules of the game, it is better to keep one updated in the world of SEO for URLs among other things.