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How to Create SEO-Friendly URLs

URLs are crucial to SEO. If you want people to find your content, then you have to make sure that the URLs you use help people find what they’re looking for.

There is a lot of information out there on how to structure URLs for SEO. However, it can be over-complicated and confusing at times. That’s why we’ve created our own guide on the best practices for structuring URLs for SEO.

What is a URL?

The Universal Resource Locator (URL) is what we type in the address bar of our browsers to access the internet. This includes web pages on both the World Wide Web and internet-connected file systems. The term originally referred to the location of a file in terms of its protocol, network address, and physical path.

Are URLs important for better search engine rankings?

The URL is one of the easiest ways for search engines to understand a webpage’s content and categorise it.

URLs are one of the most common elements on a website’s page. It is both a representation of the site’s information hierarchy and an indicator of a site’s authority.

SEO-Friendly URLs are a highly appreciated feature by search engines when it comes to indexing pages. This is especially true if you have a blog that gets considerable amounts of new content being published on a regular basis.

Use lowercase letters.

SEO-friendly URLs are a good practice for search engines to crawl. Lowercase letters are more easily read by search engine spiders than uppercase letters. By turning your title into all lowercase, you’ll make it easier for search engines to find and index your content.

Whether you’re using one of the most popular blogging platforms, like WordPress, or building your own custom site, make sure to keep your URLs lowercase. Doing so will help you avoid a few possible duplicate content issues.

Include the keyword.

When people visit the site they should be able to easily find what they are looking for and get all the information they need. This is why you should include target keywords in the URL structure of your blog posts and other pages on your site.

If you want Google to know what your page is about, make sure you include a relevant keyword in the URL. Choose a few relevant keywords to help your audience find your content, and make sure they’re connected to what’s on the page.

Keep it simple.

Finding the balance between search engine optimisation (SEO) and usability can be challenging. You want to keep your URLs short so that they’re easier to remember and share, but you don’t want them too short and unreadable for humans either.

It’s tempting to put all kinds of information into your URLs. You may even be doing so already without realizing it. What looks like a URL actually contains parameters and other information that’s meant for search engines or your database. This practice can lead to issues with duplicate content and irrelevant URLs that can negatively impact rankings and user experience.

Exclude dates.

Google is smart enough to figure out that there is always new content being posted and fresh content is always great for users and for search. Also, people like things that are more recent. If you were searching for something, wouldn’t you prefer to read something that was recently published by an authority in the field?

By removing the dates from the URL and the content itself, nothing will indicate that it’s “old”. It’s like a new product always being listed in search results even if it’s a year old.

Avoid using too many folders.

Categories generate traffic and have a lot of SEO value as big search engines (like Google) love websites that are well organiSed. 

However, when your website has too many categories, it can get confusing. Visitors will often hit the back button. Users interested in a specific topic might have to weed through several pages and categories before they find the information they need.

Conclusion

SEO-friendly URLs are an important part of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). A well-constructed URL makes it easier for search engines to crawl, and ultimately rank your page higher than a poorly constructed one.

If you need help with SEO, call us on 02 8211 0668 or email us at info@cornerstone-digital.com.au.

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Darlyn Herradura

A self-professed book and digital marketing nerd, Darlyn Herradura focuses on building trust between customers and businesses with the written word. She understands that creating valuable content is the best way to get found online and happily spends her time doing that.