SEO URL Best Practices: A Complete Guide
- Lowri
- Mar 27
- 10 min read
Keyword research and developing a solid content strategy often take the spotlight, but don’t overlook the importance of your URL. A well-optimised URL is a simple and effective way to boost your rankings and make a big difference.
You might not think much about URL structure, but it’s a key player in SEO. It helps improve your rankings, enhances user experience, and makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site.
In this blog, we’ll explore some friendly best practices for creating SEO-friendly URLs and share some handy tips to help you optimise your website’s URLs for better search engine performance. Let’s dive in.
What Makes a URL SEO Friendly?
Overview of SEO-Friendly URLs
An SEO-friendly URL is a simple, descriptive, and readable web address that helps search engines understand a page's content.
It is also user-friendly, making it easy for people to share, remember, and navigate your site.
The Role of URLs in Search Engine Crawling and Ranking
Search engines crawl URLs to index your web pages. A clean, well-structured URL gives search engines a better understanding of the content it points to, which can directly affect your page's ranking.
For example, search engines are more likely to rank URLs that contain relevant keywords and follow a logical structure.
Factors That Contribute to a URL Being SEO Friendly
Relevance: The URL should reflect the content of the page.
Simplicity: Avoid unnecessary words, symbols, and characters.
Readability: Use simple language and a clear structure.
Anatomy of a URL
Understanding the structure of a URL is essential for optimisation. Here’s a breakdown of its components:
Protocol (https://): This indicates how the browser should access the web page. Always use HTTPS for secure and SEO-friendly URLs.
Domain Name (example.com): The primary address identifies your website.
Path (/product-name): This is your website's specific location or page.
Query String (?id=12345): Often used for passing data like session IDs but should be avoided when possible for SEO.
Fragment (#section): A section within a page that typically doesn’t impact SEO but can enhance user navigation.
Types of URLs
Static URLs
Static URLs are simple, unchanging URLs that are usually more SEO-friendly. For example: www.example.com/product-name. Static URLs are ideal because they are easy for search engines to crawl and index.
Dynamic URLs
Dynamic URLs contain parameters and are generated by databases. They often look like this: www.example.com/product?id=12345. These URLs are more complex for search engines to crawl and can lead to duplicate content issues, so it’s better to avoid them when possible.
SEO-Friendly URLs
SEO-friendly URLs are simple, descriptive, and keyword-rich. They are easy for users and search engines to read and understand—for example, www.example.com/seo-friendly-urls.
Why Does URL Structure Matter for SEO?
Improved Search Engine Crawling
Search engines use the URL to understand a page's content. A clean URL structure makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website efficiently.
Better User Experience
A user-friendly URL is more manageable for people to read, understand, and share. Clear and straightforward URLs improve click-through rates (CTR), indirectly boosting your SEO rankings.
Increased Keyword Relevance
URLs that contain relevant keywords help search engines understand what the page is about, improving the page’s ability to rank for those terms.
Reduced Risk of Duplicate Content
A well-structured URL can help avoid duplicate content issues across your website, which is critical for maintaining SEO health.
SEO URL Best Practices
A well-organised URL structure is crucial for SEO. It not only makes your site easier for search engines to crawl and index, but it also improves user experience.
Let’s dive deeper into the best practices for structuring your URLs:
1. Keep it Short and Simple
A clean and concise URL is more manageable for search engines and users to understand.
Long, complex URLs filled with unnecessary words can confuse search engines and make it more difficult for users to remember or share the link.
Short URLs are more readable and shareable and generally rank better in search engine results.
Best Practice: Avoid including irrelevant or excessive terms. Keep URLs as short as possible while still being descriptive.
Example: Instead of www.example.com/blog/2025/march/post-about-seo-tips, a cleaner URL would be www.example.com/seo-tips.
2. Use Hyphens to Separate Words
When creating URLs, use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) to separate words.
Search engines like Google treat hyphens as space, while underscores are considered part of the word.
This means that seo-friendly-urls will be recognised as three distinct words, while seo_friendly_urls will be seen as a single word.
Best Practice: Use hyphens for word separation to improve readability and SEO.
Example:
Correct: www.example.com/seo-friendly-urls
Incorrect: www.example.com/seo_friendly_urls
3. Include Keywords in the URL
Incorporating relevant keywords into your URL is a great way to signal to users and search engines what the page is about.
Keywords in your URL help increase the page's relevance for search queries, improving its rankings for those terms.
Best Practice: Ensure the URL reflects the page's content and includes targeted keywords related to your topic. Avoid keyword stuffing, as search engines penalise that behaviour.
Example:
URL for a page about SEO strategies: www.example.com/seo-strategies
URL for a page about web development: www.example.com/web-development-tips
4. Avoid Special Characters and Unnecessary Parameters
Special characters like &, %, $, # and unnecessary URL parameters (e.g., session IDs, tracking codes) can complicate indexing and confuse search engines.
These characters don’t add any value to your URL, and in some cases, they may even harm your rankings.
Best Practice: Stick to alphanumeric characters hyphens, and avoid unnecessary parameters like ?id=12345 or &session=abc.
Example:
Clean URL: www.example.com/product-name
Messy URL: www.example.com/product?id=12345&session=abc
If your site needs to use parameters for tracking or other purposes, consider using canonical tags to tell search engines the preferred version of the page.
5. Use Lowercase Letters
URLs are case-sensitive, meaning search engines can treat www.example.com/SEO-Tips and www.example.com/seo-tips as two pages.
This inconsistency can lead to duplicate content issues and hurt your SEO. It’s always best practice to use lowercase letters throughout your URL to avoid this problem.
Best Practice: Use only lowercase letters to ensure consistency and prevent duplicate content issues.
Example:
Correct: www.example.com/seo-tips
Incorrect: www.example.com/SEO-Tips
6. Maintain URL Hierarchy and Structure
A logical and well-organized URL hierarchy helps search engines understand the relationship between pages on your site and makes navigation easier for users.
Organise your URLs by category, topic, and product type (for e-commerce websites) to give search engines and visitors a clear structure.
Best Practice: Use a clean URL structure that indicates the relationship between pages, such as using categories or subcategories to group related content.
Example: For an e-commerce site, a product URL could be structured as www.example.com/electronics/smartphones/samsung-galaxy rather than just www.example.com/samsung-galaxy.
This shows the product's category and provides a better context for search engines to understand the page's content.
Summary of Best Practices for URL Structure
Keep it short and simple: Avoid long, complex URLs.
Use hyphens: Separate words with hyphens for better readability.
Include relevant keywords: Make sure your URL accurately reflects the content.
Avoid special characters and unnecessary parameters: Stick to alphanumeric characters for clarity.
Use lowercase letters: Prevent duplicate content issues and maintain consistency.
Maintain a clear URL hierarchy: Organize your content logically for users and search engines.
Following this URL structure and best practices improves your site’s SEO, increases usability, and boosts your rankings in search engine results.
SEO-Friendly URL Examples
When it comes to crafting SEO-friendly URLs, clarity and simplicity are key. Below are some examples that illustrate how SEO-friendly URLs can contribute to both user experience and search engine optimisation:
SEO-Friendly URLs
Example 1:
www.example.com/seo-friendly-urls
Why it's SEO-friendly: This URL is short and descriptive and indicates the page's topic, which is "SEO-friendly URLs."
Example 2:
www.example.com/how-to-improve-seo
Why it's SEO-friendly: This URL includes a relevant keyword phrase, "how to improve SEO," which helps users and search engines understand the page's content.
Example 3:
www.example.com/content-marketing-tips
Why it's SEO-friendly: The URL directly reflects the page's content about content marketing and includes a relevant keyword, making it easy for search engines to understand.
Example 4:
www.example.com/blog/understanding-backlinks
Why it's SEO-friendly: The URL is clean and hierarchically structured, showing the blog category and the topic of "understanding backlinks."
Example 5:
www.example.com/ecommerce/seo-for-product-pages
Why it's SEO-friendly: This URL is descriptive and contains relevant keywords for a page about optimising product pages for e-commerce SEO.
Example 6:
www.example.com/learn-advanced-seo-techniques
Why it's SEO-friendly: The URL is descriptive and provides insight into the page's content, targeting users interested in advanced SEO techniques.
Non-SEO-Friendly URLs
Non-SEO-friendly URLs are often too long, filled with unnecessary parameters, or fail to provide context about the page content. They can confuse users and search engines, harming your rankings.
Example 1:
www.example.com/product?id=12345
Why it's non-SEO-friendly: This URL contains unnecessary parameters, such as ?id=12345, that do not describe the page's content. Search engines cannot easily understand the page from this URL.
Example 2:
www.example.com/page1.html
Why it's non-SEO-friendly: This URL is too vague and doesn’t include any keywords that help describe the page. It’s also less informative for users, who may have trouble understanding what the page is about.
Example 3:
www.example.com/?session=xyz123&tracking=abcd
Why it's non-SEO-friendly: Including session IDs and tracking parameters makes the URL messy and difficult for search engines to interpret. It adds no value to the URL's meaning.
Example 4:
www.example.com/products/12345
Why it's non-SEO-friendly: This URL only indicates a product ID (12345) and lacks descriptive keywords that help search engines understand what the page is about.
Example 5:
www.example.com/blog/post?id=98765
Why it's non-SEO-friendly: The URL includes an ID parameter (?id=98765), which makes it challenging to know what the post is about without visiting the page. It also lacks any keywords related to the blog post topic.
Example 6:
www.example.com/abc/xyz/def.html
Why it's non-SEO-friendly: This URL is a series of nonsensical characters or categories with no descriptive context, making it impossible for users and search engines to understand the page's content.
Common Mistakes to Avoid with URL Structure
Overcomplicating URLs with Unnecessary Parameters: Extra parameters can clutter URLs and confuse search engines.
Keyword Stuffing or Excessive Hyphenation: Avoid overloading your URLs with too many keywords or hyphens.
Not Including Relevant Keywords for Content: Ensure your URLs accurately reflect the page's content.
Using Uppercase Letters or Special Characters: These can cause confusion and indexing issues.
Examples of URL structures in different industries
1. E-Commerce Industry
E-commerce websites often have product categories, individual products, and promotional pages. The URL structure should reflect the categories and subcategories for easy navigation.
Example URL Structures:
Homepage: www.example.com/
Product Category: www.example.com/electronics/
Individual Product: www.example.com/electronics/smartphones/iphone-12
Product Variant: www.example.com/electronics/smartphones/iphone-12/black-128gb
Sale Page: www.example.com/sale/spring-collection
This structure flows logically from the homepage to product categories, specific products, and variants.
2. Blog / News Industry
For blogs or news websites, content needs to be organised into categories and specific articles. The URL structure should allow for easy categorization of articles by topic or date.
Example URL Structures:
Homepage: www.example.com/
Category Page (Technology): www.example.com/technology/
Individual Article: www.example.com/technology/new-smartphone-launch-2025
Tag Page: www.example.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/
Archive by Date: www.example.com/2025/march/10/new-tech-trends
Here, the structure clearly separates content by category and individual articles while allowing for date-based archives.
3. Real Estate Industry
Real estate websites typically have property listings divided into types (e.g., apartments, houses), locations, and sometimes property status (e.g., for sale, rented). The URL should reflect these categories to help with SEO and usability.
Example URL Structures:
Homepage: www.example.com/
Property Listings by Type: www.example.com/houses-for-sale/
Property Listings by Location: www.example.com/properties/new-york/
Individual Property: www.example.com/properties/new-york/modern-2-bedroom-apartment
Filter by Price Range: www.example.com/properties/new-york/2-bedroom-apartment?price=500k-700k
In this structure, URLs are organized by property types, locations, and individual listings, making it easier for search engines and visitors to find relevant content.
4. Healthcare / Medical Industry
Healthcare websites often provide information about services, specialists, locations, and medical conditions. Clear, keyword-optimized URLs can improve user experience and help search engines understand the content better.
Example URL Structures:
Homepage: www.example.com/
Service Category (Cardiology): www.example.com/services/cardiology/
Doctor Profile: www.example.com/doctors/john-doe-cardiologist/
Medical Condition: www.example.com/conditions/heart-disease/
Location-based Service: www.example.com/locations/new-york/cardiology/
Here, the URLs categorize information by service, doctor, medical condition, and location, which helps users quickly navigate the site and find what they need.
5. Education Industry
Educational institutions, such as universities or online courses, often structure URLs based on classes, departments, faculty, and events.
Example URL Structures:
Homepage: www.example.com/
Course Catalog: www.example.com/courses/
Specific Course Page: www.example.com/courses/web-development/intro-to-html
Department Page: www.example.com/departments/computer-science/
Event Page: www.example.com/events/spring-graduation-2025
This structure ensures that the site is organized easily for prospective students to navigate, with URLs reflecting departments, courses, and events.
6. Travel & Tourism Industry
Travel websites often organise URLs around destinations, tours, accommodations, and travel deals. Clear URLs can help with SEO and improve the user experience, especially when searching for specific trips or services.
Example URL Structures:
Homepage: www.example.com/
Destination Page (Paris): www.example.com/destinations/paris/
Hotel Listings: www.example.com/destinations/paris/hotels/
Tour Packages: www.example.com/destinations/paris/tours/sightseeing-package
Special Offers: www.example.com/special-offers/paris-2025
The travel site organizes URLs around locations, accommodations, and services, making it easy for search engines to crawl and for users to find deals or information about a specific destination.
7. Software / SaaS Industry
URL structures often reflect product features, pricing, and customer support information for software-as-a-service (SaaS) or software companies.
Example URL Structures:
Homepage: www.example.com/
Product Features: www.example.com/features/
Pricing Page: www.example.com/pricing/
Blog: www.example.com/blog/
Customer Support: www.example.com/support/
Software and SaaS companies should keep URLs clear, concise, and descriptive, especially as potential customers look for specific product features, pricing, or support details.
8. Finance / Banking Industry
Financial websites typically have various services, such as loans, credit cards, accounts, and insurance. Proper URL structure can help users find the specific service or resource they want.
Example URL Structures:
Homepage: www.example.com/
Credit Card Services: www.example.com/credit-cards/
Loan Types: www.example.com/loans/home-loans/
Insurance Options: www.example.com/insurance/life-insurance/
Branch Locations: www.example.com/locations/new-york/
Financial sites need a structured, hierarchical URL that groups services and products to help visitors navigate quickly and improve search engine optimization.
Conclusion
A well-structured URL is crucial for SEO. Following best practices can improve your website's rankings, increase click-through rates, and provide a better user experience.
Audit your website’s URLs, simplify where necessary, and implement the SEO-friendly practices outlined in this guide.
Take the time to review your website’s URLs. Simplify, optimise, and ensure they align with SEO best practices to enhance your site’s performance and visibility in search engines.
Which URL is Best for SEO?
How to Optimise a URL for SEO?
How can I check if my URLs are SEO-friendly?