As the name itself suggests, SEO-friendly URLs focuses on web bots. But there is a twist, it even helps the readers understand the webpage better. SEO-friendly URL is one of the key strategies that is used while working during on-page optimization.
You might have come across this term many times. Usually, folks who are working regularly on SEO activities are closely related to the subject. These SEO-friendly URLs helps to optimize the link for better crawlability by search engines.
By properly structuring the URLs can help your website to get better traffic as well as improve user experience. These are much required in 2021 because google is continuously evolving its algorithm to improvise its ranking metrics.
SEO-friendly URL is one of the major criteria for which the algorithm gives scope. To optimize the URL structure is very easy and anyone can do it. In this blog post, I will talk about what are SEO-friendly URLs, how can you write one, and the common FAQs.
Before understanding what is SEO-friendly URL, let us understand what is a URL.
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What is a URL?
URL stands for uniform resource locator. Basically, these are the link address that is subjected to every webpage or a blog post. The unique descriptive text that you can find in the search bar, is an identity for the respective page of the website.
What is SEO-friendly URL?
As the name itself suggests, URLs have been developed for SEO purposes.
But in this recent times, it doesn’t only benefit for SEO purpose but also helps for better engagement. Because whenever a user enters any webpage of a website, and when they find the URL structure that is clearly understandable and readable. Then there creates an engaging experience between the website and the user.
This is how SEO-friendly URLs work for the search engine as well as the audience.
If we have to talk in detail regarding SEO-friendly URLs, it is all about inserting the primary keywords that your webpage is focusing on. When you use the SEO-focused keyword terms within the URL, then there are high chances for your web page to rank on the search engine.
It is one of the primary criteria when you are optimizing on-page SEO. And this can even be considered as one of the ranking factors for a website.
Benefits of SEO friendly URL
Whenever you develop a URL that is SEO friendly, then there are a lot of benefits that you are going to achieve from it. Understand each of its benefits and how it influences the performance of your website.
1. Helps search engine crawler to understand the content better
When you use the SEO-focused keyword terms from the landing page within your URL, it will be convenient for search engine crawlers to understand the content better. Because the usage of focus keywords helps the search engine to determine what is the content of all about.
This is one of the major ranking factors that is used by SEO experts extensively. When the search engine crawler goes through your web page and analyses the URL, it gives a major boost to your SEO campaign efforts.
2. Readers can get to know about the content
Whenever the user is going across your website or blog post, if the URLs are SEO friendly then it will be convenient for them to understand it. This plays a key part along with the title and description of the web page. You need to ensure that the URL should not overlap with any other web pages.
URLs act as an identity for the webpage. When you can use suitable keywords that are relevant to your landing page, then it is going to be resourceful for your readers. This majorly impacts user engagement with the website. As you know that how user engagement plays a key role in the better growth of a website.
3. Improve CTR rate
When a user types a search query on any search engine, and your website listing shows up. The primary criteria for the user would be to check the title description, meta description as well as URL. When the users can relate the title and the meta description with the URL. They will click your organic listing from the search engine. As this satisfies their criteria of searching information from the web.
Getting a better CTR rate is a constant effort. Search engine marketing and SEO experts strive hard A/B testing their title and meta descriptions. But URL is something that can’t be edited. So when you can structure the URL properly, this will create a vast impact on the search engine listing. This will eventually lead to receiving better clicks.
4. Ranks your web page
Google had commented a few years back that SEO friendly URL is one of the major factors for web pages to rank. But after this strategy was extensively used by Digital marketers, they started to give less importance to it. Even then, this strategy can’t be completely forgotten. There are still reports suggest that having an SEO optimized helps your blog post to rank.
The key essence structure of an SEO-friendly URL would be e utilization of clear subjective terms within the URL. When this strategy compensates for the page title and meta description, this can easily rank your web pages on the search engine result page.
5. You can achieve social shares
When the URL is short and descriptive, it is convenient for your users to share your blog across social media platforms.
Let us consider the example of Twitter. So in Twitter, if you have to force a long URL, it is troublesome. Because the tweets are limited to 280 characters. This will be hard for a user to enter a subject with a long URL.
It is not only about the length of the URL, it also depends on how properly you have a structured the URL. If it is clean and clear, this makes a user share it easier. As well as you can get better popularity through social shares using this strategy.
How to create an SEO-friendly URL?
Here is a step-by-step guide for creating an SEO-friendly URL for the website. Evaluate with these tips and optimize URL structure accordingly.
1. Research for focus keywords
Whenever you are coming up with a blog post, you might have one primary focus keyword. You need to use the primary focus keyword within the URL. You also need to ensure that the primary keyword should be short in length. Only then it creates an engaging experience for the readers.
Example: www.website.com/blog/seo-checklist
Focused keywords within your URL helps to rank your website easily. Ensure that you do not overoptimize by stuffing keywords, as this can lead to a negative impact.
2. Never use capital letters
It is ideal for you to use lowercase letters within your URL structure. Because there are some issues found with some web services when you mix up the style of the letters. That’s the reason, you always need to ensure and make it mandatory across your web pages to use lower case letters.
This even helps you to reduce any problem in URL. Because when you follow a URL structure guideline, then there are fewer chances for your URL to be affected. This also helps your readers to read the URL structure better.
3. Avoid usage of special characters
Special characters can be the symbol or any other punctuation mark. Some of the special characters are currency symbols, underscores, and so on. These elements confuse the search engine crawler and your readers.
Example: www.website.com/blog/seo?=tool$_2021
Apart from the hyphen, you can not use any other special characters within your URL structure. Because sometimes the URL structure when using special characters can break down. The healthy practice would be to try to utilize the subjective description as far as possible.
4. Cut down unnecessary words
Always focus on the primary set of keywords. When you use unnecessary keywords within the URL, the length is going to get extended. This affects the SEO friendliness of your URL structure.
Example: www.website.com/this-is-a-service-page
Instead of that, you can use this.
Example: www.website.com/service-page
If you see the above example this is how you can make the URLs more SEO friendly.
A short URL is always engaging for your readers as well as the search engine to understand the web page efficiently.
5. Maintain the relevancy of URL
Try to use the same keyword for the title, meta description, and as well as H1 tag of your website. You can mix up the sentence by a combination of words, but the primary keyword should be present there. You can do this based on the landing page content relevance.
When you maintain the relevancy of URL, you can easily boost your SEO score. As URL acts as an identity for a web page, this helps readers to relate the content and URL structure.
6. Avoid using date and year
This is one of the major mistakes that content publishers make. When you use year and date within the URL structure, the content will be limited to a specific period. You always need to ensure that the content that you publish is timeless. This is one of the major ways to keep your content evergreen and visitors coming to your webpage.
Example: www.website.com/blog/new-web-post-2021
If you see the above example, you will get an idea of why you need to avoid using date and year.
As the day passes by, you can easily update your content and keep your blog post rankings of float on the search engine. When they find that the date and year are fixed within the URL, visitors and search engine tend to shy away.
7. Avoid auto-generated permalinks
This is popularly found in CMS platforms. You get a permalink that is automatically generated with the help of page IDs. Please refrain from using this technique as you can configure the permalinks according to blog posts or web pages easily.
Example: www.website.com/p?=123
When you see the above example, this looks so disengaging for readers. This also creates confusion for the content publishers and readers. As they can not understand what message does the URL wants to convey.
You can also manually check the URLs through the slug section that has been provided. This is generally found in the page or post editor of the website.
Best URL structure examples
Here is the best way to optimize SEO-friendly URLs described by MOZ.
You can adapt the same technique and develop it in the same way for your website. Ensure that you do not mess up with the existing page URL. Even if you wish to do it, consider using 301 redirects after changing the URL structure.
When you see the above examples, you will get an idea of how you need to optimize the URLs for SEO purpose. By having a properly optimized URL structure, you can achieve better CTRs that will result in growth in traffic.
FAQs for SEO friendly URLs
Here are some of the common questions raised by content publishers while optimizing an URL.
How many Keywords do I need to put in the URL?
Frankly, there is no limit to the keywords that you can put within the URL. But it is recommended that you use 3-5 focussed SEO keywords within the URL structure. This will easily help to enhance the appearance of the URL structure and the search crawler will also appreciate it.
What is the maximum character count for a URL?
The maximum length of a URL structure ranges around 2048 characters. But do not consider this limit and stuff your keywords. For SEO-friendly URLs, it should be under 100 characters. This will easily boost the search relevancy as well as URL structure.
Check the length of your URL using this free tool: Character Count Tool
How to find the right keywords for URL?
Depending on the content of the web page, you need to use keyword research tools to generate keywords. Analyze the top-performing keywords which have high search volume. Shortlist the top-performing keyword and insert it within the URL. With this technique, you are bound to receive a good amount of traffic.
How many categories can I include within the URL?
You can utilize up to three categories within the URL. This not only helps to search crawler to go across the web pages but also creates a navigational kind of platform for the readers. If you do not wish to include categories in the URL structure, there is nothing mandatory. It is purely dependent on you and how you want to position your website.
How can I convert my existing URL to SEO-friendly?
This step requires technical assistance or you can even do it if you are well versed with 301 redirect technic. There are a lot of plugins that you can find in the market that you can redirect URLs of your pages. If you wish to do it manually, you can redirect the URL by editing the .htaccess file.
Note that after making any URL changes, you need to upload the sitemap in the search console for reindexing.
To sum it up
No doubt that an SEO-friendly URL is one of the major factors in terms of on-page optimisation. This strategy can’t be undervalued nor ignored for folks who publish content on the web regularly.
For better shareability, user engagement, and conversion, SEO-friendly URL optimization is a must.
SEO-friendly URLs’ main motive is to help your website readers and the search crawler, this will create a significant impact in terms of SEO score.
If you are planning to restructure your website URLs, ensure that you get proper consultation from the experts. Because .301 redirects can make or break the entire website.
Let me know your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below.
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How to write page title and description?