How To Write SEO-Friendly URLs (& Why Most People Get Them Wrong)

Why URLs matter more than you think

Here’s something that surprises a lot of people: your URL is often the first thing a potential visitor reads before they even click.

When your page appears in a Google search result, the URL sits right there under the title – and users scan it in a split second to decide whether your page is worth their time. A clean, descriptive URL builds trust. A messy, cryptic one does the opposite.

While it’s a minor ranking factor in Google’s algorithm, URL structure still earns its place. It can:

• Reinforce topical relevance
• Improve your click-through rate in search results
• Make your site easier to crawl and understand.

So, why not fix something so simple?

Think of your URL as a tiny piece of your SEO strategy. It’s connected to your keyword approach, your site architecture, and your overall user experience – all things that feed directly into how Google evaluates and ranks your pages.

The anatomy of a good URL

A great URL doesn’t happen by accident. There are five things that separate a clean, well-optimised slug from a forgettable (or harmful) one.

Keep it short

Aim for under 60 characters where possible. Shorter URLs are easier to read, easier to share, and less likely to be truncated in search results. They also tend to be less hierarchically complex – which Google generally prefers.

Keep it clean

Strip out symbols, tracking strings, session IDs, and any auto-generated code your CMS may have added. If your URL contains a question mark followed by a string of random characters, that’s a problem worth fixing.

Make it keyword-rich – but naturally so

Include your primary keyword once. Not twice. Not three times. Once – and only where it fits naturally. Keyword stuffing your URL looks spammy to both Google and real users. Think of your URL as a plain-English summary of the page, not a keyword list.

Use hyphens, not underscores

Google treats hyphens as word separators. Underscores are not treated the same way, which means seo_friendly_urls could be read as a single string rather than three separate words. Always use hyphens.

Make it readable

If you can’t tell what a page is about from its URL alone, neither can Google. A URL like /blog/post-1472 tells nobody anything. /blog/how-to-write-seo-friendly-urls tells everyone exactly what they’ll find.

Here’s a quick overview of what every good URL should have:

✔️ Short – ideally under 60 characters.
✔️ Clean – no symbols, tracking junk, or random code strings.
✔️ Keyword-rich – your main keyword, used exactly once.
✔️ Hyphenated – words separated with dashes, not underscores.
✔️ Readable – if you can’t tell what it’s about, neither can Google.
✔️ Lowercase – always; uppercase characters can cause duplicate content issues.

URL sins to stop committing

Even experienced site owners make these mistakes. Here are the most common URL errors we see – and why they matter.

Autogenerated slugs

Your CMS will create a default slug every time you publish. Always edit it before you hit publish. Default slugs like /post-2819 carry zero SEO value.

Stop words

Words like “and”, “of”, “the”, “a” add length without adding meaning. Cut them. /how-to-write-seo-friendly-urls is cleaner than /how-to-write-the-best-seo-friendly-urls.

Dynamic URLs

URLs stuffed with parameters like ?id=&cat=&page= are a nightmare for crawlers and users alike. Reserve these for ecommerce faceted navigation or search filters, where they may be unavoidable.

Changing URLs unnecessarily

Every time you change a URL, you risk losing the rankings and link equity that page has built up. Unless a URL is genuinely harming your SEO, leave it alone – or follow the redirect process below.

Keyword stuffing

Repeating your keyword multiple times in a URL – /seo-tips-seo-guide-seo-2026 – looks spammy. Google is wise to it. One keyword, used naturally, is always enough.

When you need to change a URL – do it right

Sometimes you inherit a site with terrible URL structure. Sometimes a rebrand means everything needs renaming. Sometimes a page just has a slug that never made any sense.

Changing a URL is fine – but only if you do it properly. Get it wrong, and you’ll sabotage rankings and traffic. Here’s the process:

1. Set up a 301 redirect. A 301 redirect tells Google (and users) that a page has permanently moved. It passes the vast majority of your existing link equity to the new URL. Never delete a URL without one in place.
2. Update your internal links. Once the redirect is live, go through your site and update any internal links that pointed to the old URL. Relying on redirects indefinitely adds unnecessary server overhead and dilutes link strength.
3. Request a recrawl in Google Search Console. Head into Google Search Console and use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing of the new URL. This speeds up the process of Google recognising and ranking the updated page.

If you’re managing a large-scale URL migration – perhaps as part of a site redesign or replatforming – this is something our team handles regularly as part of our SEO services. Migrations done badly can set a site back months. Done properly, they can actually improve performance.

Avoid creating unnecessary friction

URLs won’t make or break your SEO on their own. But getting them right is simple, and getting them wrong creates unnecessary friction – for Google and for your users. Keep them short. Clean. Keyword-focused. Your rankings and your users will thank you.