URL is one of the elements shown directly to users both in the search results and in the browser toolbar. Its recommended length amounts to 115 characters. If it’s much longer, then Google may refuse to index it. While optimizing your website and trying to boost its results, it’s crucial to create an appropriate URL structure, which requires the proper embedding of individual elements and separators. There are certain elements that should be avoided if you want to create SEO and user-friendly URLs. For instance, so-called special characters are a no-go. Diacritics are also banned, as they may cause problems with indexing. When dealing with language-specific diacritics, you should use related characters from the Latin alphabet. So, instead of the French “â”, go for “a”, and replace the Spanish “ñ” with “n”. When talking about SEO-friendly URLs and their structure, we need to mention that the domain name should always be the very first element. Then, it’s time for e.g., a parent directory, containing the product in question, followed by a user-friendly product name. Such addresses can be easily navigated by users. However, it’s also worth keeping in mind that URLs shouldn’t be too long, as this won’t have a positive impact on their visibility in the search results. A correct HTML document address should have the following structure:
http://site-address.com/category-name/product-name
When talking about product URLs, it’s worth including the most important keyword in them. This has an impact on the ranking and informs users what to expect:
http://site-address.com/products/dog-leash
For documents, it’s recommended to use their own title. For example, the URL referring to a PDF document with terms of use could look like this:
http://site-address.com/terms-of-use.pdf
As you’ve probably noticed, it’s crucial to separate individual words to improve the transparency and readability of the URL. For this purpose, it’s recommended to use hyphens (“-“). Avoid applying underscores (“_”), as they have no real function and are treated as if there was no separator at all. So, an URL like website_optimization_service.com would be interpreted by Google as a single word websiteoptimizationservice.com. The correct URL structure is beneficial to your website, as it facilitates indexation.
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In real life, URLs aren’t so perfect as they frequently point to invalid pages or resources that have been transferred to a different location. It’s important to mention that the owner of a given online resource can manage both the resource and its URL. Selecting an appropriate structure that is friendly both to users and search engine robots can bring numerous benefits to the page and its SEO process. SEO-friendly URLs are a part of technical optimizations of your website, so they’re an important element of a larger process.
