When it comes to SEO, URLs are one of the most basic elements you can focus on. And it’s important to do it right because Backlinko reports that URLs are a significant ranking factor. In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to create SEO-friendly URLs – a process that isn’t as simple as entering a few words into the URL slug and throwing in a keyword or two!
1- HTTPS is crucial
One of the first things you need to do when creating an SEO-friendly URL is to ensure that it is served over a secure connection. That means your URL must begin with “HTTPS” instead of “HTTTP”. This change will tell search engines that your website is secure, which can help you rank higher in search results.
If you’re not sure whether or not your website is using a secure connection, you can check by looking at the URL in your browser’s address bar. If it says “HTTPS” before the rest of the URL, then you’re good to go. If it says “HTTTP”, then you’ll need to make some changes.
There are a few different ways to do this, but the easiest is to simply contact your web host and ask them to enable SSL for your website. Once they’ve done that, your URLs should automatically begin with “HTTPS”.
2- URL Length
When it comes to URL length, shorter is almost always better. A study by Moz found that shorter URLs tend to rank better than longer ones. This makes sense when you think about it from a search engine’s perspective – shorter URLs are easier to index and crawl, so they’re more likely to show up in search results.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. In some cases, you may need to use a longer URL in order to include all of the relevant information. For example, if you’re writing a blog post about technical SEO tools, it might be necessary to include the blog’s title in the URL.
In general, though, shorter URLs are better.
URL path, keyword in the URL, and URL string are all also ranking factors, so it’s important to keep those in mind when creating your URLs.
The best way to optimize your URLs is to keep them short, relevant, and keyword-rich.
3- Readability
Another important factor to consider when creating SEO-friendly URLs is readability. This refers to how easy it is for someone to understand what a URL is about just by looking at it.
There are a few different things you can do to make your URLs more readable. First, try to use full words instead of abbreviations. For example, “about” is better than “abt”.
Second, use hyphens (-) to separate words instead of underscores (_). Dashes are much easier to read, so they can help make your URL more understandable.
And finally, avoid using excessively long strings of numbers and letters. These are difficult for people to read, and they can make your URL look spammy.
4- Use hyphens, not underscores
When it comes to creating SEO-friendly URLs, one of the most important things you can do is use hyphens (-) to separate words instead of underscores (_).
This may seem like a small detail, but it’s actually quite important. Dashes are much easier for people to read than underscores, so they can help make your URL more understandable.
What’s more, dashes are also easier for search engines to read. This can help your URL rank higher in search results.
Let’s not forget, Google specified that using hyphens makes it easier for web crawlers to compute the information that your website has.
5- Use lowercase letters
Another important tip for creating SEO-friendly URLs is to use lowercase letters. This may seem like a small detail, but it’s actually quite important.
Using lowercase letters can help make your URL more readable and understandable. It can also help prevent issues with case sensitivity, which can cause problems when people are trying to visit your site.
6- Use “safe” characters
When creating your URL, it’s important to use only “safe” characters. These are the characters that are allowed by the RFC 1738 standard, which is the standard for URLs.
The safe characters are:
- Letters (A-Z)
- Numbers (0-9)
- Hyphens (-)
Using any other characters in your URL can cause problems. For example, if you use an ampersand (&) in your URL, it will be interpreted as a character encoding and could cause problems when people try to visit your site.
So it’s important to stick with only safe characters when creating your URL.
7- Use two folders per URL maximum
When it comes to SEO-friendly URLs, less is almost always better. This is especially true when it comes to the number of folders in your URL.
Ideally, you should try to use a maximum of two folders per URL. Using more than two folders can make your URL look excessively long and complicated, which can cause problems with readability and indexing.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. In some cases, you may need to use more than two folders in order to include all of the relevant information. For example, if you’re writing a blog post about a specific product, it might be necessary to include the product name and model number in the URL.
8-Target 1-2 Keywords
When creating an SEO-friendly URL, it’s important to target one or two keywords. This means including your target keyword in the URL itself.
For example, if you’re writing a blog post about how to make a perfect scrambled egg, your URL might look something like this:
example.com/the-proper-use-of-ps
By following these tips, you can create SEO-friendly URLs that will help your site rank higher in search results. Just remember to keep them short, relevant, and keyword-rich. And if you’re ever in doubt, just use a hyphen (-) to separate words instead of an underscore (_).
