What Is a Slug? URL Slugs and Why They Matter for SEO

What Is a URL Slug?

A URL slug is the past portion of a URL code that serves arsenic a unsocial identifier of the page.

For example, the nonfiction you’re speechmaking present has a URL that looks similar this:

https://semrush.com/blog/what-is-a-url-slug/

Its URL slug is “what-is-a-url-slug.”

Why Is a URL Slug Important for SEO?

A URL slug is often considered a large spot to see the people (or primary) keyword for a page.

Google’s John Mueller has confirmed that words successful a URL are a ranking factor. 

But helium besides emphasized that it’s a “very precise lightweight” one, and it chiefly helps to measure the leafage earlier Google accesses it.

In 1 of his tweets, Mueller said:

In different words:

Even if having keywords successful the URL is simply a ranking factor, we shouldn’t overestimate its effect connected rankings.

However, it mightiness inactive marque consciousness to usage the people keyword of a leafage successful a URL slug. Especially considering the idiosyncratic acquisition (UX) constituent of view, which is intimately connected to SEO.

Let's instrumentality a look astatine these 2 examples:

• https://website.com/blog/rock-climbing
• https://website.com/blog/82354

While the archetypal illustration provides wide accusation astir the contented of the post, the 2nd is conscionable a concatenation of numbers that doesn't supply immoderate added value. 

If idiosyncratic lone saw these 2 URL addresses, they'd beryllium much apt to click the archetypal one. Regardless of the existent contented connected either page.

That's wherefore a URL slug should supply a concise statement of a page.

URL Slug Best Practices

Let's instrumentality a look astatine immoderate champion practices and tips connected however to make bully URL slugs.

Be Descriptive

As we've already mentioned, the superior relation of URL slugs is to marque URLs much user-friendly. Therefore, they should picture the contented of a page.

• Good URL slug: /best-air-purifier
• Bad URL slug: /2575

Using the people keyword is simply a large mode to execute this. Why? Because it’s usually an accurate, yet precise short, statement of what the leafage is about. 

Make It Concise and Easy to Read

A bully URL slug shouldn't beryllium excessively long. Long URLs are harder to work and remember. Try to usage less than 5 words successful your slug. 

• Good URL slug: /abs-exercises
• Bad URL slug: /the-best-abs-exercises-for-all-levels-of-gym-goer

Also, a URL that’s excessively agelong volition get truncated successful Google’s hunt results. While this is not an SEO disaster, it doesn't marque the leafage snippet look precise good.

Include Your Target Keyword

Including your people keyword successful the URL slug volition marque it easier for some hunt engines and users to recognize that your leafage is applicable to a peculiar hunt query.

Here’s an illustration of a bully and atrocious URL slug for a leafage targeting the keyword “keyword research.”

• Good URL slug: /keyword-research
• Bad URL slug: /10-tips-for-researching-keywords

Separate Words

How you abstracted the words (or not) influences the readability of a URL slug. Separating the words successful the slug helps users recognize the URL much easily. 

• Good URL slug: /best-travel-tips
• Bad URL slug: /besttraveltips

Use Hyphens, Not Underscores

The champion signifier is to usage hyphens to abstracted words successful URLs. Search engines whitethorn not correctly construe different separators (like underscores). 

• Good URL slug: /good-old-fashioned-pancakes
• Bad URL slug: /good_old_fashioned_pancakes

Use Lowercase Characters

Since URLs are case-sensitive, it’s champion to instrumentality to lowercase characters to debar mistyped URLs.

Lowercase URLs are besides easier to benignant manually. 

• Good URL slug: /new-york
• Bad URL slug: /New-York

Avoid Special Characters

Google Search Central recommends avoiding non-ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) characters, specified arsenic peculiar characters of immoderate languages oregon emojis.

Here’s an illustration for a hypothetical leafage successful German:

• Good URL slug: /kaiserstrasse
• Bad URL slug: /kaiserstraße

And 1 utilizing emojis:

• Good URL slug: /emoji-meanings
• Bad URL slug: /😊🚀

Make It Future-Proof

It’s champion to debar numbers successful URLs that are apt to beryllium changed successful the future, similar a fig of tips oregon ideas oregon the publishing year.

• Good URL slug: /how-to-write-url-slugs
• Bad URL slug: /10-tips-to-write-url-slugs-in-2022

URL Slugs successful WordPress

Let's instrumentality a person look astatine however to alteration a URL slug successful WordPress. 

First and foremost, you request to marque definite your permalink operation volition let for user-friendly URL slugs.

Go to “Settings” and click “Permalinks.”

Here, you'll beryllium capable to prime 1 of the basal permalink operation types oregon make a customized one. We urge utilizing the “Post name” structure.

This way, WordPress volition automatically make URL slugs based connected the rubric of your leafage oregon post. But much importantly, it volition let you to edit the URL slug.

To alteration a URL slug successful WordPress, spell to the exertion of a circumstantial station oregon page.

Here, successful the close panel, you'll find the “Link” section. After clicking the automatically generated slug, you'll beryllium capable to edit it.

If you're utilizing the Yoast SEO plugin, you tin alteration the URL slug successful the Yoast SEO sheet astatine the bottommost of the station editor. 

The plugin's “SEO analysis” conception volition besides notify you if your URL slug does not incorporate your absorption keyphrase (i.e., the people keyword).

Take this arsenic a proposal you tin travel if it makes consciousness for you—not thing you request to bash astatine each costs.

As we've established earlier, keywords successful URL slugs person a precise tiny SEO impact. You should chiefly absorption connected the idiosyncratic acquisition alternatively than keyword stuffing. 

Check Your Website for URL Issues

You tin usage Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality to cheque your website for a fig of URL issues that mightiness beryllium preventing you from getting higher rankings successful hunt motor results.

Here’s how:

Enter your domain and click the “Start Audit” button.

Site Audit lets you customize a fig of settings for the audit. In astir cases, you tin simply instrumentality to the default settings and click “Start Site Audit” to commencement the audit.

The instrumentality volition past analyse your website for a assortment of technical SEO issues. And contiguous you with a elaborate study outlining each the issues.

From here, navigate to the “Issues” tab and benignant “URL” successful the hunt bar.

You’ll past spot a database of each URL-related issues the instrumentality uncovered connected your website.

A fewer communal issues you mightiness brushwood include:

• Incorrect URL format: Using peculiar characters oregon spaces which hunt motor crawlers can’t process
• URLs with excessively galore parameters: Using excessively galore URL parameters (e.g., /?color=black) makes URLs little enticing for users to click and tin pb to duplicate content issues
• URLs that are excessively long: URLs with implicit 200 characters tin look truncated successful Google’s hunt results, making users little inclined to sojourn them

You tin past click connected the linked portion of each contented to spot a database of pages affected by it. Or click connected “Why and however to hole it” to find retired much astir the contented and however to code it.

Optimize Your URL Slugs

URL slugs are a tiny but important portion of optimizing a leafage for hunt engines. Follow the tips outlined supra to marque definite your URL slugs are SEO-friendly.

And usage Semrush’s Site Audit tool to cheque your website for URL-related issues.

FAQs About URL Slugs

Does the URL Slug Affect SEO?

Yes. As confirmed by Google’s John Mueller, URL slugs are a lightweight ranking factor.

Google’s crawler looks astatine a website slug to get a amended knowing of what the leafage is astir earlier crawling it.

Are Website Slugs Important for SEO?

Yes, URL slugs are important for SEO. They are an important idiosyncratic acquisition element. And UX and SEO are intimately connected.

However, words utilized successful URLs are a precise lightweight ranking factor.

What Is the Difference Between a URL Slug and a URL?

The URL is the full web code of a page, portion the URL slug is conscionable the past portion of the URL that serves arsenic an identifier of the page.

• URL: https://www.apple.com/shop/iphone-12
• URLslug: /iphone-12

What Happens When You Change the URL Slug?

Once the URL slug is changed, the full URL code of a leafage is changed. It means the leafage can't beryllium accessed done the aged URL code anymore. 

Every clip you alteration the URL slug, it is champion signifier to acceptable up a 301 redirect from the aged URL to the caller one. 

This way, you'll forestall users from landing connected a 404 mistake page. As good arsenic a imaginable nonaccomplishment of postulation and nexus equity from links pointing to the aged URL.

Why Is It Called a Slug?

The sanction “slug” has been used successful journalism. It refers to the signifier of utilizing abbreviated descriptions of articles for interior purposes.

Web developers supposedly picked up connected this terminology and started utilizing it to notation to the descriptive portion of the URL.