SEO has countless moving parts, on-page content, backlinks, site speed, structured data, but amid all the technical wizardry, the humble URL remains. You know, that string of characters sitting up in the address bar. SEO-friendly URLs might not seem glamorous, but they’re powerful levers for boosting visibility, user experience, and click-through rates.
This SEO Premier article will take you deep into the world of URL optimisation: what it is, why it matters, how to structure them right, and the clever ways you can hack your URLs to do more with less.
Why URLs Matter More Than You Think
At their core, URLs help users and search engines understand what a page is about. They provide a navigational cue to people, and a relevance signal to algorithms. When done well, URLs serve as a roadmap for both crawlers and humans. When done poorly, they confuse users, dilute keyword focus, and can cause indexation issues. While a great URL alone won’t guarantee top rankings, a poorly structured one can absolutely hold you back.
Google has stated that URLs do play a role in rankings, even if minor compared to content and backlinks. They help search engines interpret a page's context and topical hierarchy. For users, clean URLs are easier to remember, link to, and share. They can also increase click-through rates in search results if they include keywords that match what the user is searching for.
The Ideal Structure of an SEO-Friendly URL
A great SEO-friendly URL is short, simple, relevant, and keyword-rich without being spammy. Let’s break that down.
Start with simplicity. The fewer words, the better. Remove filler terms like “the,” “and,” “of,” or other nonessential words. Keep URLs as short as they can be while still communicating the topic clearly.
Include relevant keywords that reflect the page's content. If your page is about “homemade granola bars,” make sure the phrase appears in the URL, like example.com/homemade-granola-bars. This keyword presence reinforces topical relevance and can even highlight the search query in bold on search engine results pages (SERPs), drawing attention.
Avoid unnecessary dynamic parameters. URLs like example.com/page.php?id=1234&category=abc are hard for users to read and can be problematic for search engines. Static URLs that include human-readable paths will always outperform cryptic strings of code.
Stick to lowercase letters. URLs are case-sensitive beyond the domain, so example.com/Blog and example.com/blog can be treated as different pages, an SEO nightmare. Always standardise URLs in lowercase to avoid duplication and canonical issues.
Use hyphens to separate words. Search engines interpret hyphens (-) as spaces, which helps them understand the structure of the phrase. Avoid underscores or camelCase, those can confuse both users and bots.
The Importance of a Logical Hierarchy
The URL structure should reflect the structure of your website. Think of it as a breadcrumb trail. It helps users understand where they are and helps search engines interpret the relationship between pages. For example, if you run an online plant store, a proper URL structure would look like example.com/indoor-plants/succulents/echeveria. Each part of that URL reflects a category and subcategory, leading to a specific product.
If you flatten everything into example.com/product1234, you lose context. While flat structures are sometimes recommended for speed and crawlability, deep hierarchies can be SEO-friendly too—if they’re implemented cleanly and logically.
Canonicalisation and the Perils of Duplication
One major URL mistake is allowing the same content to be accessible through multiple URLs. If example.com/shoes, example.com/shoes/, and example.com/SHOES all serve the same page, you’re effectively telling Google you have three pages, not one. This dilutes ranking signals and could even confuse crawlers into downgrading the value of the content.
To avoid this, implement canonical tags pointing to the preferred version of the URL. Also, set up proper redirects from non-preferred versions, and be consistent with internal linking. If you link to a page as /Shoes in one place and /shoes/ in another, you're making life harder for Google and for yourself.
Keyword Usage: Less Is More
Yes, you want keywords in your URL. No, you don’t want to stuff five of them into every link. Google is smarter than it used to be. It doesn’t need you to say /best-affordable-cheap-quality-laptops-2025 to understand your topic. In fact, that sort of URL screams spam and might turn off both users and search engines.
Focus on primary keywords. Choose the most relevant phrase and shape your URL around it. Secondary keywords can be tackled in the page content, headers, and metadata. Your URL’s job is to be sharp and focused.
URLs for Different Content Types
Not all pages need to be treated the same. Product pages, blog posts, categories—they each have different needs.
For blogs, aim for clarity and conciseness. Avoid including the date in the URL unless you’re running a news site or expect the post to become outdated. A URL like example.com/2021/10/01/blog-post-title becomes obsolete fast, and updating the content may feel off if the date stays frozen in time. A better URL would be example.com/blog-post-title.
For products, consider whether to include categories in the URL. There are pros and cons. example.com/shoes/nike-airmax gives good contextual signals but can be difficult to manage if products live in multiple categories. In that case, example.com/nike-airmax might be cleaner.
For categories, keep it singular. That means /shoe not /shoes, unless you're absolutely sure the plural better reflects your branding or user searches. Singulars reduce potential duplicates between category and tag pages.
Dynamic URLs and Parameter Nightmares
If your website uses filters, tracking parameters, or session IDs, you might be generating thousands of variations of the same page. This is a crawling disaster and can ruin your crawl budget.
Tools like Google Search Console let you set parameter handling preferences, and you can also use canonical tags to point these variations back to the main version. But ideally, you’ll configure your platform to avoid generating unnecessary URL variants in the first place.
For ecommerce and large sites, consider using AJAX or client-side rendering for filters, so the base URL stays unchanged when users apply filters like size, color, or price.
When in Doubt, Think Like a Human
The ultimate SEO hack for URLs? Think like your visitor. Would you click on that link? Would you trust it? Would you remember it? If the answer is no, chances are search engines won’t be thrilled either.
In a nutshell: If your URLs look spammy, confusing, overly long, or robotic, go back to the drawing board. SEO today is less about tricking the algorithm and more about aligning with user intent. And users love clarity, consistency, and common sense.