URL Structure

Definition

URL Structure - How web addresses are formatted. SEO-friendly URLs are short, descriptive, and include the primary keyword: /seo-glossary is better than /page?id=4821. Avoid changing URLs on live pages without proper 301 redirects.

In more depth

URL structure is one of the cleaner technical SEO factors - the rules are well established and the implementation is usually straightforward. A good URL tells both users and search engines what a page is about before they visit it. Compare /blog/core-web-vitals-explained (clear, descriptive, includes the keyword) with /blog/post?id=1847&cat=2 (tells you nothing about the content). Google's own guidelines recommend descriptive, readable URLs.

The most impactful URL best practices: use hyphens to separate words (not underscores - Google treats underscores as word joiners, so keyword-research is two words while keyword_research is one), keep URLs as short as is practical without losing descriptiveness, include the primary keyword, and use lowercase throughout (URLs are case-sensitive on many servers; inconsistent casing can create duplicate URL issues).

The most critical URL caution: never change a URL on an indexed, live page without implementing a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. Changing a URL without a redirect creates a 404 error at the old address, losing all the link equity and ranking signals that had accumulated at that URL over time. URL migrations are a common source of significant, often preventable traffic drops.

Related terms: Crawlability - Canonical Tag - Indexation - Internal Linking

Frequently asked questions

Should URLs include the date?

Generally no, unless your content is inherently date-dependent (news articles, press releases). Date-based URLs (/blog/2023/04/keyword-research/) create several problems: they imply the content is outdated as time passes, making evergreen content feel stale; and they make it difficult to update the date in the URL if you refresh the content. Descriptive, dateless URLs (/blog/keyword-research-guide/) age better.

How deep should URLs be?

As shallow as logical site structure allows. A page at /services/seo/on-page-seo/title-tag-optimisation/ is four levels deep. If it can reasonably sit at /services/title-tag-optimisation/ or /blog/title-tag-optimisation/, shallower is better - it improves crawlability and implies the page is more central to your site. Avoid creating unnecessarily deep URL structures through excessive category nesting.