One important factor in improving both search engine optimization and user experience is through creating SEO-friendly URLs. URLs are one of the basic elements SEO and they are a significant factor in ranking high on the list.
In page titles, on the other side, URLs create an easier way to let search engines and target audience understand the web page. This is why your URL should be precise and well-optimized.
Although there are many things to be considered in creating an SEO-friendly URL, here are some tips that could help your site rank up.
Describe the content.
Your visitor should be able to get an idea of the content of your web page by simply looking at your URL. In order to do this, you should incorporate phrases or terms that describe the content of your page.
Insert keywords.
The ideal web page can be discovered by the target people through inserting some keywords and terms. This keyword must also be put in the URL of the page. As a matter of fact, including a keyword in the URL is #51 in Google’s top 200 ranking factors.
The most significant keyword should also be in the beginning of your URL because search engine spiders don’t give much importance to terms at the end of the URL. You should also remember that you could end up getting penalized by search engines if you overuse keywords in your URL.
Use lowercase letters.
Since search engines can differentiate lowercase from uppercase, do not include capital letters in your URLs. Uppercase letters can lead to duplication of URLs and loss of page rank. Aside from that, this could redirect you to 404 errors on some servers.
Keep it short.
URLs should be kept short as you can without losing its general meaning. It should be brief and easier to type and read as much as possible. To simply put it, it is better if your URL is shorter. Since URL length is recorded #46 in Google’s top ranking factors, it’s given that as your URL gets longer, your web page ranking also declines.
Use hyphens when separating words.
To separate words in your URL, stick with hyphens. Phrases are significant for search engine optimization and user readability. Google prefers hyphens (-) in separating your words because they serve as spaces between terms. While for underscore (_), words separated by this symbol are viewed as one word because it joins words together.
Use static URLs.
There are many pros in using static, non-changeable URLs. Since these URLs avoid unnecessary parameters, they are definitely easier for search engines and users to read and remember. They are also convenient to copy and paste on or offline. Static URLs also show higher keyword prominence and relevancy.
Optimizing your URLs should be one of your SEO strategies because this would help your site to rank higher. It would also target more visitors to click your pages. You should also remember that you should employ usability in all aspects of SEO.
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