SEO
How to Write Clean URL Slugs
A slug is the part of a web address that names the page. In the address of this article it is how-to-write-clean-url-slugs. A good slug tells visitors what to expect before they click. It's also easier to share and remember.
Rules that are easy to follow
- Use lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens only.
- Put hyphens between words. Google's own guidance on URLs prefers hyphens to underscores because it reads them as word breaks.
- Keep it short. Use the main words of the title and skip the rest.
- Drop accents and punctuation. So Café Guide: 5 Tips! becomes
cafe-guide-5-tips. - Leave out dates and version numbers unless they matter. They can make a page look old.
Try it
The title 10 Tips for Faster Websites! becomes 10-tips-for-faster-websites. Type your own titles into the Slug Generator. It also has an underscore option for systems that need one.
Changing a slug later
Once a page is live and people link to it a new slug breaks those links. You would need a redirect from the old address to the new one. It's far easier to pick the right slug before you publish.
One limit to know
Some languages use their own letters in web addresses. Browsers can show them but links get encoded and look messy when shared. Our generator only makes Latin letters and numbers. Other characters are dropped instead of guessed.