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3 Simple Steps to Better URLs

Figure jumping up steps. Seafoam Media blog
Good SEO encompasses a ton of little details, and it starts in one of the more unexpected places out there—the top of your page. More specifically, the search address bar in your internet browser! One element of effective optimization that many digital marketers overlook is that of well structured URL's for their content. While this isn't the magic bullet that's going to necessarily make or break your site for rankings and traffic, it does play a part in SEO, and also effects how potential customers perceive your site.
What are some ways you can improve the URL's for your site? Take a look below at these 3 tips, and incorporate them into your overall strategy!

1. Readability is important for humans and robots

When we glance at a URL, we like to get an idea of what to expect. This idea of accessibility is important to us as people because it makes determining the content we view an easier process. Thus, if we see the page we're getting linked to is about ultimate cat facts, we're going to perceive the destination more favorably than something with a random jumble of letters.
For robots, and SEO purposes, having your keyword (or main topic idea) in the URL is seen as a signal for search engines when determining what content to show users, which is why it's a good idea to have a more readable address.

2. Shorter = Better

Think about a time when you were describing a specific page of a website to a friend. Maybe you shared it with them on social media, or simply told them the URL to visit. Generally speaking, it is always preferable to have a shorter URL (50-60 characters or less) than a longer one (100+ characters). While search engines don't care about parsing long URL's, we tend to see shorter URL's better from a user experience standpoint. They are easier to copy and paste, especially for mobile users, as well as being easier to embed.

3. Avoid Repetitive URL Strings

If within your CMS you have a "services" section that goes to a "services" subsection page, you wouldn't want the URL to look something like:

www.website.com/services/services.php

This just comes off as repetitive and spammy! A better idea would be to rename that specific page, to something like "web-services" or another variation of the word that isn't the exact same.

What other URL tips do you swear by?

Send us a comment on Facebook or a tweet to @SeafoamMedia with your thoughts!

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