Creating SEO-Friendly URLs: 7 Tips for Better Search Engine Rankings

For any website to rank well, there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account and one of the most basic ones is the URL structure. This includes domain, subdomains, and using the right structure for easy indexing of content.
We are sharing herein the top basic tips for creating SEO-friendly URLs for search engine optimization. Do note that this guide is a basic one but may not apply to all web pages. Let us get started with the latest SEO-friendly urls Tips of 2023!

1: Subdomain or Root Folder?

There is still a heated debate going on among SEO experts that using a subdomain is better than using a root folder.

However, there are practical examples where using the root folder is better than having a subdomain for better rankings and traffic.

Most of the blogs are usually in the root category, such as www.overthetopseo.com/blog, instead of blog.overthetopseo.com. There is no hard and fast rule which works better than the other.

This is something you should see based on the trend.

Having provided consultancy services to a number of clients, we believe that using a blog in the subfolder of your root domain is better for your website than having one in the subdomain. What works for you may not work for anyone else.

2: SEO-friendly URL Structures Are Important

It does not take rocket science to find out that SEO-friendly URL structures are much easier to understand for human beings and search engine spiders.

The easier it is to read, the higher the rankings. Accessibility is an important aspect of rankings. Here are some examples:

www.example.com/i-can-read-this

www.example.com/pub-postID?=5546&i+can+read+this

http://cdn07.example.com/9r6455yyr74/i?373264=iaj12398234987232=too+much+difficult+to+read

We hope that you get what we are saying.

The first example is pretty straightforward for spiders and humans to understand what your website is all about and hence provides a clear structure for optimization.

The second example isn’t too difficult but is quite confusing.

The third example, please do not ask. I would need 2 tablets of Disprin to understand what this link is saying.

3: Keywords in URL Still Work Out

Although the Exact Match Domain update by Google has targeted websites using exact match keywords, a good point to mention here is the fact that Google has only targeted those websites having exact match domains AND thin or poor quality content that isn’t sufficient for the readers.

Keywords still work out well today but need to be accompanied by a great URL structure as well as a quality and pleasant browsing experience.

Keywords have many benefits. In the URL, they instantly hint to readers what your page is going to talk about.

Second, when links get shared, the keyword is used as anchor text and can be used as a powerful ranking factor.

Another important benefit is the fact that keywords in URLs are good enough for ranking well on search engine result pages.

4: Shorter URLs are preferred over longer

The shorter the URL, the better it is for humans and search engine spiders to understand.

This is one of the most important SEO tips to understand. Moreover, shorter URLs tend to perform better when it comes to ranking and memorability.

If you have a domain such as www.thisisnotalongdomain.com then there is not much to worry about, but if your domain is as long as www.thisisaverylongdomainnameformybusiness.com, then do consider having it rewritten. You do not want to have longer URLs in SERPs going out of the results and becoming unreadable.

It is not about the search engine spiders, but about the readers’ end who want to have a pleasurable experience with your website, but not possible without having shorter URLs. Shorter URLs have a number of benefits over longer ones, such as:

1. Easy to copy and paste

2. Easy to share on social media

3. Easy to remember

5: Stop Words Aren’t Harmful, But Avoid Them As Much As You Can

Stop words such as (and, or, but, the, a, etc.) aren’t harmful to your rankings but if you could do away without them by having a domain that does not need these words, it would be great for your website. For example, www.webanddesigningservices.com can be shortened to www.webdesignservices.com.

And of course, our previous SEO tips emphasize just that! The shorter the URL, the better it is for your target audience to remember and share it.

6: Fewer Folders Are Generally Better

The more sub-folders you have in your root domain, the harder it gets for search engine spiders to crawl your website and this is a loss factor for ranking your website. Let us give you two examples of URLs:

Here is one:

example.com/smartphones/iphone/iphone5/iphone5-covers/leather/

And, have it restructured like this:

example.com/smartphones/iphone5/leather-cover

The deeper your site content is, the harder it gets to index. It is not always necessary to have shorter ones, but it is highly preferred to make URLs short and easy to crawl by search engine spiders.

If you are running an eCommerce store, this is very important. Have all of your URLs restructured in the shortest way possible without missing out on important keywords and categories?

7: Do not keyword stuff your website or face the penalty

Take a look at the following example:

www.example.com/car-racer-games/cart-racer/cart-racer.html

You seriously do not want to give a feeling of your URLs are spammy. Did you notice just how many times the word cart racer is used in the URL? This is a spammy practice, a practice used to manipulate search engine rankings in a desperate attempt to outdo the competition. Do not do this or get ready to face a penalty from Google.

 Conclusion

Those are just some of the SEO-friendly url’s Tips we have to share with you today.

We would like to know from you what could be considered the best practices for structuring URLs in the most SEO-friendly way. Do sound off in the comments below!