How to Set SEO-Friendly URLs: Recommended Structure and Patterns to Avoid

A URL is an SEO element that's hard to change once set. The body and meta tags of an article can be fixed anytime after publishing, but changing a URL after it has been indexed and earned backlinks requires a 301 redirect and carries the risk of losing part of its link equity. That's exactly why it's important to design it with the correct structure from the start. This article organizes the recommended structure for SEO-friendly URLs and the patterns to avoid.

Why URLs Affect SEO

A URL is the element that first tells both search engines and users "what this page is about." Search engines treat the URL as a ranking signal, a trust indicator, and a crawl hint. Before crawling the body, they infer the page's content to some extent from the URL string.

For users too, a clear URL whose content is readable builds trust. If they can tell "what kind of page it is" from the URL shown in the search results before clicking, an improvement in click-through rate can be expected. Furthermore, in recent years it's been pointed out that an organized URL structure can be one of the factors in whether AI answer generation cites your content.

Recommended Structure for SEO-Friendly URLs

The basic policy for SEO-friendly URLs is to be "short, descriptive, and stable." Specifically, keep the following points in mind.

1. Keep it short and concise: the shorter a URL, the easier it is to read and share. As a guide, make the whole path as concise as possible and remove unnecessary words (stop words such as "the" and "and").
2. Include one keyword: include the primary keyword that represents the page's content naturally in the slug. It's common to replace Japanese keywords with English notation (e.g., /seo for SEO measures).
3. Separate words with hyphens: Google recognizes hyphens as word separators. Underscores connect words, so always use hyphens.
4. Use all lowercase: if uppercase is mixed in, some servers distinguish the URLs, which causes duplicate content. Standardize on lowercase.
5. Keep the hierarchy shallow: keep directory hierarchy to around 2-3 levels. The shallower the path, the more easily link equity is passed, and the easier the site structure is to understand.
6. Organize content with a logical hierarchy: with a structure like /blog/seo/ where each level has meaning, both users and crawlers can understand the site's composition more easily.
7. Use HTTPS: HTTPS is a ranking signal Google has announced, and it's a prerequisite for any modern website's URL.

A URL that satisfies these conveys the page content accurately to search engines and gives users a sense of security. The basic policy is to prioritize being descriptive (the content being readable) over extreme shortness.

URL Patterns to Avoid

On the other hand, URLs like the following are a minus for SEO and user experience, so avoid them.

• A string of meaningless numbers or symbols: a URL like /page?id=12345 has unreadable content and is less likely to be clicked.
• Word separation with underscores: red_running_shoes is treated as "one word" and becomes hard to evaluate for the intended keyword. Use hyphens.
• Keyword stuffing: repeating keywords excessively like /seo-seo-tips-seo-guide is seen as low quality. Narrow the primary keyword to one.
• Automatic date insertion: URLs with dates like /2024/03/14/post-title make articles look old and the structure verbose. Exclude dates in your blog settings.
• Too deep a hierarchy: with a deep hierarchy like /a/b/c/d/e/page, link equity thins out and crawl efficiency drops.
• Mixed uppercase and lowercase: /SEO-Guide and /seo-guide are recognized as separate pages, creating a duplicate-content risk.
• Careless URL changes after publishing: changing a URL that has earned backlinks lowers its evaluation, so keep changes minimal and, when unavoidable, always set a 301 redirect.

How to Think When You're Unsure About URL Design

When you're unsure how to set a URL, judge by the standard of "can the page content be conveyed just by looking at this URL?" A URL whose content a human can infer by reading it is also a URL that's easy for search engines to understand.

Also, a URL is something you keep using for a long time once decided. Rather than obsessing over minor immediate optimizations, deciding on consistent rules across the whole site (how to divide hierarchy, naming conventions) and continuing to follow them leads to longer-term SEO effect.

Summary

How to set SEO-friendly URLs boils down to the principle of being "short, descriptive, and stable." Include one keyword, separate with hyphens, standardize on lowercase, keep the hierarchy shallow, and deliver over HTTPS — this is the recommended structure. Conversely, strings of meaningless numbers, underscores, keyword stuffing, date insertion, and careless changes after publishing are patterns to avoid. Precisely because a URL is an element that's hard to change later, design it with consistent rules from the start and build a foundation you can use for a long time.