What Is an SEO-Friendly URL?

A URL is the address users type into their browser to reach a website.

It is better for both users and search engines if the URL is meaningful and easy to read rather than a jumble of characters. That is where the SEO-friendly URL comes in. URLs that are easy for both users and search engines to read and understand are defined as SEO-friendly URLs.

As well as a website's main URL being relevant to the site's topic and content and easy to remember, the site's internal links should be easy to read and understand too. It is therefore very important for SEO that the category and content URLs within the site also have meaningful, easy-to-read link structures.

Why Are URLs Important for SEO?

Google touches on the importance of the URL in its SEO starter guide and makes recommendations.
Below I am sharing the URL example Google gives. In that example we see that the word Google uses for complicated URLs is "hostile". That reveals that the SEO-friendly URL is a very important criterion.

What Should an SEO-Friendly URL Look Like?

Use a Keyword

An SEO-friendly URL should contain a keyword describing the page content.

Why?
Because when users — and Google — see the URL they have already gained information about the page content.

Put a Hyphen ( – ) Between the Words in the URL

Leaving a "hyphen" between words is the standard when writing URLs. Using an "underscore" ( _ ), a space or special characters instead of a hyphen should be avoided.

Example:
In this example I have separated the words with hyphens.

Take Care to Use Short URLs

When deciding your URL, always think of this: take care that the URL is a length your reader can read and understand at a glance.

It Should Be Interesting and Appealing

Words that catch users' interest increase your click-through rate. Organic clicks are an important criterion for SEO. Words that arouse interest and fit the content should therefore be used in the URL.

For example:

Which URL catches your attention more?

All URLs Should Be Lower Case

Some servers may treat lower case and upper case differently. Even though most servers lead to the same result, lower case should be used to avoid errors and stay consistent.

There Should Be No Turkish or Symbol Characters in the URL

Turkish characters and symbols such as $, #, <, : in URL usage are problematic for SEO.

Unnecessary Dates Should Not Be Used, for SEO Reasons

Unless there is a specific reason, you are advised to avoid automatic date usage in CMSs such as WordPress. Writing your posts with a date structure in the URL is not recommended for SEO.

Wrong example:

The reasons for this:

• The date lengthens the URL.
• When you update your content the URL changes. You have to set up a 301 redirect for the old links every time.
• If other pages with the same content did not use a date, your content may be treated as older, which creates the risk of falling behind.

The exception
Beyond this, a date can be used in the URL to express data from a particular date — more precisely, if a date appears as a keyword in the user's search query.

Example:
Below is an example of the correct use of a date in a URL.

Shorter Folder Structures Make a More Valuable URL

Your website's category and page structure should be as simple as possible and well organised. The longer the category and page breakdowns get, the more the value assigned to the folder's importance changes.

What does that mean? Let's unpack it a little
Folders close to the main domain are considered more valuable, and folders further from the main domain less valuable.

Example:
Below, the URL in the first example is more user-friendly and more valuable than the other URL.

A Folder Should Be Used Instead of a Subdomain

Instead of using a subdomain, move over by adding the domains into a folder structure, that is, under the main domain. Subdomains are treated by Google as a completely separate site. But once you move them into a subfolder they are treated as part of your main site.

Although subdomain usage has fallen along with the decline of microsite marketing campaigns, subdomains are still used both for technical infrastructure and for quick solutions.

Subdomain structures affect user experience negatively because the user is redirected from one site to a different site.

If you have started selling products or taking appointments, it will be healthier to build a structure that runs over the main domain rather than by opening a subdomain.

Example: for SEO, the second examples are the ideal ones.

SSL – HTTPS Should Be Used

Using HTTPS is now the new standard. As well as keeping users safe it is a must for SEO.

Showing users a "Not secure" warning is also a very bad impression for the brand.