What Is a Slug? URL Slugs and Why They Matter for SEO

Imagine clicking on a link like example.com/blog/12345?id=678 versus example.com/blog/url-slugs. The second one is clear, readable, and tells you exactly what to expect. That’s the power of a URL slug. A slug is the part of a URL that identifies a specific page in a human-readable way. Slugs are crucial for search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience because they make URLs meaningful, memorable, and trustworthy.

What is a Slug?

A slug is the part of a web address (URL) that comes after the domain name and page path. It helps to identify a specific page on a website. Think of it like a label or name tag for a page, which tells both people and search engines what the page is about.

For Example, if you visit this link:

example.com/blog/url-slugs,the slug is “url-slugs.” This short text tells you the page is about “URL slugs.”

Examples of Slugs:

Clean slug: example.com/blog/url-slugs

This slug is short, clear, and easy to understand. You can guess what the page is about by looking at it.

Messy slug: example.com/blog/12345?id=678

This slug looks confusing and messy. It doesn’t tell you anything about the content of the page.

Why Slugs Matter for SEO?

A slug may seem like a small part of a URL, but it can make a big difference in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how users experience your website. A good slug helps both search engines and website visitors understand what your page is about.

Here are the main reasons why slugs are important:

Keyword Relevance

Search engines like Google read the slug to help figure out what your web page talks about. Including the right keywords (words people type into search engines) improves your chances of appearing in search results.

For Example:

If you have a blog post about easy yoga routines, using a slug, example.com/fitness/easy-yoga-routines, tells Google that your page is about yoga routines. On the other hand, a slug-like example.com/fitness/page123 doesn’t give any valuable information to search engines or readers.

Adding meaningful keywords to the slug helps your page become more visible when people search for those terms online.

Better User Experience

Slugs are not just for search engines—they’re also for people. A clear and simple slug makes it easier for users to understand what they’ll find on your page. It also looks more professional and trustworthy.

For Example:

example.com/travel/places-to-visit-in-jaipur is much easier to read and understand than example.com/travel/article?id=7843.

When users can quickly tell what the page is about, they’re likelier to click, stay longer, and trust your content.

Higher Click-Through Rates (CTR)

When your page appears in search results, users see the title, a short description, and the URL. If the slug looks clean, clear, and relevant, people are likelier to click on it. This is called a higher Click-Through Rate (CTR).

Search engines also notice which results get more clicks. So, a clean slug can lead to better rankings over time.

Compare these two URLs:

• example.com/digital-marketing/seo-strategies-2025
• example.com/dm/article?pid=001

The first one looks professional and gives a clear idea of what the article is about. The second one looks confusing and may even appear suspicious.

Easier Sharing and Promotion

When people share your content on social media, by email, or through messaging apps, the slug becomes part of the shared link. A short and clear slug looks better, is easier to understand, and is likelier to be clicked or shared again.

For Example:

If someone sends a link like example.com/recipes/best-vegetarian-dishes, you immediately know what it’s about. But if the link is example.com/recipes/?post=98ab2, you might hesitate before clicking.

Clean slugs are also easier to copy, paste, and remember later.

Better Site Organization

Using clear slugs can also help you organize your website. When you have many pages or blog posts, having meaningful slugs makes it easier to manage content. It also helps search engines understand how your site is structured.

For Example:

• example.com/blog/seo-basics
• example.com/blog/content-marketing-tips

These slugs show the type of content clearly and group similar pages under one path (/blog/). This kind of structure benefits both users and search engines.

Best Practices for Creating SEO-Friendly Slugs

A slug is part of the URL that helps search engines, and visitors understand what a page is about. A clean, simple slug can improve your site’s SEO performance, make your pages easier to read, and encourage more people to click and visit.

Below are the best and easiest tips to follow when creating SEO-friendly slugs:

Keep It Short and Descriptive

Your slug should be easy to read, short in length, and clearly describe what the page is about. Avoid long sentences or unnecessary words that don’t add meaning.

Why it matters:

Short slugs load faster, look better in search results, and are easier to share or remember.

Example:

• Good: blog/seo-tips
• Bad: blog/some-of-the-most-important-seo-tips-for-ranking-higher-on-google

Keep only the most important words that tell users and search engines what the page is about.

Use Keywords Wisely

Keywords are the words that people type into Google when searching for something. Including one or two keywords in your slug tells search engines what your page is about. But don’t overdo it. Too many keywords in the slug make it look unnatural and spammy.

Example:

• Good: blog/url-slugs
• Bad: blog/url-slugs-url-keywords-seo-best-practices

Choose one or two clear keywords that match the topic of your page.

Use Hyphens to Separate Words

When your slug has more than one word, use hyphens (-) to separate the words. This makes the slug easy to read for both people and search engines.

Avoid using underscores (_), spaces, or joining words together.

Example:

• Correct: blog/social-media-marketing
• Wrong: blog/social_media_marketing or blog/socialmediamarketing

Google reads hyphens as spaces between words, which helps your SEO.

Avoid Stop Words

Stop words are very common words like “a,” “an,” “the,” “of,” “to,” “in,” and so on. These words don’t add much value and make your slug longer than it needs to be.

Example:

• Better: blog/seo-guide
• Less effective: blog/the-complete-guide-to-seo

Removing stop words makes your slug cleaner, easier to understand, and better for ranking.

Make It Lowercase

Always write your slug using lowercase letters only. Uppercase letters can confuse some systems or cause broken links if someone types them differently.

Example:

• Good: blog/google-ranking-factors
• Bad: blog/Google-Ranking-Factors or blog/GOOGLE-RANKING-FACTORS

Lowercase letters are simple, consistent, and safe for all browsers and devices.

Avoid Special Characters and Random Numbers

Avoid using special characters like &, %, $, !, @, *, =, ?, and random numbers unless they are necessary. These can make your URL look strange or suspicious and not help with SEO.

Example:

• Clear: blog/write-effective-headlines
• Confusing: blog/write-effective-headlines-2025%best@

If numbers are part of your topic, like in a year or list (e.g., “top-10-tips”), it’s okay. Just avoid random or unclear numbers.

Match the Slug to the Page Title (But Shorter)

Keep your slug similar to your page title, but don’t copy the whole thing. Just use the most important part.

Example:

• Title: “10 Easy On-Page SEO Tips for Beginners”
• Slug: blog/on-page-seo-tips

This keeps the slug relevant while staying short and simple.

Keep it Human-Friendly

Write your slugs in a way that real people can understand. Avoid using codes, abbreviations, or internal terms that don’t make sense to visitors.

Example:

• Good: blog/email-marketing-strategies
• Bad: blog/eml-mktg-strat-v2

If people can’t read it, they won’t trust or click it.

Don’t Change Slugs After Publishing (Unless Necessary)

Once a page is live and indexed by search engines, avoid changing the slug unless needed. Changing slugs can break links, affect SEO rankings, and confuse users. If you must change a slug, always set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one so no traffic is lost.

How to Edit or Change URL Slugs?

Changing or editing a slug is easy once you know where to look. Here are step-by-step tips for different platforms like WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and custom-coded websites.

WordPress

WordPress makes it simple to edit slugs for blog posts and pages.

Steps:

• Open the post or page you want to edit.
• Look for the “Permalink” or “URL” section, usually found just under the post title or in the settings panel.
• You will see a box where you can change the slug (the part of the URL after your website name).
• Type your new slug using lowercase letters and hyphens (like seo-tips).
• Click Update or Publish to save the changes.

Tip: Make sure the slug is short and clearly describes the post.

Shopify

In Shopify, slugs are called “URL handles”. You can edit them when you are updating your products or pages.

Steps:

• Go to your Shopify Admin Panel.
• Click on the product, collection, blog post, or page you want to edit.
• Scroll down to the “Search engine listing preview” section.
• Click “Edit website SEO.”
• You’ll see a box called “URL and handle,” where you can type your custom slug.
• Click Save when done.

Tip: Ensure the new slug matches the product name or topic and doesn’t include random numbers.

Wix / Squarespace

Both Wix and Squarespace allow slug editing through page settings.

Wix:

• Go to the Editor.
• Click on the page you want to edit.
• Open Page Settings.
• You’ll find the current slug under the SEO Basics or URL section.
• Edit it, click Done, and publish your site to apply changes.

Squarespace:

• Go to Pages.
• Hover over the page and click the gear icon (⚙️) for settings.
• Scroll to the URL Slug section.
• Enter your new slug using simple words and hyphens.
• Click Save, then Publish your site.

Tip: Always double-check the slug for spelling before publishing.

Custom-Coded Websites

Changing slugs might need more technical work if your website is custom-built (not using platforms like WordPress).

Here are two common ways to do it:

1. Content Management System (CMS):

• If you use a CMS like Drupal or Joomla, look in the page or article settings.
• Find the URL alias or slug field.
• Edit it and save your changes.

2. Using .htaccess or Server Rules (for Developers):

• You should change slugs in your file names if your website uses plain HTML or PHP.
• Use a file called .htaccess to redirect old URLs to new ones using rewrite rules.
• Always test your URLs after making changes to avoid broken links.

Tip: If you’re unsure how to do this, ask your web developer or hosting provider for help.

Important Note: Always Use Redirects When Changing Slugs

When you change a slug on a page that’s already live, old links may stop working. To avoid losing visitors or SEO value:

• Set up a 301 redirect from the old slug to the new one.
• This tells search engines and users to go to the new URL.

For Example:

Old URL: example.com/blog/seo-basics

New URL: example.com/blog/seo-tips

Redirect from the old to the new.

Platforms like WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace often help you do this automatically or with a plugin.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

While creating slugs is not very difficult, people often make small mistakes that can hurt their website’s SEO and make it harder for users to trust or understand the link. Here are the most common errors and how to avoid them:

Using Auto-Generated Slugs

Most website platforms automatically create slugs when you publish a new page or blog post. These slugs often include random numbers or meaningless words, like:

• post-123
• page1?id=456

Why it’s a problem: Auto-generated slugs don’t tell search engines or users about the page content. They’re hard to read, look unprofessional, and are bad for SEO.

What to do instead: Always edit the slug yourself and include meaningful words that describe the page.

For Example: Use blog/seo-basics instead of post-123.

Changing Slugs Frequently Without Redirects

Sometimes, people change a page slug after it has already been published and shared.

Why it’s a problem:

• Old links will stop working (broken links).
• You may lose search engine rankings.
• Visitors clicking the old link will see a “Page Not Found” error.

What to do instead: If you must change a slug, set up a 301 redirect from the old slug to the new one. A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines to go to the new page.

For Example, if you change the blog/on-page-seo to a blog/seo-tips, ensure the old slug is redirected to the new one.

Stuffing Too Many Keywords

Many people try to put too many keywords into a slug to rank higher in Google.

For Example: blog/seo-keywords-ranking-google-guide-tips-2025

Why it’s a problem: This makes the slug long, confusing, and looks like spam to search engines and users. Google doesn’t like keyword stuffing, and it may lower your ranking.

What to do instead: Use one or two important keywords that clearly describe the page. Keep the slug short and natural.

Including Irrelevant or Misleading Words

Some slugs have words that don’t match the page content. For Example, a blog post about social media tips has the slug: blog/best-seo-tools.

Why it’s a problem:

• It confuses visitors, who might leave your site right away.
• It breaks trust between users and search engines.
• It may result in lower rankings because the URL doesn’t match the content.

What to do instead: Make sure the slug matches the actual topic of the page or blog post.

For Example, use a slug-like blog/Instagram marketing if the post is about Instagram tips.

Using Capital Letters, Spaces, or Special Characters

Sometimes, slugs have capital letters, spaces, or symbols like %, &, @, etc.

Why it’s a problem:

• Some browsers or servers may not handle these characters well.
• They can break links or look messy.
• They’re hard for users to read or type.

What to do instead:

• Always use lowercase letters.
• Separate words using hyphens (-).
• Avoid all special characters and punctuation marks.

Good slug: blog/email-marketing-basics

Bad slug: blog/Email Marketing@Basics!

Conclusion

Slugs may seem like a small part of a website but play a big role in SEO and user experience. A well-crafted slug helps search engines understand your content, makes your links look clean and professional, and encourages people to click and explore your site.

You can improve your website’s visibility and trust by keeping slugs short, using relevant keywords, avoiding unnecessary words or symbols, and matching them with your content. Remember, a clear and simple slug helps with rankings and makes your site more user-friendly. So take the time to create smart, readable slugs—and avoid the common mistakes that could harm your site’s performance.