Creating SEO-friendly URLs is an important part of optimizing your website for both search engines and users. A well structured URL improves readability, click through rates, and search rankings, making it easier for Google to understand your content.Before you implement any of these tips, grab our SEO Checklist to track every URL rule as you go.
The best URLs are short, descriptive, and keyword rich, avoiding unnecessary parameters, special characters, or stop words. In this guide, I’ll share the best practices for creating SEO-friendly URLs in 2025, helping you build a strong foundation for better visibility and rankings.
These strategies align with the broader SEO trends in 2025 that continue to shape search algorithms and user behavior.
What are SEO-Friendly URLs?
SEO-friendly URLs are used to enhance the user experience and help search engines easily interpret a webpage’s content. While Google dominates search, Bing SEO also follows similar URL optimization principles that can boost visibility on Microsoft’s search engine. They are usually concise, descriptive, and contain relevant keywords.
Understanding URL Structure
To make URL structure easier to understand, I’ll use my own domain as an example. By breaking it down, I’ll show you what each component is called in SEO.
What are the Best Practices of SEO-Friendly URLs in 2025?
In 2025, SEO-friendly URLs remain a crucial factor in improving search visibility, user experience, and website credibility.
Use Relevant Keywords in URLs
Relevant keywords are words or phrases that accurately describe the content of a page and match what users are searching for in search engines.
Incorporating relevant keywords into your URLs is a fundamental SEO best practice and a powerful way to Find Profitable Keywords for SEO that align with searcher intent.
Take this URL as an example:
- ai-seo – This category keyword clearly defines the topic, signaling that the content relates to AI and SEO.
- nofollow-tag-guide – This includes the primary keyword (“nofollow tag“), making it directly relevant to the page’s subject.
Back in 2016, Google’s John Mueller acknowledged that keywords in a URL do contribute to rankings. However, he emphasized that their impact is minimal.
“I believe that’s a very small ranking factor, so it’s not something I’d really try to force. And it’s not something where I’d say it’s even worth your effort to kind of restructure your site just so you can include keywords in the URL.”
What I Recommend to Avoid ❌
- Avoid Keyword Stuffing in URLs: While it’s important to include relevant keywords in your URL, overloading it with keywords can do more harm than good.
- Avoid Placing Keywords at the End of the URL: Search engine crawlers assign more significance to words at the beginning of a URL. If your primary keyword is buried at the end, its impact may be reduced.
Back in 2016, Google’s John Mueller acknowledged that keywords in a URL do contribute to rankings. However, he emphasized that their impact is minimal.
Separate Words with Hyphens
When structuring URLs, using hyphens (-) to separate words is the recommended practice for better readability and SEO. Search engines, including Google, treat hyphens as space separators, making it easier for them to understand the words in your URL.
Take this example:
Each word is clearly separated by hyphens, ensuring both search engines and users can quickly interpret the page’s topic.
On the other hand, underscores (_) should be avoided, as Google treats them as word connectors rather than separators. This means a URL like “nofollow_tag_guide” might be read as “nofollowtagguide”, making it harder for search engines to parse individual words.
🚫 I personally suggest to avoid URLs like:
- https://www.allaboutai.com/ai_seo/nofollow_tag_guide/ (Uses underscores)
- https://www.allaboutai.com/aiSEO/nofollowTagGuide/ (Uses camel case, which is harder to read)
Google’s official guidelines advise using hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) to separate words in URLs, as hyphens facilitate easier identification of concepts for both users and search engines.
Keep URLs in Lowercase Letters
Ensuring that your URLs are in lowercase is a best practice for both user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). URLs are case sensitive, meaning that https://www.example.com/Page and https://www.example.com/page could be interpreted as two distinct pages.
This can lead to issues such as duplicate content and diluted page authority.
Google’s official guidelines recommend standardizing your URLs to a single case to avoid potential problems.
They state: “If upper and lower case text in a URL is treated the same by the web server, convert all text to the same case so it is easier for Google to determine that URLs reference the same page.”
By adopting a consistent, lowercase URL structure, you can enhance your site’s SEO performance and provide a more intuitive experience for users.
Shorten URLs for Better SEO
Maintaining concise URLs is a best practice that enhances both user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). Shorter URLs are easier to read, remember, and share, reducing the likelihood of errors during manual entry.
Let’s take a look at an example to understand why keeping URLs short is important for SEO and user experience.
At first glance, it’s difficult to tell what the page is actually about. Is it about skincare routines? Redirects? Defaults? The excessive length and unnecessary words make it harder for both search engines and users to quickly understand the page’s purpose.
Now, compare that to a much shorter and cleaner version.
While URL length is not a direct ranking factor, excessively long URLs can lead to issues. Google’s John Mueller advises keeping URLs under 1,000 characters to facilitate easier tracking and avoid potential complications.
Additionally, Google’s official guidelines recommend shortening URLs by trimming unnecessary parameters whenever possible.
Use Static URLs and Avoid Dynamic URLs
Static URLs are URLs that remain constant and do not change based on user input or session data. They are clean, readable, and more SEO-friendly compared to dynamic URLs, which contain parameters like ?id=123.
Opting for static URLs over dynamic ones can significantly enhance both user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). Static URLs are easier for search engines to index.
Why I Recommend Using Static URLs
From my experience, static URLs offer several key advantages that make them a must for any SEO-friendly website:
- ✔ Better Readability: Static URLs are clean and easy to understand, making them more user friendly and trustworthy.
- ✔ SEO Boost: Search engines can crawl and index static URLs more efficiently, which can improve rankings.
- ✔ Easier Sharing: Short, clear URLs are more likely to be shared and clicked on, as they instantly convey what the page is about.
Use Subdomains with Caution
Subdomains are subdivisions of a main domain that function as separate websites, often used to organize distinct content.
From my experience, using subdomains instead of subfolders can cause SEO challenges. Let’s take an seo-friendly URL example to illustrate the difference.
In this case, Google treats blog.allaboutai.com as a separate website from www.allaboutai.com. This means:
❌ The SEO authority from the main domain doesn’t fully transfer to the blog.
❌ Backlinks earned by the blog may not benefit the main website as much.
❌ Google has to crawl and index the subdomain separately, which can delay rankings.
By keeping the blog under a subfolder (/blog/), the website benefits from:
✔ Stronger SEO authority – The blog contributes directly to the ranking power of the main domain.
✔ Faster indexing – Google recognizes it as part of the main site, leading to quicker crawling.
✔ Better user experience – Visitors stay within the same domain, creating a seamless journey.
While subdomains have their place, I always recommend using subfolders whenever possible to maximize SEO benefits and maintain a strong domain authority.
Keep URLs Timeless And Avoid Dates
In my experience, including dates in URLs can inadvertently limit the perceived relevance and longevity of your content. Here’s why I recommend omitting dates.
When users see a date in a URL, they might assume the content is outdated, even if it’s still relevant.
This URL below is currently ranking, but it can be outranked by a more evergreen, date free version. Including “2015” in the URL makes it seem outdated, even if the content is regularly updated.
Improve Navigation with Well Structured URLs
A well organized SEO-friendly URL structure with clear subfolders makes it easier for users to navigate your site and understand their location within it. This is especially critical for businesses targeting specific locations, such as local SEO for restaurants, where geographic keywords in URLs can enhance search visibility.
Additionally, it helps search engines categorize your pages into meaningful sections for better indexing.
Google emphasizes the importance of site navigation, stating:
“The navigation of a website is important in helping visitors quickly find the content they want. It can also help search engines understand what content the webmaster thinks is important.”
Let’s take All About AI. This domain prioritize a clear and structured navigation system to enhance both user experience and SEO performance.
The navigation is designed to make it easy for visitors to find relevant information while also helping search engines efficiently crawl and index our content.
Secure Your Site with HTTPS
While HTTPS is primarily about security rather than URL structure, it’s still an essential factor since it forms part of your URL. There’s no debate—HTTPS is the new standard. If your site isn’t secured yet, I strongly recommend making the switch.
In fact, over half of the web now runs on HTTPS. Plus, Google has confirmed that HTTPS secured sites have a ranking advantage, making it a crucial step for both SEO and user trust.
All About AI prioritizes security and trust, which is why the entire site runs on HTTPS. This ensures that all data exchanged between users and our website is encrypted and secure.
Can URL Structures Vary? Here’s What You Need to Know
Not all websites follow the same URL structure, and that’s completely fine.
A website’s URL structure is shaped by its unique needs and objectives. For instance, an international site may structure URLs to support multiple languages or locations, while a blog, eCommerce, or membership site might use a different approach.
Similarly, a government website’s URLs will likely differ from those of a social network.
While URL structures vary based on a website’s purpose, the core best practices remain essential to ensure clarity, usability, and SEO effectiveness. Regardless of the structure, following these guidelines helps maintain a well optimized URL system.
Why Does URL Structure Matter for SEO?
Your URL structure plays a crucial role in organizing your website’s content and connecting users to your pages. In fact, URLs hold such significance that Google’s SEO Starter Guide dedicates an entire section to optimizing them.
It impacts both user experience and SEO performance, making it essential to get it right.
1. Enhancing User Experience
A well structured URL improves navigation, making it easier for users to understand and browse your site. Clear and logical URL hierarchies help visitors move through your content seamlessly, without confusion.
Using SEO-friendly URLs—which are short, readable, and descriptive—improves both user trust and search engine rankings. For example:
Front End View of
✅ Good URL: https://www.allaboutai.com/ai-seo/nofollow-tag-guide/ (Clear and relevant)
❌ Bad URL: https://www.allaboutai.com/index.php?id=470&clcp27sap (Confusing and unstructured)
A clean URL structure ensures users immediately understand what a page is about before clicking, improving both click through rates (CTR) and SEO rankings.
2. Boosting PageRank and SEO Performance
URLs help Google understand your site’s structure and how different pages relate to each other. Internal linking further reinforces this structure, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website.
Since URLs are a Google ranking factor, an optimized URL structure can positively influence PageRank (PR)—Google’s measure of a webpage’s value and relevance to a search query. Some search algorithms, such as Navboost, may further refine rankings based on user navigation signals and click behavior.
However, keyword stuffing should be avoided. Instead, use only relevant keywords in URLs to keep them clean and effective.
How AI is Revolutionizing SEO-Friendly URLs
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we optimize URLs for SEO, making the process smarter, faster, and more efficient. AI powered tools can now analyze search intent, generate keyword rich URLs, and automate URL structuring to enhance search visibility.
From predictive SEO insights to automated URL optimizations, AI is redefining how websites improve their rankings with structured, user friendly URLs.
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FAQs
Why should I use keywords in my URLs?
Is it better to use subdomains or subfolders for SEO?
Does switching to HTTPS improve SEO?
Which URL is better for SEO?
Conclusion
Creating SEO-friendly URLs is a simple yet powerful way to improve your website’s search rankings, user experience, and click through rates. By keeping URLs short, descriptive, and keyword focused, while avoiding unnecessary parameters, dates, or special characters, you set up your site for long term success.
By implementing these best practices, you ensure that both users and search engines can easily navigate and understand your site leading to better visibility, engagement, and growth.
