Building SEO-friendly URLs is one of the quickest wins you can ship on a website, and most teams still get it wrong. Your URL is a ranking signal, a trust signal, and a click signal at the same time. Google uses words in the URL to understand the page, and searchers use it to decide if you look credible in the results.
This guide walks you through the rules, the structure, and the mistakes Liam Lytton sees most often when auditing client sites at The 66th. By the end, you will know exactly how to write URLs that rank and get clicked.
What Makes a URL SEO-Friendly in the First Place?
An SEO-friendly URL is short, readable, and describes the page content using the target keyword. Google states in its own documentation that simple, descriptive URLs help search engines crawl your site more effectively ([Google Search Central, 2024](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/url-structure)). Searchers feel the same way. A clean URL signals that the page is organised and trustworthy.
The pattern is consistent across high-ranking pages. They use hyphens between words, lowercase letters, and the primary keyword near the start of the slug. They avoid random numbers, session IDs, and stop words like "and" or "the" when they add no meaning.
The three jobs a URL has to do
A good URL does three things at once. It tells Google what the page is about, it tells the searcher what they will get if they click, and it stays short enough to share without breaking on social platforms. Miss any of the three and you leave clicks on the table.
What Google actually reads
Google parses the path of your URL and uses the words it finds as a ranking signal. The signal is small, but it compounds across thousands of pages on a domain. John Mueller has confirmed this on multiple occasions, calling URL words a "very lightweight factor" that still matters for ambiguous queries.
Which URL Structure Should You Actually Use?
If clean URLs help, the next question is which structure you should pick across your whole site. Most local businesses and SMBs work best with a flat structure that puts important pages 1 click from the homepage. Deep folder nesting buries your money pages and dilutes internal link equity.
The decision comes down to your content type. Service pages, location pages, and blog posts each have their own pattern that works.
Flat vs nested folders
A flat URL looks like example.com/seo-services. A nested URL looks like example.com/services/marketing/digital/seo-services. Flat structures are easier to crawl, easier to remember, and easier to update. Use folders only when they add real meaning, like /blog/ or /case-studies/.
Picking the right pattern by page type
The table below shows the patterns Liam recommends for the 4 page types that drive most local SMB traffic.
| Page type | Recommended URL pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Service page | /service-name | /seo-audit |
| Location page | /service-name-city | /seo-vancouver |
| Blog post | /keyword-phrase | /how-to-build-seo-friendly-urls |
| Case study | /case-studies/client-name | /case-studies/washtech |
How Long Should a URL Be, and Where Should Keywords Sit?
Once you have the structure, length and keyword placement are the next levers. Backlinko analysed 11.8 million Google search results and found that short URLs outrank long URLs in 9 out of 10 cases ([Backlinko, 2023](https://backlinko.com/search-engine-ranking)). The pages on page 1 averaged 50 to 60 characters in the URL.
That does not mean every URL has to be 3 words. It means you should cut every word that is not earning its place. Stop words, brand names inside slugs, and category fluff are the first to go.
The 60-character rule
Aim for under 60 characters in the full URL, including the domain. This keeps your URL fully visible in Google's search results on desktop and most mobile devices. URLs that get truncated lose the trust signal and the click.
Where to put the keyword
Put the primary keyword as close to the start of the slug as possible. The example.com/striking-distance-seo URL is stronger than example.com/guide-to-striking-distance-in-seo. Both contain the keyword, but the first one front-loads it and cuts the filler. For more on choosing the right keyword in the first place, see our guide on striking distance keywords.
What Mistakes Should You Avoid When Writing URLs?
The patterns above are simple, but the mistakes are surprisingly common. Marketers and developers introduce friction without realising it, usually because the CMS makes the wrong default easy.
Here are the 5 mistakes Liam flags most often during technical audits at The 66th.
Dates, IDs, and parameters
WordPress, Shopify, and most CMS platforms default to URLs with dates (/2024/03/15/post-title) or numeric IDs (/?p=4821). Both kill the keyword signal and date the content. Switch your permalink settings to the post-name option before you publish anything.
Underscores, capitals, and special characters
Google treats hyphens as word separators and underscores as letter joiners. So /seo_audit reads as "seoaudit" to Google, while /seo-audit reads as 2 words. Always use lowercase, always use hyphens, and never use spaces, ampersands, or accented characters in the slug.
Changing URLs without redirects
If you rewrite a URL after the page is live, you must add a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. Skipping the redirect drops the page from Google's index and breaks every external link pointing at it. If you have an indexing issue after a URL change, our guide on fixing pages that won't index covers the recovery steps.
How Do You Audit Your Existing URLs Without Breaking Anything?
If you already have a site with messy URLs, the question is how to fix them without losing traffic. The answer is to audit before you change anything. Most sites have 20% of pages driving 80% of organic traffic, and those are the URLs you protect.
Run the audit in 3 passes: identify, prioritise, then rewrite with redirects.
Pulling the data you need
Export every indexed URL from Google Search Console under the Pages report. Cross-reference with your analytics to pull clicks and conversions for each URL over the last 12 months. Sort by traffic and revenue, descending.
Deciding what to rewrite
Leave the top 20% alone unless the URL is actively broken. For the rest, group URLs by template (all blog posts, all service pages) and rewrite the template. This catches structural issues at scale instead of fixing one URL at a time.
Shipping the redirects
Every rewritten URL needs a 301 redirect from the old path to the new one. Test each redirect manually before you push to production. Then resubmit the new URLs in Google Search Console and watch the coverage report for 2 weeks to confirm Google has crawled and indexed the new paths.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the keyword in my URL really affect rankings?
Yes, but the effect is small on its own. Google uses words in the URL as a lightweight ranking signal, confirmed by their own documentation. The bigger impact is on click-through rate, because searchers are more likely to click URLs that match their query.
Should I include my brand name in every URL?
No. Your domain already contains your brand. Adding the brand name to the slug (example.com/the66th-seo-audit) wastes characters and pushes the keyword further back. Use the slug for the keyword, not the brand.
Can I have a URL longer than 60 characters?
Yes, especially for blog posts with long-tail keywords. The 60-character target is a guideline, not a hard limit. The rule is to cut every word that does not earn its place, then accept the length you end up with.
What is the difference between a hyphen and an underscore in a URL?
Google treats hyphens as word separators and underscores as letter joiners. So /local-seo reads as 2 words, while /local_seo reads as one word. Always use hyphens for SEO.
Should I use trailing slashes on my URLs?
Pick one format and stick with it across the whole site. Either always use a trailing slash (/services/) or never use one (/services). Mixing both creates duplicate content. Set a 301 redirect from the non-canonical format to the canonical one.
How long does it take Google to recognise a new URL?
Anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on your site's crawl budget and authority. Submit the URL directly in Google Search Console using the URL Inspection tool to speed up the process.
Do URL parameters hurt SEO?
Parameters used for tracking (utm_source) are fine because Google ignores them. Parameters used to generate page content (?category=shoes&color=red) can create duplicate content and crawl waste. Use the URL Parameters tool in Search Console or rewrite parameters as clean paths.
Key Takeaways
- SEO-friendly URLs are short, lowercase, hyphenated, and contain the target keyword near the start of the slug.
- Aim for under 60 characters in the full URL so it stays visible in Google's search results.
- Use a flat structure for local SMBs. Only add folders when they add real meaning, like /blog/ or /case-studies/.
- Match the URL pattern to the page type: /service for services, /service-city for locations, /keyword-phrase for blog posts.
- Never change a live URL without adding a 301 redirect from the old path to the new one.
- Audit before you rewrite. Protect the top 20% of URLs driving 80% of your organic traffic.
If you want a second pair of eyes on your URL structure, book a call with The 66th and we will walk through your site together.
