URLs are one of the most easily forgotten SEO tips. After all, it’s not the URL but the content or title that matters the most. Well, if you have a similar thought, you might be wrong. URL, more importantly, seo friendly urls help search engines categorize their SERPs better. It also helps a general web browser or website visitor in more than one way. 

Imagine, a friend shared a link with you with no preview. How do you know that it interested you? Before you click on the link only to find yourself disappointed, you can read the link to get a better estimate of the content. This is only one of the many ways seo URLs are highly recommended. Plus, they are amongst the most accepted ranking signals in the SEO community. 

If you have finally come to understand that SEO friendly URLs are necessary, this article will guide you through the process of making the perfect URL. We will touch upon every important aspect of SEO friendly URL, including what they are, their importance, and how to create them. If you are a search engine optimizer planning to get an in-depth understanding of SEO URLs, this is the article you need to read. 

What are SEO friendly URLs?

URL, an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator, is highly essential to help us connect with the content we look for on the web. An SEO friendly URL is an optimized link. It has categorized elements like permalink and slug. Every part of a link has is equally important, holding it’s position in SEO. 

SEO URL doesn’t always follow the same structure. But, its motive is not just to feature as a link but also to assist web visitors with more information about the content they ultimately access. 

Not every link or URL can be SEO optimized. For example —Amazon has a ton of products. Each product has its own detail. So, they are generally very long and complex. Understanding these links becomes very difficult. For the general people, it’s just gibberish. In other words, not all kinds of URLs are apt for SEO and people. However, a majority of links from blogs, websites, and more require optimization. 

A simple example of mno.com/products clearly indicates to a visitor that they are on the products page of a website called mno.com. Seo friendly urls are also a considerable ranking factor. 

Why are URLs important for SEO?

URLs, especially seo URLs, are deemed necessary and complement the growth of any kind of page or website. There are several reasons why you should understand a URL and use the best SEO techniques to optimize it. Here are a few. 

• Seo friendly URLs expand the user experience of a potential person by giving them enough information about what they are going to experience when they click on the link. 
• Search engines like Google also have a keen eye on SEO friendly url structures and permalinks. If your link says apples and your website is oranges, Google will never rank you. So, it is not just the title that search bots lay their eyes on first, but they consider the link too. 
• Search engines can also categorize a website’s pages when it understands, with proper SEO. So /home, /about, /products, each can find a separate place, and when people search for products, they get /products and not /home. 
• There is a higher probability of a user-friendly URL ranking higher on google than an unstructured and half-hearted URL that means nothing. So, the question you need to ask is — do you want to rank? If not, why optimize at all? 

How to Create a Seo Friendly URL?

If you haven’t created an SEO friendly URL ever in your life, don’t worry, it’s not that difficult, and it’s all about logic. Let’s look at some very fundamental steps you can take to create SEO friendly urls. 

• Structure your link — You cannot let your link go haywire. If you are confused, follow the simple pattern of a link structure. Start with a protocol followed by a subdomain, root domain, TLD, slung, and a permalink. Follow this simple structure, and half your job is done. 
• There are no spaces — you can’t write — top affordable smartphone reviews. You need to fill the gaps between each word with a -. So, naturally, your link will have /top-affordable-smartphones-review. Always use a – to distinguish two words in a link. This can be used anywhere, including the slug and permalink. 
• Have short links — The shorter the link, the more readable it is. So, don’t go deep into the nitty-gritty of the content. Sometimes the best permalinks are the primary keywords or the title. 
• Don’t use too many keywords — Although it is always recommended to use the primary keyword in the link, it’s not a compulsion to repeat them extensively. The same goes for website Titles and content. Use your keywords wisely. If, at all, you plan to use a keyword, make sure it is highly important and relevant to the content. 
• Capitalization is not important — We all have been taught to capitalize the beginning of a word or a noun. Well, those rules don’t apply to links. You don’t need to capitalize your letters here. Keep them all short. 
• Static URLs if not tracking — Until it is almost very necessary to use a parameter like “?” Or “=”, it’s better you don’t use them at all. The more of these you use, the complex the URL gets. Neither people nor search engines like a shabby link on their SERP. Keep it clean and easy to understand.
• Secure every link — you will lose a lot of ranking points if a simple HTTPS protocol is missing from your link. Security is a major concern. Hence, always use an HTTPS protocol. 

Are Keywords in URL Used for Ranking?

Keywords stand amongst the best ranking factors in any content. So, it’s natural that when you use it in a link, its weightage stands the same. Using a keyword in a URL is an excellent ranking signal. However, it is important to use the most important keyword. 

If your content has a lot of primary and secondary keywords, it’s better to pick one that matters the most. Keyword placement is also important. You must use it at the beginning of the link.

Keyword repetition is another issue that not a lot of new optimizers seem to understand. Use one keyword, once. That’s it. 

At the end of the day, you need to know what a URL is and the many components of a URL. Once you know the basics, making an SEO-friendly URL is not difficult. Remember, always keep the URL short, make it secure, use hyphens to distribute words, and follow a simple, easy-to-read structure. Not just search engines but URLs help visitors. So, you build URLs optimized for both.

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