URL structure

A good URL structure on a Web site is as simple as possible. Instead of a bunch of obscure letters and numbers, a URL should be made up of readable words. This helps search engines read the URL and understand what the link is about. In addition, a clear URL structure helps visitors understand where they are on your website. Examples include:

• A good URL: http://www.domein.nl/tablets-covers
• A bad URL: http://www.domein.nl/index.php?id_sezione=660=sid&8fv7bc912g43wsa6f849f730d2

Good URL structure

In addition to using clear words in the URL, punctuation is also important for structure. This way you can make better divisions within the subcategories on the website. For this, we take again the example of a website selling tablets. There is probably a main category for tablets, which could look like this:

http://www.domein.nl/tablets 

Subcategories such as covers, screen protectors and other accessories could look like this:

http://www.domein.nl/tablets-screenprotectors 

In addition, it is important to take care to use the "-" sign instead of the "_" sign. This is because search engines see words with a low dash between them as one word. So http://www.domein.nl/tablets_screenpro tectors will only be found when searching for "tablets_screenprotectors." When searched for "tablets_screenprotectors" or "tablets_screenprotectors" the URL http://www.domein.nl/tablets-screenprotectors will be found. Also, the use of capital letters can cause problems , as http://www.domein.nl/Tablets-Screenprotectors gives a different location than http://www.domein.nl/tablets-screenprotectors.

URL structure tips

To improve the SEO and readability of your URL structure, here are a few more tips to consider:

• Shorter is better - The maximum length of a URL should be around 50/60 characters. This helps website usability and visitor experience
• Use www version - Make a choice between using or not using a www version for your URL. Otherwise, search engines will index both versions
• Limit 301 redirects - A redirect chain is a concatenation of multiple 301 redirects together. 301 redirects create confusion for visitors and search engines because they are sent from hop to hop

• Beware of over-spamming keywords - Too many keywords in the URL create a negative signal with search engines, causing your page to rank lower in search results