URL Structure: 12 Best Practices for SEO-Friendly URLs
Updated: Aug 12
Updated: Aug 12, 2026
Crafting a successful online presence is akin to brewing the perfect cup — it requires the right ingredients, a systematic approach, and attention to detail. URL structure is a crucial element of this process. Much like mapping out the steps of your brewing process before igniting the kettle, establishing a clear and compelling URL hierarchy lays the foundation for a successful website.
So grab your favourite mug, settle in, and let's explore the art of crafting SEO-friendly URLs. Like the perfect brew, it’s all about finding the right balance and flavour for success.
1. Follow a Good URL Structure
While there's no one-size-fits-all recipe, a simple, logical, and memorable URL structure is a key ingredient. Make it easy for both humans and search engines to understand and navigate your site.
URLs can be different depending on the site's purpose. Make it easy for both humans and search engines to navigate your site.
2. Use the HTTPS Protocol
As a secure fermentation process helps protect the quality of your brew, HTTPS encryption helps protect information exchanged between your website and its visitors. It's a fundamental standard for a secure, trustworthy website.
Pro Tip: To view more details about the connection, click on the icon next to your URL in the Chrome address bar.
3. Keep Your Domain Format Consistent
Whether your domain uses www or not is largely a matter of preference—neither version gives you an inherent SEO advantage. What matters is consistency. Choose one primary version and make sure redirects, canonical URLs, internal links, and your sitemap all point search engines and visitors toward the same destination.
4. Edit Page URLs to be Relevant
When you publish a page on your site, it should have a clear purpose. Do not use randomly generated numbers that are confusing and irrelevant. Customizing your website's page URLs to describe the content within the page improves your user experience and can increase click-through rates.
For example our URL: thebrandbrew.ca/solutions/branding
points visitors to our specific service:
5. Keep URLs Short and Simple
Most website platforms automatically use the page name or blog post title as the default URL, but sometimes, it can be an unnecessarily long string of characters for the slug.
Like a finely brewed ale, a clean URL doesn't need unnecessary ingredients. Keep URLs concise and descriptive, removing words or parameters that don't add useful meaning.
6. Use a Meaningful Keyword
Use descriptive words that accurately reflect the page's content. When a relevant keyword fits naturally, including it in the URL can give users and search engines another helpful clue about what they'll find on the page. Don't stuff your URL with more than that; it can come across as illegitimate or spammy.
Carry the same topic naturally through your title tag, meta description, body copy, H1, and relevant subheads, but don't force an exact-match keyword into every element simply to check an SEO box.
7. Hyphenate with Care
When separating words in your URL, hyphens are the hops of choice.
When separating words in a URL, hyphens are the hops of choice. Google recommends hyphens rather than underscores or running words together, making the URL easier for people and search engines to interpret.
SEO best practices use hyphens between words because this tells Google and users where the breaks between words are, and it's so much easier to read than words that are all smashed together.
Here is an example of the difference hyphens make to URLs:
8. Filter Out Stop Words
Every word in a URL should earn its place. Articles and connecting words like the, and, of, or for can often be removed when the URL remains clear without them—but don't sacrifice readability simply to make a slug shorter.
9. Use Lowercase Letters
URLs are case-sensitive for everything after the root domain name.
For example, "TheBrandBrew.ca” will still direct you to "thebrandbrew.ca,” but "thebrandbrew.ca/Contact-Us" will take you to a 404 page instead of our intended contact page.
Using lowercase consistently helps avoid accidentally creating multiple URL variations. For existing indexed URLs, however, don't change them solely for cosmetic reasons without considering redirects and existing links.
Wix, Shopify, and WordPress automatically default to lowercase, so if any of these are your website platforms, you have nothing to fret about regarding case sensitivity.
10. Redirect Wisely
As you tweak your website over time, your URL structure may evolve. When making changes, use permanent redirects to guide users to your new URLs without leaving them high and dry.
Pro Tip: Avoid too many redirects, as they can slow down your site. Keep redirect chains as short as possible and point old URLs directly to their most relevant new destination.
That's why picking a good URL structure at the beginning of your website's life is essential—to avoid redirects!
Pro Tip: Don't change an established URL just to make it prettier. If a page is already indexed or earning links, weigh the benefit of the change against the need for redirects and recrawling.
11. Remove Dates from Blog Posts
For evergreen blog content, leaving dates out of the URL can make it easier to update and republish the article over time without changing its address. If the date is genuinely meaningful to the content—such as an annual report or event—a date may still belong in the URL.
It also allows for evergreen content so you can go back and update high-performing posts with new information, then re-publish the post without redirecting the old URL. Refreshing and republishing old content is a sign of a strong SEO strategy.
12. Use Numbers When They Add Meaning
If your business name or the root domain has a number in it, take precautions and purchase the spelled-out version of the domain name as well. Then, redirect it to the primary domain. That way, if visitors need clarification or learn the spelling, they will be guaranteed to end up in the right place.
For example, seveneleven.com redirects to their domain 7-eleven.com
Try to avoid using all numbers in your URL slug (or after the root domain) altogether. Think about how people write. When searching for something online, “four” can easily get mixed up in place of “for” or “two” instead of “to,” so it’s best to avoid unnecessary confusion.
If the number in question is a year or specific date, use the numbers and don’t spell it out. Most of the time, the longer the number, the more likely it's an actual number like 47 versus spelling out “forty-seven.”
Using numbers in your URL depends on the situation. Just make sure to weigh the factors and decide if it’s best to include or exclude them.
Enhancing Website Performance Through SEO-Friendly URLs
URLs are one of the building blocks of a well-structured website. Clean, descriptive URLs make pages easier to understand, share, and manage while giving search engines another clue about how your content fits together.
And URL structure is only one ingredient beneath the surface. The Brand Brew®'s SEO & GEO Website Audit takes a closer look at your website's technical health, from crawlability and indexing to site structure, metadata, schema, performance, and AI visibility.
Building from the grounds up? Our Digital Presence brings website strategy, design, SEO & GEO, content, and other digital touchpoints together from the start.
Book a call and let's make sure every ingredient is working together.
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