SEO guide

What is a URL slug?

A URL slug is the readable part of a web address that identifies a specific page. In example.com/tools/word-counter/, the slug is word-counter.

Good slug habits

A good slug is short, lowercase, and easy to read. Hyphens are usually better than underscores because they make separate words clearer for people scanning the address.

The slug should describe the page in plain language. It does not need every word from the title. If the page title is long, keep only the terms that identify the topic. A shorter slug is easier to copy, share, and recognize later.

Examples

best-running-shoes is clearer than post-1847. json-formatter is clearer than tool. The slug should match the page topic without becoming a long sentence.

Another example: a title like "How to Format JSON for Easier Reading" can become how-to-format-json. That slug keeps the core search phrase and removes extra words that are not needed in the address.

What to avoid

• Random numbers that do not explain the page.
• Dates that make evergreen content look outdated.
• Very long slugs that repeat the full headline.
• Special characters that may be encoded in confusing ways.

After a page is published, avoid changing its slug unless you can redirect the old URL to the new one. Otherwise, bookmarks, search results, and shared links may break.

Use the Slug Generator to create a clean first draft, then shorten it by hand if the result feels too long.