Slug / URL Generator

What makes a good URL slug?

A slug is the part of a URL that identifies a specific page in human-readable form — for example, in example.com/blog/best-running-shoes, the slug is best-running-shoes. Clean slugs help both users and search engines understand what a page is about at a glance.

Best practices for SEO-friendly slugs

• Keep it short: Aim for under 60 characters where possible — shorter URLs tend to display fully in search results and are easier to share
• Use hyphens, not underscores: Google treats hyphens as word separators; underscores can cause words to be read as one long string
• Include your target keyword: Slugs that reflect the page's main topic tend to be more descriptive for both users and search engines
• Drop unnecessary stopwords: Words like "a," "the," and "of" rarely add value to a slug and just add length
• Avoid dates and numbers that go stale: A slug like best-shoes-2024 can look outdated a year later — consider leaving the year out unless it's essential

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. Should I change my slug after a page is already published?

A. Be cautious — changing a live URL can break existing backlinks and lose accumulated ranking signals unless you set up a proper 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one.

Q. Do slugs need to exactly match the page title?

A. No. Slugs are usually a shortened, simplified version of the title — just enough to convey the topic clearly, without every filler word from the full headline.

Q. Does slug length directly affect rankings?

A. There's no strict length penalty, but shorter, clearer URLs tend to get better click-through rates and are easier for both users and search engines to parse — which indirectly supports SEO.