What if you got a call from Google today, and they said your website would benefit from SEO-friendly URL structures? That would probably pique your interest. Unfortunately, most business owners don’t get that wake up call and if they aren’t working with a skilled digital marketing agency, they may never understand how important URL structure can be.
Like any other ranking element, the URL structure will not improve your SEO results on its own. However, it has a place in your overall SEO strategy. If you give URLs the attention they deserve, your website will outperform similarly competent competitors who neglect to work on it.
This article will teach you all you need to know about optimizing your website’s URL structure to show Google you deserve high keyword rankings.
The Components of a Good URL
URLs are vital links that connect your visitors to your content. Although search engines can manage long URLs, improving their structure will enhance user experience (UX) and have a minor, beneficial impact on your rankings. The information Google has provided on keyword-rich URLs has changed over time.
Many SEO professionals believe that tweaking URLs for readability has merit because using the keywords can help consumers browse a site more successfully. You want to make sure that your visitors stay on your site for long rather than leaving after just a few seconds.
Furthermore, creating a website with a strong URL structure will aid you in avoiding redirect loops, which can be tough to resolve. Therefore, investing in building a solid URL structure from the start will benefit you in the long run. Don’t forget that when their sites evolved, many site owners found themselves with inadequate URL structures, which harmed their performance in search engine results pages (SERPs).
The Impact of URL Structure on Rankings
Search engines are concerned about your site’s structure because they want to ensure that their users are presented with consistent search results. Google, Bing, Ecosia, and other search engines understand that users don’t want to have to work hard to discover the content they’re seeking; website design and URL structure both play a role in making the process go more smoothly.
A proper URL structure will help you get more backlinks from authoritative sites, which will improve your ranking position. Because backlinks are such an important ranking element, you should ensure you’re not discouraging people from sharing your material by accident.
Tips on Structuring a Good URL
1. Stay Consistent and Organized
You’ll want to be consistent and incredibly organized, in addition to making things as simple as feasible. Search engines value clear structure just as much as they don’t respond well to surprises. Standing out in the internet world is typically a positive thing, but now isn’t the time to attempt something new when it comes to the structure of your URLs.
It would be best to avoid subdomains in general, and instead, you should opt for categories, directories, and subfolders. Remember that subdomains can split your site’s authority, which will hurt your SEO in the long run.
2. Make Trustworthiness a Top Priority
Because Google continuously places a premium on user experience, you must do everything you can to boost your site’s credibility and reliability. Your URLs should ideally employ HTTPS and top-level domains (TLDs). HTTPS will bring an extra degree of protection to your site, and choosing the proper TLD will have a significant impact on how your visitors perceive it.
3. Keep It Short and Simple
Shorter URLs are more convenient to read and share. More shares will boost your traffic and put you in a better position to show that your web pages have the high-quality content that searchers are seeking. You can invest in SEO content writing services to ensure quality.
4. Avoid Using Stop Words and Special Characters
Stop words like “the” and “an” in URLs, as well as special characters like ampersands, asterisks, and exclamation points will hurt your ranks. It’s better to leave out words that don’t provide any value, especially since only 70 URL characters will ever be displayed. Special characters are likely to cause indexing problems, which you should avoid at all costs.
Yes, URLs in SEO are Important!
In a nutshell, SEO-friendly URLs are crucial, and you should always utilize them in conjunction with other SEO techniques. Every website should engage in SEO in general; there’s no point in having a beautiful site with a well-considered user path and compelling content that’s updated regularly if no one can discover it!
If you consider investing in SEO or need help improving your URL, it’s worth talking to Internet Zone I. We are a digital marketing company that systematically ensures all our online marketing initiatives deliver your desired results. Contact us today to get started!