Remember when you found miles of web addresses with complex sequences of letters, numbers, and special characters? Such long URLs are not only unsightly, but can also negatively affect your search engine rankings.

Luckily, it takes a little know-how to improve your URL structure for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Learn how to create a concise web address that helps drive more traffic to your website.

URL Structure

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, but it's more likely called a web address i.e the text you type into your web browser to go to a particular page. The URL can be short and descriptive, like "myshop.com". Sometimes the URL is longer and more descriptive, like "myshop.com/products/categories/drinks/cocacola/" ghlps drive more visitors to your website.

Site Subdomains and Subfolders

If your website has a custom domain name, you can also have subdomains or subfolders (a.k.a subdirectories).

Subdomains are like micro-websites within the main page. Blogs are a common example of subdomains and can contain URLs like "blog.myshop.com". Subfolders serve a similar purpose, but their URLs are structured differently, such as "myshop.com/profile".

straightforward URL structure can improve SEO

A simple URL structure allows crawlers such as Google to index your web pages and makes your content more transparent, which can drive more traffic to your website. For example, you'll want to click on a link with a clear destination like "myshop.com/holiday-deal" rather than a misleading URL like "myshop.com/wxqqKlLd090".

If you're wondering if subdomains or subfolders might improve his SEO, Search Engine Journal reports that Google gives them equal weight.

How to create SEO-friendly URLs

• Avoid special characters and capital letters: These are hard to read and can cause technical problems with some web browsers. Hyphens are an exception. Google recommends using hyphens (instead of underscores) to separate text where necessary.
• Keep it simple: According to Google, your website's URL structure should be "as simple as possible". Human-readable structures are used instead of long, meaningless strings of text and numbers. Complex URLs also make it harder for Google to index your content, which can affect your search engine rankings.
• Make your keywords stand out: If you're targeting keywords within your website content, why should your URL be different? Be careful with repetition. As Search Engine Journal suggests, "Adding the same keyword multiple times in hopes of boosting rankings will only result in spammy URL structures."

Conclusion

A URL structure is a description, not just an address.Easy-to-read URLs start forming a positive user experience even before your site visitors open the page. Building a URL structure for SEO can improve your search engine rankings and maximize your web presence.