Good URLs are like street signs. They tell users where they are, where they’re going, and what to expect. If you’re building or managing a website—whether on WordPress, Shopify, or another system—it’s worth getting your URLs right from the start.
This post covers clear, practical guidelines for naming URLs in a way that improves user experience, supports your SEO efforts, and saves you from headaches later.
Use All Lowercase for URLs
The best URLs are short, descriptive, and all lowercase.
Why lowercase? Because some content management systems—and many servers—treat uppercase and lowercase letters as different URLs. That can lead to broken links, confusion, and duplicate content.
Examples:
- Good:
yourdomain.com/about-us - Avoid:
yourdomain.com/About-Us
If you’re printing URLs on flyers, business cards, or sending them in email campaigns, lowercase is more straightforward and easier to type. Ask your web developer to set this up if your CMS doesn’t automatically convert URLs to lowercase.
Keep It Short and Descriptive
A good URL describes the page’s content in a few words. It should be easy to say out loud or type by hand.
Example:
- Good:
yourdomain.com/services/web-design - Avoid:
yourdomain.com/our-services/website-build-and-design-services
Stick to 3–5 words if possible. Use hyphens between words, not underscores or spaces. Avoid dates, extra words like “and” or “the,” and anything you wouldn’t want to update later.
Think Ahead: Aim for Evergreen URLs
An evergreen URL does not need to change, even if your content evolves. That’s the ideal.
Changing URLs down the road can lead to broken links and lost traffic. Yes, you can set up 301 URL redirects to point the old link to the new one—but it’s better to avoid that if possible.
How to plan for longevity:
- Skip the year in blog URLs (
/2024/seo-tips) unless it’s truly time-sensitive - Choose product or service URLs that won’t need to change if the name of the product or service evolves slightly
- Don’t include temporary promotions or event details in the core page URL
Ask yourself: “Will this URL still make sense 2–3 years from now?”
URL Hierarchy
The structure of your URLs affects how people and search engines understand your site.
If you have a page like yourdomain.com/services, and under that, yourdomain.com/services/seo, then changing “services” later means the whole section breaks unless you update all child pages and set up redirects.
So it’s essential to:
- Choose top-level folder names carefully (like
/services,/blog, or/shop) - Only nest pages under a parent if the parent topic truly applies to every child
- Avoid unnecessary nesting. Deeper URLs like
yourdomain.com/services/marketing/seo/advanced-auditsare more complicated to manage and read.
In WordPress, assigning a parent page will include it in the URL. The hierarchy on Shopify and other platforms is visual but not always visible in the URL. Know how your CMS handles this before planning your structure.
Avoid Dynamic URLs (When Possible)
Dynamic URLs—ones with ?, =, and other special characters can be common in e-commerce and filtering systems. However, they can be hard to read and share, and sometimes confusing to search engines.
Example:
- Good:
yourdomain.com/shoes/sale - Avoid:
yourdomain.com/products.aspx?id=3&type=shoes&type=sale
If your site relies on dynamic URLs (especially in e-commerce, search, or apps), work with your developer to simplify them or use canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues.
Set Guidelines for Larger Teams
You can apply these tips yourself if you’re the only one managing content. But if you work with a team, it’s worth having a few rules written down:
- All URLs should be lowercase and use hyphens
- Use clear, descriptive words—no random numbers or codes
- Try to avoid repetitive URLs, if you already have /news/releases in your URL, you can avoid naming the News Releases page news-releases, which would end up like this /news/news-releases/
- Avoid changing existing URLs without planning for redirects
- Run URL ideas by an expert before launch
This lightweight governance prevents future issues and makes your site easier to manage. If you are on a larger team, you may wish to work with your web developer to establish rules and checks in your content management or e-commerce system.
Good URL Naming Checklist
Think of your URLs as part of your site’s public face. They should be easy to read and explain.
Here’s a quick checklist:
- Use lowercase letters
- Separate words with hyphens
- Keep them short and descriptive
- Avoid dynamic parameters when possible
- Plan for longevity
- Use a clean hierarchy only when it adds value, and the content is structured as part of that hierarchy
Need Help Building Your Website?
Garrett Digital designs and builds websites with these best practices in mind. Whether you’re launching a new site or want to clean up an existing one, we’ll help you create a clear, future-proof, and SEO-friendly structure. Contact us to learn more.
