The Importance of URL Structures
Every component plays a crucial role in shaping the user experience and search engine visibility when it comes to your digital presence and one of these fundamental elements is the URL structure.
The way you design and format your URLs can significantly impact both user navigation and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Understanding URL structures: The foundation of navigation
Clear hierarchy and readability:
A well-structured URL acts as a roadmap for both users and search engines, providing insights into the content hierarchy of your whole website, in a similar way which header tags indicate hierarchy within page and post content.
Each segment of the URL should convey meaningful information, reflecting the page’s position within the website’s structure. For instance, a URL like “www.example.com/ultimate-cat-grooming-guide” clearly indicates that the page belongs to the blog section and features a specific article.
Hyphens for space:
To enhance readability, use hyphens to separate words in URLs. For example, “example.com/cat-breeds/persian” is more user-friendly than “example.com/catbreedpersian.”
Hyphens not only improve human comprehension but also assist search engines in interpreting the content.
The impact on SEO: URLs guiding search engines
Keywords in URLs:
Incorporating relevant keywords into your URL structure can boost your page’s visibility in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
For instance, if your article is about healthy cat food, a URL like “example.com/cat-nutrition/healthy-cat-food” reinforces the content’s relevance to search engines.
Avoiding dynamic parameters:
Clean URLs without excessive dynamic parameters are favoured by search engines.
A URL like “example.com/product?id=123” is less SEO-friendly than “example.com/product/cat-friendly-shampoo”
Best practices for URL structure: Crafting a digital pathways
- Short and Descriptive:
Keep URLs concise and descriptive, providing users and search engines with a clear indication of the page’s content.
- Use Hyphens, Not Underscores:
Choose hyphens ( – ) to separate words, as search engines treat underscores ( _ ) as connectors, making it harder to distinguish individual words.
- Avoid Stop Words:
Exclude unnecessary stop words like “and,” “or,” and “but” in URLs. Focus on essential keywords for clarity.
- Consistent Structure:
Maintain a consistent URL structure across your website, promoting predictability for users and facilitating search engine crawlers.
WordPress Permalinks: Good to know!
To set permalinks in WordPress, you can go to the “Settings” menu and select “Permalinks.” Choose a permalink structure that aligns with your content and SEO goals, and WordPress will automatically generate URLs based on that structure for your posts, pages, and media.
Permalinks are the permanent URLs assigned to individual pages, posts, or media, serving as a direct and consistent web address for accessing specific content.
Optimising images: Thoughtful naming for URLs
It is important to stress that naming your images for the URL outcome is crucial as search engines use image file names to understand the context and relevance of the image content, contributing to better ranking in image searches, and then it also contributes to the page or articles SEO.
For SEO-friendly image naming, consider something descriptive and relevant. In the case of an image of a Persian cat, you might name it: persian-cat-beautiful-long-haired-feline.jpg This name includes keywords like “Persian cat,” “beautiful,” and “long-haired,” which can enhance the image’s visibility in search engine results related to Persian cats.
For a quotes card featuring a Persian Cat and serving as a section image header (as in the example above), you might want to combine elements related to the content and context. Here’s an example: persian-cat-quotes-card-section-header.jpg This name indicates that the image is a quotes card, features a Persian cat, and serves as a section header.
Select specific words that accurately describe the content of the image.
Additionally, remember to set the Alt Text for your images, as this improves accessibility for users with visual impairments who rely on screen readers.
WordPress image URLs: Good to know!
In WordPress, the default URL structure for displaying images is typically based on the structure set in the Permalinks settings. By default, WordPress creates URLs for images based on the following format:
https://www.example.com/wp-content/uploads/year/month/your-file-name.jpg
- https://example.com: Your website’s domain.
- /wp-content/uploads/: The default path where WordPress stores uploaded media files.
- year: The year the image was uploaded.
- month: The month the image was uploaded.
- your-file-name.jpg: The original filename of the uploaded image.
For example, if you uploaded an image named “persian-cat.jpg” in February 2022, the URL might look like: https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/persian-cat.jpg
It’s important to note that this URL structure can be customised by changing the Permalinks settings in WordPress. Additionally, some themes or plugins might modify how images are displayed or organised in the URL structure.
End goal: Navigation and SEO-friendly websites
Professional website content and structure planning includes crafting well-structured URLs while drafting your sitemap. Establishing clear and concise URL structures provide valuable information about your content and what your audience can expect on a particular page.
This is the end goal: Organising your website in a logical manner, making it easier for users to navigate and for search engines to understand the hierarchy and relevance of different pages.
The incorporated relevant keywords in your URLs enhance your SEO efforts, aligning your website with search engine algorithms and improving its overall visibility in search results.
Ultimately, a thoughtful approach to URL structure is an integral part of strategic website planning, ensuring a positive user experience and optimal SERP (Search Engine Results Page) Rankings.
Learn more about the Key Components of On-page SEO in these Articles:
- On-Page SEO: A Guide for Website Content and Blog Articles
- Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
- Content Snippets
- Header Tags (H1, H2, etc.)
- Keyword Optimisation
- Image Alt Text
- Internal and External Links
- Anchor Links
and to learn more about content creation, you can read about Evergreen Content and Pillar Method for Content Creation.