If you look at the top of your browser, in the address bar you will see a URL such as http://www.roimedia.co.za/blog, which is the address of the site you are visiting.
The URL structure, along with other on-page SEO elements, should work to help your search engine visibility and rankings. In this post we are only going look at basic URL structure, to analyse the difference between a good URL and a bad one.
Bad URLs
Take a look at the following URL:
http://www.badurl.com/banana.asp?id=1_&category=234_1
Why is the above URL classified as bad? Well, the main issue is all those weird characters at the end. As we all know, search engines cannot interpret characters for relevancy. That’s why it is advised to use relevant keywords in your URL, as it facilitates both search engine crawlers and human beings when it comes to navigating and understanding your site. Now let’s take a look at a good URL to see what I mean. You see the difference?
http://www.roimedia.co.za/search-engine-optimisation/
The above URL is clean, descriptive and targets specific keywords that are relevant to the page. There are no weird or funny characters. This type of URL is easily crawled and interpreted for relevancy.
Things to keep in mind when creating URLs
- Try to incorporate targeted keywords in your URL where possible
- Use hyphens/dashes as word separators
- Keep URLs short and descriptive – they will be remembered more
- Stick to lowercase letters
- Create static URLs instead of long dynamic URLs
Having a poor URL structure can result in:
- Lack of indexation by search engines
- Ranking of irrelevant keywords
- Inability for users to remember the URL
The points listed above should be kept in mind when creating or optimising URLs. There are a few other factors involved but I am keeping this very simple. If you have any to add, please do so in the comments section at the bottom of this page.
