What is an SEO Slug?
An SEO slug is the part of a URL that identifies a specific page in a human- and search-engine-friendly way. It appears after the domain and path (e.g. /your-page-title-here). A good slug is short, readable, and includes relevant keywords without special characters or unnecessary words.
Why SEO-Friendly URLs Matter
Search engines and users both use URLs to understand and remember content. Clean slugs can improve click-through rates in search results, make links easier to share, and signal topic relevance. Long, messy URLs with symbols or random IDs are harder to trust and less likely to be clicked or remembered.
Best Practices for URL Slugs
- Use lowercase letters only
- Separate words with hyphens (not underscores)
- Keep slugs short and focused (often under 60 characters)
- Remove stop words (a, the, and) unless they add clarity
- Normalize accented characters (é → e) for consistency
- Avoid special characters, emoji, and spaces
- Include target keywords when they fit naturally
Related Tools
For more SEO and content tools, try:
- SERP Preview – Preview how your title and description look in search results
- Word Counter – Count words and characters for meta and content length
- SEO Tools – Browse all SEO utilities