Are you trying to boost your SEO efforts? Who are we kidding, of course, you are!
You’ve created excellent content, used powerful links to build authority, and sprinkled ideal keywords throughout your website. But what else can you do?
Have you ever thought about how your URLs are impacting your SEO practice? Creating SEO friendly URLs is one of the best ways to boost traffic to your website.
Read on to learn the seven best SEO tricks for creating SEO friendly URLs.
1. Remember the human element
When you’re trying to optimize your website for SEO, it’s easy to forget that human beings are a huge part of SEO.
Often times we’re worried about the Google bots that crawl through our website, indexing pages and the like. But how humans interpret your URLs can affect your SEO.
If your page looks sketchy, or the URL is too long, humans are simply not going to click on your link. This drives down visits to your site, which also drives down your SEO efforts. Your rankings will drop like a bad habit!
Some things you should consider when you’re remembering the human element:
Domain
Have you ever done a Google search and looked through the results only to find a bunch of .net and .biz domains? You probably skimmed right past those websites. And you’re not alone!
People are more apt to click on a website they find trustworthy. The .com domain is considered to deem a website higher quality. Consider this when you’re choosing a domain.
Reader-friendly URLs
If your audience can’t read your URL, chances are they’re going to skip your website. They’re not going to a website they can’t even read.
So when you’re creating your URL, you want to make sure that you’re creating one that your visitors can read and understand. You want the URL to make sense to your website.
For example, a website that reads www.catsarecool.com is going to read a lot better than www.XYZwkdiayw@.catsarecool.++.biz.
2. Use keywords
Keywords are huge. But you already knew that. So why not incorporate them into your URLs?
By placing strategic keywords in your URLs, you’re letting your audience know exactly what they’re getting. This way, there’s no confusion.
When ranking sites, Google takes a look at whether or not you’re adding keywords into your URL. Those Google bots that crawl through your site and index your pages also find it easier to index your site when the URLs are clear with keywords.
However, you want to make sure that you’re not using repeated keywords within your URL. In fact, Google will not like this at all. So one of your SEO tricks? Don’t repeat.
3. Reduce redirection
Have you ever gone to a website page and then had to be redirected several times before you reached your destination? Annoying, right?
Google thinks so as well. So when you’re creating your URLs, you want to make sure that you’re reducing your redirection strings.
4. Shorten your URLs
Bigger isn’t always better. One of the best SEO tricks you can take away from this list is that your URLs should be shortened.
Is there a specific number of words that you should focus on? Yes. According to studies done by Backlinko, the magic number is around 50 words within your URL. So if your current URL is around this length, then you’re golden.
Your site will rank higher on Google search result pages than longer URLs. Plus, they’re easier for your visitors to read.
5. Watch out for unnecessary characters
Your URL is going to have some characters within it. And that’s fine. But there is a list of characters that won’t work well for you.
Not only will users be completely confused when looking at your URL, they won’t know exactly what the URL entails.
Even worse for SEO, these characters make it hard for search engine crawlers to get through your site and index pages. Some of the characters you shouldn’t include within your URLs:
- The space character
- < or >
- ” ” or #
The question mark (?) and the dollar symbol ($) are two of the several “safe” characters that won’t ruin your rankings.
6. Reduce the number of folders in your URL
The number of folders within your URL can affect your SEO efforts.
The folders are denoted by the slash between words in your URL.
Not only will several folders within your URL make your URL longer, it will also affect how you rank in search engine results. The extra folders will confuse search engines, making them dig deeper for your pages. Plus, search engines will have a harder time determining what your URLs mean if they’re stuffed with folders.
7. Http versus Https
You’re living under a rock if you haven’t heard about online fraud, hacking, and the like. It’s huge in the internet world, and it’s something most consumers are concerned about.
And it’s also something that Google and other search engines are worried about. Google states that “security is a top priority” and they are cracking down on it in full force. They’re making sure that web pages are taking security seriously, as well.
In fact, they’re now using website safety as a ranking factor when looking at websites. This is especially true if a website is selling products or services and taking credit card information.
So how can you ensure that your website is secure? By using one of these SEO tricks. You’ll need to make sure that your website is encrypted. You’ll need to use HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) as opposed to HTTP.
You’ll need to purchase an SSL certificate to ensure that your website is safe for users. And you’ll rank higher!
SEO tricks to create the perfect URLs
For the average bear, SEO can be a tricky thing to tackle. But throw in URL optimization and your mind may explode.
URL optimization can be daunting, especially if you’ve never considered it before. You want to ensure that your URLs are appealing to both users and search engines.
Have questions about SEO that you can’t find here? We’re here to help you 24/7! Contact us for any questions you may have.
