In continuation of my last blog where we spoke about HEO (Human Experience Optimization) which I regard as the next level of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), today I would like to introduce some SEO/HEO friendly URL Structures.

These are a few questions that I have continuously answered for my client from time to time.

Does URL structure affect SEO?

The answer is yes as clean and user-friendly URLs can help search engines understand your content better and rank it accordingly. Here are a few right ways to handle your URLs and keep them SEO Friendly:

The URL should be user-friendly example:

Correct Way: https://www.example.com/topic-here

Not Recommended: https://www.example.com/ ABCD?123_200

Try to include the relevant keywords in your URL Including a few relevant keywords in your URL allows the search engines to know what the content on that page is about. This does not mean that we target too many keywords or irrelevant keywords from that page. Example:

Correct Way: https://example.com/men-yellow-t-shirts (If the content is displaying men’s yellow t-shirts)

Not Recommended: https://www.example.com/yellow-shoes

Use a hyphen in the URL instead of underscoring The right practice is to include a hyphen instead of an underscore to create separation in your URL. Example:

Correct Way: https://www.example.com/yellow-shoes

Not Recommended: https://www.example.com/yellow_shoes

Do not use capital letters in the URL It is not a good idea to use capital letters in your URL. Sometimes, clients feel that certain words like their organization name should start with a capital letter but that should not be the case in a URL. Example:

Correct Way: https://www.example.com/about-company-name

Not Recommended: https://www.example.com/about-Company-Name

URLs should always be secure Search Engines as well as your users should not be displayed the non-secure URLs. Follow the process to secure your Sitecore website and provide secure URLs to your users. Example:

Correct Way: https://www.example.com

Not Recommended: http://www.example.com

Avoid adding spaces in your URL Adding spaces in your URL can result in adding special characters (%20) to it. Spaces are a proper no-no.

Correct Way:https://www.example.com/topic-here

Not Recommended: https://www.example.com/topic&20here

Follow a Clear and Concise yet SEO Friendly URL Structure While setting up the URLs and directory structures on your Sitecore website, we should always aim at User-friendliness and SEO friendliness. Therefore, I call it an HEO practice instead of an SEO practice. Example:

Correct Way:

SEO is a vast topic and URLs can be a tricky job. Follow the above techniques and make your URLs SEO as well User Friendly for your customers.