How can URL structure affect on-site optimization?  

URL structure is an often-overlooked element of on-site SEO, and it can have both positive and negative effects on a website’s rankings. Properly implemented changes can improve rankings by making URLs more user-friendly and easier to navigate, while poorly executed changes can result in broken links, duplicate content issues, and other SEO problems that can negatively impact a site’s search engine performance. 

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In the past, Google has recommended a specific set of guidelines for URLs. These include avoiding unsafe characters, using a short URL length, and minimizing the number of parameters in the URL. 

Avoiding unsafe characters – Unsafe characters like special characters, underscores, and other symbols can cause serious web usability issues. These character types can also cause a lot of confusion for users and search engines. 

Use hyphens instead of underscores – Hyphens are much easier for people and search engines to read than underscores. They can also help you organize your content, as a hyphen can separate words or phrases in the URL. 

Keep keywords in your URLs – Including your most important keywords in the URL can have a positive effect on your SEO efforts. This is because it helps search engines understand what your page is about and can also make them rank your pages higher for relevant terms. 

Be consistent with your domain name – You should always keep your domain name standardized so that it’s easy for search engines to recognize your web pages. It’s also helpful for your brand identity and for avoiding link-building errors within your site or on other websites. 

Standardize your URLs – The structure of your URLs is a big factor in on-site optimization. The structure of your URLs should be logical and intelligible to humans so that they can quickly identify what a page on your site is about. 

Use a short URL length – Having a shorter URL is a good thing for on-site optimization, and it helps search engines find your pages easily. Generally, it’s a good idea to have an optimal URL length of less than 1,000 characters. 

Optimize your keyword placement – It’s a good idea to place your most important keywords in the URLs for your web pages, but it’s not a good idea to stuff them into the URLs. This is because putting too many keywords in the URLs can negatively affect your rankings and can also hurt your brand’s image, which is not what you want. 

Be consistent with your category names – It’s important to use consistent category names on your website, and it’s also a good idea to use the same category name for all of your products. It’s also a good idea to use a common category name for your content categories, too, so that it’s easier for people to find what they’re looking for on your site. 

Don’t add dates to your URLs – It’s not a good practice to add dates to your URLs, as it can confuse both search engines and users. It’s better to use a word or phrase that matches the topic of the page, such as blog, or widget, rather than date.