URL Slug

What it means

The URL slug is the identifier segment of a URL — everything after the domain and any directory path. For a URL like `theseospot.com/glossary/url-slug`, the slug is `url-slug`. Slugs are typically lowercase, hyphenated, and contain 2-5 words that describe the page's core topic concisely.

URL slugs carry modest but real on-page SEO value. Including the target keyword in the slug provides a relevance signal to search engines and clear anchor text to users who share or link to the URL. Descriptive slugs also support click-through rates — a URL that clearly previews what a page is about performs better in SERPs than one filled with parameters, numbers, or auto-generated strings.

Common slug mistakes include: leaving auto-generated slugs that include stop words (WordPress defaults produce the-full-title-of-your-post-including-every-word), using dates in slugs for evergreen content (creates URLs that look outdated two years later), and using underscores instead of hyphens (Google reads underscores as joining words, not separating them — 'technical_seo' and 'technicalseo' are treated the same).

Key takeaways

• Use hyphens, not underscores — Google treats underscores as word joins, not separators
• Keep slugs short and keyword-relevant — 2-5 words is the practical target
• Never change slugs on live, indexed pages without a 301 redirect — rankings will drop
• Avoid dates in slugs for evergreen content — they create stale-looking URLs