By Cas in Quick Wins — 24 Sep 2025

How To Write SEO Friendly Slugs | Module 2.3

Your page slug is a small detail with a big SEO impact. This guide shows small business owners how to write clear, keyword-friendly slugs that improve rankings, boost clicks, and make websites easier to navigate.

some slugs are good.

Your website's URL might seem like a small detail, but the part after the last slash "/" called the slug has a big impact on SEO and user experience.

An SEO-friendly slug makes your page easier for search engines to understand and friendlier for people to click on. In this guide, we'll break down what slugs are, why they matter, and how to write them without the jargon.

What is a URL Slug and Why It Matters for SEO

The slug is simply the part of a URL that comes after your domain name.

For example:

www.plumberbrisbane.com.au/services → the slug is services
www.plumberbrisbane.com.au/blog/blocked-drain-tips → the slug is blocked-drain-tips

Why it matters:

SEO clarity – Search engines use slugs to understand your page topic
User trust – A clear slug looks professional and helps users know what they'll find
Click-through rates – Clean slugs encourage more clicks in Google search

Think of a slug as the label on a file folder – the clearer the label, the easier it is to find the right file.

Characteristics of an SEO-Friendly Slug

An SEO-friendly slug should be:

Short and simple – Aim for 3–5 words
Keyword-focused – Include the main keyword naturally
Readable – Easy for a human to understand at a glance
Lowercase with hyphens – Google prefers blocked-drain-tips not Blocked_Drain_Tips
Timeless – Avoid dates or temporary words like "new" or "2023"

Example:

Bad: www.cakeshop.com.au/our-best-ever-cake-recipes-2023-new
Good: www.cakeshop.com.au/cake-recipes

Common Mistakes to Avoid with Slugs

Here are the traps small site owners often fall into:

Leaving auto-generated slugs – WordPress might turn "Top 10 Tips for Blocked Drains" into top-10-tips-for-blocked-drains-in-your-home-and-garden
Using numbers or random codes – e.g. /page-id=543
Stuffing keywords – e.g. /plumber-brisbane-plumber-plumbing-services-brisbane
Changing slugs without redirects – This breaks links and confuses Google

Examples of Good vs. Bad Slugs for Small Businesses

Local Service Business:

❌ Bad: www.electricianmelbourne.com.au/page-id=234
✅ Good: www.electricianmelbourne.com.au/emergency-repairs

Blog Post:

❌ Bad: www.coffeecafe.com.au/10-things-to-know-about-how-to-make-coffee-at-home-fast
✅ Good: www.coffeecafe.com.au/make-coffee-home

Online Shop:

❌ Bad: www.petstore.com.au/products/sku12345
✅ Good: www.petstore.com.au/dog-leads

Quick check: Copy one of your URLs and read it aloud. If it sounds messy or confusing, rewrite it.

How to Update or Optimise Slugs in WordPress, Shopify, and Wix

WordPress:

Edit the page or post
Under the title, find the "Permalink" or "URL Slug" box
Change it to a short, keyword-friendly version
If you change an old slug, add a redirect (Yoast SEO can handle this)

Shopify:

Go to Online Store > Navigation > URL Redirects to set redirects
For products and pages, you can edit the slug under "Search engine listing preview"

Wix:

Edit the page
Click Page SEO basics
Enter a custom slug in the URL field

Best Practices for Future Content

Once you've cleaned up your old slugs, set rules for new ones:

Always write the slug manually instead of letting the system generate it
Use only the primary keyword – nothing extra
Keep them consistent across your site (no mixing underscores, capitals, or dates)
If you ever need to change a slug, always set up a redirect to the new one

FAQs About SEO-Friendly Slugs

How long should an SEO-friendly slug be? 3–5 words is ideal – long enough to include a keyword, short enough to stay clean.

Should slugs include stop words (like "and" or "the")? No, leave them out unless they make the slug more readable.

Can I change old slugs without hurting SEO? Yes, but only if you add 301 redirects from the old slug to the new one.

What's the difference between a slug and a permalink? The slug is the part after the last slash. The permalink is the full URL.

Do hyphens or underscores work better in slugs? Always use hyphens. Google treats underscores as one word.

Key Takeaway for Small Sites

An SEO-friendly slug is one of the easiest wins for small business SEO. Clear, short, keyword-focused slugs make your site look professional and help Google understand your pages.

Flat Site Structure for SEO: Why It Matters

What is a Canonical URL Small Sites

What is a CMS and How It Helps with SEO

← Module 1: Make Sure Google Can See You

→ Module 3: Keyword & Content Planning (coming soon)