Which URL Is Better for SEO? Straight Answers for Web Developers

Ever seen a messy URL filled with random numbers, weird symbols, and endless strings? Search engines do not love those, and neither do users. A clean, simple URL isn’t just easy on the eyes—it actually makes a difference for SEO.

If you’re building sites for clients (or yourself), you need to get this right from the start. URLs act as signposts for search engines, telling them what the page is about in plain language. Small things like using dashes instead of underscores, keeping everything lowercase, or picking a logical structure can push your pages a notch higher in Google’s results. Sounds like overkill? It’s not. Even Moz and Google’s own docs still name URL structure as a core SEO factor in 2025.

Don’t let your URLs become a tangled mess. It takes just a few tweaks in your routing or slug logic to go from "yoursite.com/article?id=7218fbd" to "yoursite.com/seo-url-tips", and that can seriously change your click-through rates. People trust clear, relevant links—they know what to expect.

What Makes a URL SEO-Friendly?
Common URL Mistakes Developers Should Avoid
Real URLs: Good vs. Bad Examples
Quick Wins: How to Fix Your URLs Fast

What Makes a URL SEO-Friendly?

A good URL does a few things really well: it tells both users and search engines exactly what a page is about, and it stays simple. Search engines scan URLs as one of the clues for ranking, so if your URL is gibberish, you’re wasting a chance to give them a hint. A clear, topic-relevant URL can even boost click-through rates, according to Google Search Central and recent Ahrefs studies.

So what makes a URL actually SEO-friendly? Here are the basics:

SEO Keyword Placement: Drop your primary keyword in naturally where it fits. A URL like “/seo-url-tips/” is way better than “/blog/article123.” Just don’t stuff in every possible keyword—it looks spammy.
Simplicity: Ditch the extra parameters, numbers, or random letters. Short and simple is easier for search engines and for real humans trying to find you.
Hyphens, Not Underscores: Use hyphens to separate words. "on-page-seo" beats "on_page_seo" every time. Google reads hyphens as word breaks but treats underscores as joiners.
Lowercase Only: Stick with lowercase letters. Mixed cases can mess up links or cause duplicate content issues on some servers.
Logical Structure: Build URLs to reflect how your site is organized, like “/products/widget-x/” instead of “/x/57/c.” This helps both navigation and SEO.
No Stop Words: Strip out words like "and," "the," or "a." Keep it to the meat—if the URL gets too long, search engines may ignore the end anyway.

The quickest test? Ask yourself if you would click a link or share it with a friend. If it looks confusing or shady, it’s time to fix it.

Common URL Mistakes Developers Should Avoid

If you want your pages to show up in Google, bad URL habits can totally get in the way. It’s easy to fall into these traps, especially when you’re in a hurry or just using default settings in frameworks. Trust me, a few rookie moves can mess up how your content gets indexed—or how your users even find your stuff.

Here are mistakes I see way too often:

SEO buzzkill: letting URLs get super long and stuffed with unnecessary words. Google says short, clean links help their bots crawl your site better. Keep it under 60 characters when you can, and always leave out “stop words” like "and" or "the."
Using underscores instead of hyphens. Google’s crawlers treat hyphens like word separators, but they see underscores as part of a word. So, "my-page" is two words, but "my_page" is one weird lump.
Baked-in parameters, like "?id=1234&ref=home" everywhere. If your URLs rely on lots of query strings, Google's crawlers might miss important pages—or think there are tons of duplicates. Use pretty permalinks, not just parameters.
Case sensitivity. URLs on most Linux servers are case-sensitive, which means "/About" and "/about" are two different pages. People (and bots) get confused fast. Stick to lowercase, always.
Changing URLs without setting up proper 301 redirects. This one stings—the lost traffic, broken backlinks, wasted rankings. If you must tweak a URL, always map the old to the new.

Think about URLs as your site’s map. Simple, predictable links make the whole experience better for users and search engines. Stick to these basics, and you’ll sidestep SEO headaches most folks only realize after the fact.

Real URLs: Good vs. Bad Examples

Let’s get super specific—real-world URLs can make or break your site’s chances in SEO. You want your URL structure to spell things out, but not run on forever. Luckily, search engine crawlers look for clear signals, and a sharp URL is one of them.

Check out the difference here:

Good Example	Bad Example
www.coffeehub.com/brewing-tips/french-press	www.coffeehub.com/index.php?id=38920&ref=fpress_2023
www.technews.com/reviews/best-budget-laptops	www.technews.com/post/show.php?item=4732bslp
www.kidsplayground.com/outdoor-games	www.kidsplayground.com/OG/d192jk.html

Notice anything? Good URLs tell you exactly what’s on the page before you even click. They’re full of keywords humans (and Google) understand. Bad ones? They look like a mess of code that only your backend dev remembers.

John Mueller from Google puts it simply:

“Both users and search engines need to know what’s on a page from its URL. Use readable words instead of long ID numbers.”

Here’s a quick hit list of what makes a good SEO-friendly URL versus a “nope”—

Use real words, not gibberish or IDs.
Keep it short but clear. Ditch filler, focus on what matters.
Use dashes to separate words (search engines treat these like word breaks).
Skip special symbols (#, %, &, =, etc.) that clutter the link.
Front-load with your target keyword, like /seo-url-tips instead of /blog/2025-06-04/xyz-tips.

Here’s something wild—Backlinko checked over a million Google results and found short, punchy URLs rank higher than long or confusing ones. So every time you make a new page, treat that URL like you’re labeling a folder for your kids. Finnian won’t find his toy if the box says FG&fwh1298, but “dinosaurs” does the trick.

Quick Wins: How to Fix Your URLs Fast

Time is money, so nobody wants to spend hours fixing bad links. Good news: there are some straight-up fixes you can do today to seriously raise your site's SEO game using better URLs. Even if you’ve got a mountain of messy slugs, you don’t need to tackle them all by hand—automation is your new best friend.

It all starts with making your SEO URLs clear and logical. A study by Backlinko found that URLs with a close match between the slug and target keyword consistently ranked higher than long, ugly ones. For example, use "seo-checklist" instead of "how-to-improve-your-search-engine-optimization-2025-guide." Keep it snappy.

Short and Sweet: Google themselves say keep URLs under 60 characters, and a good rule is 3-5 words tops. Users share short URLs more.
Use Hyphens, Not Underscores: "my-article-title" is what search engines want—Google treats underscores as a single word.
Lowercase for Everything: It’s pain-free and prevents duplicate content issues ("/Page" vs. "/page").
One Clear Keyword: Your main target goes in the URL, right after your main directory.
Say No to Parameters: Ditch those "?id=99&sort=desc" messes for static-like slugs, except where unavoidable (like real store filters).

Here's a quick breakdown of what works (and what doesn't):

Bad URL	Fix Example	Why It’s Better?
mysite.com/page.php?id=123	mysite.com/seo-tips	Short, easy, fits the topic
mysite.com/Category_Optimization_Blog	mysite.com/category-optimization	Uses hyphens, not case-sensitive
mysite.com/SEOGuide2025_BestPractices	mysite.com/seo-guide	Not date-stuffed, focuses on main keyword

Rolling out changes? Redirects are your safety net. Always use 301 redirects if you tweak URLs, so you hang onto old traffic and keep your search juice. Tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs let you spot rotten URLs and test your fixes. And set a calendar reminder—regular sitemaps updates on Google Search Console make sure your new URLs get noticed fast.

Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress. Even fixing your top 20 traffic pages can spark a difference as soon as the next crawl—sometimes just days. Fast, satisfying, and (let’s be honest) way more fun than bug-hunting broken links all weekend.