Improve Your URL Structure with These 3 Tips

One of the most important steps to improve your website is organizing the structure of your uniform resource locator (URL). Web addresses are one of the first things users see, after all. If it looks sketchy or unappealing, people may not want to click on it. So even if you've optimized your content, not a lot of users will read it.

You have to work with your web design and hosting company to fix your address. Just like choosing a domain name, they can offer suggestions, but you still have the final say. To help you through this, here are some ways to make a well-structured URL.

Keep It Short
Pages with lengthy addresses aren't shared on the internet that much. Why? Because they take up so much space in tweets, Facebook statuses, and Instagram captions. While you can shorten these through Bitly or Goo.gl, they still won't have any readable information in them. They'll look like spam or malicious links so people won't dare click on them. Here's an example:

Shortened:
https://bit.ly/2R3dfzY

Original:
http://search.domainname.co.sb/es-uk/www/dogs/PUPPY+KA/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-19-29-4294966844-4294967194/adv.action?R=20065892411114&distance=24&postcode=L98+4QP&channel=DOGS&make=PUPPY&breed=KA&min_pr=500&max_pr=5000&max_fluffy=

To optimize your URL length, make it less than 50 characters. Try removing unnecessary words or abbreviating those that can be shortened. Avoid word repetition as this doesn't add value to your web locator. Ensure that the address you'll come up with still encapsulates your page's content.

Make It Readable 
Check that users can understand what your page is about by looking at the URL. It doesn't have to contain a complete sentence to be comprehensible. It can just be a word or a phrase that makes sense. You can even omit the prepositions and the determiners when structuring your website address. Take this one, for example:

http://www.domainname.com/adorable-fluffy-puppies/

This string of words doesn't form a sentence, but visitors can still infer that its page is related to adorable and fluffy puppies.

 

Just as you understand what the URL is referring to, search engines can also interpret it. In fact, they even rank web addresses by their readability and reward those that are more user-friendly. So, making your address readable for humans also makes it better for search engines.

Use the Right Keywords
A search engine will analyze different parts of your page in an attempt to rank it. Primarily, they look for words or phrases that might be relevant to keyword searches. Many of these terms are extracted from the page's content, but they may also scan other elements of your website, including the URL and meta description.

Using keyword research tools can be a big help in the optimization. These devices gather data on what words people use in searching for certain things on the internet. The results will include the keyword volume, trends, competitors, similar terms, and more. All you have to do is monitor and analyze the data and apply that in structuring your web address.

Having an SEO-friendly address will boost your page's search visibility. You can ask for the help of your web design and hosting company to guide you in fixing your URL. Always keep the above-mentioned tips in mind while working on it.