# What is URL slug?

> A URL slug is the last, human-readable part of a URL path that identifies a specific page, such as waterproof-boots in /guides/waterproof-boots/.

URL: https://yes-seo.com/glossary/url-slug

A **URL slug** is the part of a URL that identifies one specific page in readable words. In `https://www.example.com/guides/waterproof-hiking-boots/`, the slug is `waterproof-hiking-boots`; `/guides/` is the folder it sits in. Most CMSs generate the slug from the page title, and you can usually edit it before publishing.

## Why slugs matter

Google’s [URL structure guidelines](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/url-structure) recommend simple, descriptive URLs that use words rather than long ID numbers. The ranking weight of words in a URL is small, but a good slug pays off in other ways:

- **Clicks and trust.** URLs appear in search results, link previews, chat messages and printed material. A readable slug tells people what to expect before they click.

- **Anchor text by default.** When people paste a bare URL as a link, the slug becomes the visible text.

- **Stability.** A clean, timeless slug rarely needs to change, so you avoid redirects and lost signals later.

## Good and bad slugs

| Avoid | Prefer | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| /p?id=48213 | /waterproof-hiking-boots/ | Descriptive words beat opaque IDs |
| /how-to-make-sure-your-hiking-boots-are-really-waterproof-in-2026/ | /waterproof-hiking-boots/ | Shorter, and no year to update |
| /Waterproof_Hiking_Boots | /waterproof-hiking-boots/ | Lowercase, and hyphens rather than underscores separate words |
| /boots-boots-hiking-boots-cheap/ | /cheap-hiking-boots/ | No stuffing |

Non-English slugs are fine. Google supports UTF-8 characters in URLs; browsers display them readably while the URL itself is percent-encoded, for example `/chaussures-randonnée/` becoming `/chaussures-randonn%C3%A9e/`. Be consistent: pick one form and link to it everywhere.

## Rules of thumb

- Use the page’s main topic in three to five words where possible.

- Drop filler words only when the slug stays readable; “how-to-tie-shoes” is better than “tie-shoes”.

- Keep everything lowercase. Paths are case-sensitive on most servers, so `/Boots` and `/boots` can be two different URLs.

- Choose a trailing-slash convention and stick to it, redirecting the other form.

- Leave dates and numbers out of evergreen content.

## Changing a slug

Changing the slug of a published page creates a new URL. If you must change it, add a [301 redirect](https://yes-seo.com/glossary/redirect-301) from the old URL, update internal links and your sitemap, and point the [canonical tag](https://yes-seo.com/glossary/canonical-tag) to the new address. Do it rarely: every change costs a little time while search engines process the move, and every redirect is a dependency you have to maintain.

## Common mistakes

Letting the CMS create slugs from long draft titles, publishing duplicates with “-2” appended, switching slugs to chase a new keyword without redirects, and mixing uppercase and lowercase variants in internal links.

## How to check

The [On-Page SEO Checker](https://yes-seo.com/on-page-seo-checker) reviews the page URL together with the title, H1 and description, so you can see whether all of them describe the same topic. The slug is one small piece of [on-page SEO](https://yes-seo.com/glossary/on-page-seo); get it right once and leave it alone.

## Frequently asked questions

### How long should a URL slug be?

There is no official limit for SEO, but short is better: three to five meaningful words usually describe a page well and stay readable in search results and shared links.

### Should I use hyphens or underscores in slugs?

Use hyphens. Google recommends hyphens to separate words in URLs; underscores are less reliably treated as word separators.

### Will changing a URL slug hurt rankings?

It can cause a temporary dip while Google processes the change. Add a 301 redirect from the old URL and update internal links to keep the impact small, and avoid changing slugs without a good reason.