A page's web address may seem like a technical detail, but it's one of the first things people see: in the search results, in a shared link and in the address bar. An address like /heat-pump-installation/ tells you straight away what the page is about. An address like /page.php?id=4821 says nothing and inspires little trust.
What makes a good URL
- Short and descriptive. Use the core of the topic, not a whole sentence.
- Lowercase and hyphens. /website-design/, not /Website_Design/.
- No filler words such as the, a, and, or years that quickly go out of date.
- A logical hierarchy. /services/web-design/ shows that web design falls under services.
- In the page's language. An English page gets an English address; see also multilingual SEO.
How it works in Obelisk
For a regular page you choose the address yourself, or let the assistant suggest a suitable one. For dynamic pages, such as blog articles, vacancies or products, you define the pattern once, for example /vacancies/{slug}/. Each item then automatically gets its own address based on its slug. So choose that slug carefully: /vacancies/backend-developer/ works better than /vacancies/item-17/.
Need to change an address later after all? In Obelisk you add a redirect from the old address to the new one. That keeps links and Google rankings intact. When renaming, simply ask the assistant to take care of it at the same time.
A concrete example
A law firm had pages at /page1/, /page2/ and /news-item-2021-03/. In the search results, nobody could tell what those pages were about. After the switch, they live at /employment-law/, /family-law/divorce/ and /news/dismissal-during-illness/. Visitors see at a glance that they're in the right place, and a link shared in an email instantly looks professional. Redirects from the old addresses kept the value they had built up.
How long can a URL be?
There's no hard limit, but shorter is almost always better. Ideally keep the slug under five words. A long URL gets truncated in the search results and is awkward to type or read out. The main keyword belongs in it; the rest can go.
Common mistakes
- Changing addresses often because the title changes. A URL doesn't need to match the title; keep it stable.
- Dates or years in the address of content you keep updating.
- Deep folder structures like /en/services/online/websites/new/build/. Two to three levels is plenty.
- The same topic at two addresses. Pick one, or designate a main version with a canonical.