Your web page’s Uniform Resource Locator (URL)—its address on the internet—may seem like a minor detail, but it could be costing you website traffic and sales. While many visitors don’t pay attention to the information contained in URLs, search engines like Google use them to understand your site’s organization, content, and relevance.
Think of URLs as an untapped search engine optimization (SEO) resource rather than a technical footnote. Here’s how to structure your URLs to help turn web addresses into high-converting, user-friendly marketing funnels.
What is URL structure?
A uniform resource locator (URL) is an address that directs a browser or search engine to a given page on a website. Just like your home address tells others your location, a URL tells your browser where to find your web page. That instruction is made up of several parts. Take this real ecommerce example:
https://whitneysmodeltrains.myshopify.com/collections/ho-locomotives
Here’s how it breaks down, from left to right:
1. Protocol. This is the https:// portion of the URL. It’s the standard method used to retrieve a specific page, and it defines how data should be transmitted between a web browser and a server. The “s” stands for “secure,” ensuring that the communication is encrypted.
2. Domain name. The domain name is the human-readable part of the URL that identifies your brand. In this case, whitneysmodeltrains is a subdomain of the root domain, myshopify.com. For SEO, it’s best to use your own root domain (e.g., whitneysmodeltrains.com) to represent your brand.
3. Path and slug. This is the heart of URL structure and the most important for SEO. It organizes content logically into directories, like collections, and user-friendly URL slugs, like ho-locomotives, that describe content in a brief hyphenated phrase readable to both people and search engines.
4. Query string/parameters. These snippets are often added to the end of URLs for filtering, tracking, or managing product variants. They are recognizable by the question mark (?) that separates them from the main URL path, like this: /collections/ho-locomotives?style=diesel.
Why does URL structure matter for SEO?
A well-structured URL can have a noticeable impact on SEO performance by helping your content rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Here’s how URL structure intersects with SEO performance:
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Communicates site structure. A logical URL structure can make it easier for search engines to categorize your site architecture and index pages quickly and accurately. For example, a bot can easily trace the URL path /trains/locomotives/steam-engines. Steam engines are a type of locomotive that is part of the trains product category.
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Signifies relevance. Including relevant keywords in your URLs sends a clear signal to search engines what a particular page is about, confirming it aligns with a user’s Google search intent.
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Improves crawlability. When bots can crawl distinct URLs efficiently, they index more of your pages, conserving your site’s crawl budget—the number of pages a search engine crawls in a given period.
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Builds credibility. Users are more likely to click on URLs that are clear and easy to read. A URL that matches their query gives users confidence that they’re navigating to the right content.
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Reduces duplication issues. A messy URL that includes product variations, filters, session IDs, and query parameters can inadvertently lead Google to create duplicate pages in its index. Duplicate content is an SEO red flag that dilutes search engine rankings.
Non-SEO vs. SEO URL example
Here is the difference between an SEO optimized URL and a non-optimized URL for a product page from an imaginary ecommerce store, Suits Emporium:
Non-SEO URL
First, the bad and ugly. Here’s a not-so-friendly URL:
https://suitsemporium.com/prod?id=98876451&sid=variant_03
What makes this problematic? There is no product category, no slug describing the product, and it’s nearly unreadable. Query strings and non-descriptive product or SKU numbers only clutter the URL and confuse both users and search engines.
SEO-friendly URL
Here’s a cleaner, SEO-friendly version:
https://suitsemporium.com/categories/mens/double-breasted
Why does this work better? It follows a logical, hierarchical path from general to specific: categories > mens > double-breasted. Crawlers can easily understand what the specific page represents—this is a product category—and users see a clear path to the content they want. SEO-friendly URLs like this improve search visibility and encourage more clicks.
7 best practices for creating an SEO URL
- Use keywords to define the page
- Keep URLs short
- Prioritize readability
- Use hyphens, not underscores
- Use lowercase letters to prevent error codes
- Eliminate unnecessary stop and filler words
- Handle URL parameters with care
Here are actionable tips to ensure every page you launch is optimized for search:
Use keywords to define the page
The single most important rule for creating an SEO optimized URL is to include keywords in your target page URL that reflect the product name or blog topic. Google and other search engines use URLs to gauge a page’s relevance, and a keyword-focused URL also improves user experience (UX) by being easier to read and, therefore, more trustworthy.
That said, beware of keyword stuffing. Overloading a URL with repetitive terms violates Google’s spam policies and can harm your rankings. A good URL accurately describes the page content and is not crammed with keywords. Simply state what the product or category is, using a logical structure, like this:
/collections/buildings-scenery
Or, in this example, the slug includes a brand name and product model specifics:
/products/bachmann-church-painted-fully-assembled
But avoid the wrong way. In this example, category 899 isn’t a keyword and requires more context:
/collections/category-899
And this example doesn’t capture the type of building and repeats terms:
/products/new-release-building-new-model-bachmann
Shopify automatically generates clean, keyword-friendly URLs based on your product and collection titles, but you can customize them further. In your Shopify admin, you can edit the URL handle for any product or page to ensure it perfectly matches your target keywords.
Keep URLs short
While descriptive URLs are good, keep them brief. Shorter URLs—typically 50 to 60 characters in total—are easier for people to read, remember, copy, and share, and less likely to be truncated in Google’s search results. Long URLs can dilute the power of the keywords. Search engines may give less importance to a keyword buried deep in a long string of words, treating the entire URL as a weaker signal. Aim for the fewest words needed to describe the page clearly.
The right way—concise:
/buildings/sheds
The wrong way—logically muddled, too wordy:
/buildings/outbuildings/2025/top-rated/easy-to-assemble/sheds
According to research analyzing millions of search results, pages with concise, focused URLs rank slightly better than those with lengthy, keyword-stuffed alternatives.
Prioritize readability
Design your URLs for people first, then search engines. A confusing URL reduces user trust, which can lower the click-through rate from search results. According to Backlinko’s research, URLs that clearly match search intent earn 45% higher click-through rates than unclear alternatives.
When search engines detect low engagement, they may interpret it as a sign of irrelevance or poor quality, which can impact your rankings.
Steer clear of jargon, odd abbreviations, non-ASCII characters, or keyword repetitions (like black-belts-black-boots). Ensure the URL flows naturally and makes sense when spoken aloud.
The right way—clear and natural, the URL flows well, modifiers precede the noun:
snacks/vegan/spicy-strips-seitan
The wrong way:
snacks/vegan/spicy-strips-seitan-w-pepper-4g
The URL is cluttered and overly detailed.
Use hyphens, not underscores
When separating words in a URL slug, use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_). Search engines treat hyphens as spaces, making URLs more readable. Underscores, however, can be interpreted as word joiners, which may confuse search engines.
The right way—each hyphen is a word spacer:
/products/organic-cotton-t-shirt
The wrong way:
/products/organic_cotton_t-shirt
Search engines may have difficulty parsing this string into separate words.
Use lowercase letters to prevent error codes
While domain names are not case-sensitive, URL paths are. This means “/New-Products” and “/new-products” are technically different URLs, even though they point to the same domain. If your web server is configured to be case-sensitive (which is common), typing the wrong case can trigger a 404 error page.
Case variations can also create duplicate content issues. Search engines may index multiple versions of the same page, diluting your SEO authority across URLs that should be consolidated.
To prevent errors, always use lowercase letters in your URL paths. Shopify automatically converts your URLs to lowercase, but it’s still important to follow this standard when customizing URL handles or setting up redirects.
The right way:
/products/organic-cotton-t-shirt
The wrong way:
/products/Organic-Cotton-T-Shirt
Even if both URLs work, search engines may treat them as separate pages, splitting your ranking signals.
Eliminate unnecessary stop and filler words
Stop words are short, common words that add little value to a search query. Including:
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Articles (a, an, the)
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Conjunctions (and)
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Prepositions (of, on, in)
Dates, in this context, also fall into this category.
Search engines generally ignore stop words. Including them in URLs also makes them longer, cluttered, and harder to read or share. Only keep stop words when they’re essential for readability. Most of the time, you can leave them out.
The wrong way—definite article “the” and date aren’t necessary:
/locomotives/bachmann-the-pennsylvanian-aug-2025
The right way—gets to the point:
/locomotives/bachmann-pennsylvanian
Handle URL parameters with care
URL parameters are added strings in dynamic URLs that your web server uses for filtering, tracking, and product variants. However, they can lead to problematic duplication SEO issues when the same product appears under multiple URLs.
If your website theme uses parameter strings, consider using canonical tags to tell search engines which page version is the “master” URL. Adding a canonical HTML tag to the parameter page tells crawlers which version to index. For example, if a customer filters by color, a canonical tag on the filtered page points back to the primary, clean, unfiltered product page URL.
The right way to do it—base category page:
/collections/locomotives
A parameter page with a color filter:
/collections/locomotives?color=silver
Include a canonical tag pointing to the base URL to consolidate SEO authority.
Without a canonical tag, all these URLs might be indexed, which dilutes your SEO authority. The wrong way:
/collections/locomotives?color=silver
/collections/locomotives?color=black
/collections/locomotives?color=red
/collections/locomotives?color=green
Shopify automatically handles canonical tags for filtered collections and variant pages. When a customer filters by color, price, or other attributes, Shopify adds the appropriate canonical tag pointing to the main collection page. This protects your SEO authority without requiring manual setup.
You can verify how Shopify handles your URLs by viewing the page source and searching for <link rel="canonical". Or use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console to see which version Google is indexing.
Related reading: Learn more about Shopify SEO best practices and how to optimize your site to increase traffic.
SEO URL FAQ
What is an SEO URL?
A search engine optimized (SEO) URL is a web address intentionally crafted to be clean, concise, keyword-rich, and readable by human users and search engines. It is free of irrelevant numbers, session IDs, and dynamic, confusing character strings, giving it a stronger ranking potential and user trust signals.
What is an example of a URL for SEO?
An SEO-friendly URL gives a clear idea of the product, category, and target keyword and is structured logically, for example: https://www.animal-jewelry.com/collections/animal-rings. This URL works well because it:
- Uses a descriptive domain name (animal-jewelry.com)
- Follows a clean structure (/collections/)
- Includes target keywords (animal rings)
- Uses lowercase letters and hyphens
- Is short and easy to read
How does Shopify handle URL structure?
Shopify automatically generates SEO-friendly URLs based on your product titles, collection names, and page titles. The platform uses clean URL structures like /products/[product-handle] and /collections/[collection-handle]. You can customize these URL handles in your Shopify admin for any product, collection, or page.
Shopify also automatically:
- Converts URLs to lowercase
- Replaces spaces with hyphens
- Removes special characters
- Generates canonical tags for duplicate content
- Creates a sitemap.xml file for search engines
How do you check your SEO URL?
The URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console, which shows how Google sees the web page, whether it’s been indexed, and any issues with canonicalization or crawl errors, is the ultimate health check for any URL. You can perform a quick SEO URL audit by asking three simple questions of every URL on your site:
- Can a human being read it and know what the page is about?
- Does the URL contain the keywords you want to rank for?
- Is it free of dynamic parameters, underscores, and unnecessary stop words?
- Is the URL structure consistent with the rest of your site?
- Does it follow a logical hierarchy (e.g., /collections/rings not /products/collections-rings-jewelry)?
Do URL redirects hurt SEO?
No, properly implemented 301 redirects do not hurt SEO. When you change a URL, a 301 redirect tells search engines “this page has permanently moved” and transfers most of the ranking authority to the new URL. Shopify automatically creates these redirects when you change URL handles, protecting your SEO. However, too many redirect chains (URL A → URL B → URL C) can slow down page load times, so it’s best to redirect directly to the final destination when possible.
