Check your URL structure for SEO issues

SiteCurl pulls each internal link on your pages and checks the URL for four issues: uppercase letters, underscores instead of hyphens, paths longer than 100 chars, and depth past 4 levels.

Uppercase URLs cause duplicate content issues since some servers treat /About and /about as two pages. Google treats underscores as word joiners, so /my_page is read as one word, not two. Long URLs get cut off in search results and are hard to share. Deep nesting hints to Google that the content may not be key.

The check runs on each internal link found across all pages in your scan. This catches URLs in nav menus, footer links, sidebar links, and in-page links. SiteCurl lists the exact URLs with issues so you know what to fix.

URLs serve two groups: Google and humans. Google parses URLs to learn page ties and topic scope. Humans read URLs in search results, browser bars, and shared links to decide if a page is worth a click.

The most common issue is underscores. Google says to use hyphens as word breaks in URLs. The reason is simple: Google treats hyphens as word breaks but treats underscores as word joiners. A URL like /red-shoes is parsed as 'red' and 'shoes' (two words). A URL like /red_shoes is parsed as 'redshoes' (one word). This changes how the URL matches search queries.

Uppercase letters cause a new issue. Some servers are case-aware (Linux ones often are) and some are not (Windows ones often are not). If /About and /about both load the same page, Google may index them apart, splitting rank signals between two URLs.

URL length matters for use. Long URLs get cut off in search results. When someone shares a long URL in a message or email, it often wraps across lines and looks messy. Short URLs are easier to read and more likely to be clicked and shared.

Path depth (how many segments a URL has) ties to how Google weights the content. Pages at /products/shoes are seen as more key than pages at /products/category/subcategory/brand/shoes. Keeping URLs flat signals that the content is close.

Clean URLs are a ranking signal. Google has said that URL shape helps them grasp a page's content. URLs with clear, plain words rank better than URLs with IDs, params, or encoded chars.

URLs also affect click rates in search results. When a user sees a clean URL like /pricing under your listing, they know what to expect. A URL like /page?id=47&cat=3 tells them nothing. The clean URL gets more clicks.

Bad URL patterns grow over time. Each new page made with underscores or caps adds one more URL to fix later. Setting clean URL rules early saves a lot of cleanup work down the road.

WordPress sites are most often hit. Default WordPress slugs use hyphens, but custom post types, plugins, and hand-typed URLs often bring in underscores or caps. A site with 100 blog posts may have a mix of URL styles based on when each was made.

Online stores with complex categories tend to have deep URLs. A product at /store/clothing/mens/casual/shirts/blue-oxford has six levels. Flattening to /mens-shirts/blue-oxford is better for both SEO and use.

Old sites that have run for years pile up the worst URL issues. Many CMS swaps, dev handoffs, and ad-hoc URL choices create mixed patterns that SiteCurl catches in one scan.

Step 1: Make uppercase URLs lowercase. Set up server rules to redirect uppercase URLs to lowercase. In Nginx, use a map to lowercase the URI. In Apache, use RewriteRule with the [L,R=301] flag. This handles both old links and new users.

Step 2: Swap underscores for hyphens. Update your URLs to use hyphens. Set up 301 redirects from the old underscore URLs to the new hyphen versions so old links and search rank are kept.

Step 3: Shorten long URLs. Drop filler words like 'and,' 'the,' 'of' from URL slugs. Use 3 to 5 clear words per slug. /how-to-fix-broken-links is better than /a-complete-guide-to-finding-and-fixing-all-the-broken-links-on-your-website-in- 2024.

Step 4: Flatten deep URL paths. If your URLs have more than 4 levels, simplify. Move key pages closer to the root. /blue-oxford-shirt is better than /store/clothing/mens/casual/shirts/blue-oxford for both SEO and use.

Step 5: Set URL rules for new content. Write down your URL standards so each new page follows the same pattern. Lowercase, hyphen-split, under 100 chars, no deeper than 4 levels. Enforce this in your CMS settings where you can.

Mistake 1. Changing URLs without redirects. If you rename a URL, the old one returns a 404. Set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one first. This keeps search rank and stops broken links.

Mistake 2. Fixing the URL but not the internal links. After changing a URL, update all internal links that point to the old version. If not, users follow the old link, get sent to the new one, and the redirect adds load time.

Mistake 3. Making URLs too short. A URL should be short but clear. /p/47 is short but means nothing. /blue-oxford-shirt is short and tells users what to expect. Use enough words to describe the content well.

Mistake 4. Using URL params for key pages. URLs with query strings like ?id=47 are harder for Google to parse and may be treated as copies. Use clean path-based URLs for any page you want indexed.

After your changes, run a new SiteCurl scan. The URL check should show zero issues for caps, underscores, long paths, and deep nesting. Check that redirects from old URLs work by visiting them and seeing they land on the new URLs.

To check a URL by hand, look for uppercase letters, underscores, and count the path parts. The URL should be all lowercase, use hyphens, be under 100 chars, and have no more than 4 levels.

Clean URL structure is an easy SEO win. Use lowercase letters, hyphens instead of underscores, keep paths short, and avoid deep nesting. Fix existing issues with 301 redirects and set conventions so new content follows the same pattern from the start.