Despite what you might think, does URL structure matter?
Does URL structure matter on your website? Your platform provider or SEO tools might be telling you it does. However, for what purpose and what does Google actually think about? The answer might surprise you.
You think you need a short URL
Most website owners that get involved with the technicalities of their site think that they should have short URL’s. Take these two sample URL’s:
URL 1 – “https://widgetbox.co.uk/bluewidgets/special-blue-widget-large-789
or
URL 2 – “https://widgetbox.co.uk/blue/sbwl789”
Most website systems or SEO tools will prompt you into creating short URL’s, but the reality is that informative URL’s are much better. In this above instance, the first URL is far more functional and helpful than URL 2.
However, an SEO tool may well give a higher “score” for URL 2, because it is short, although it might downgrade that score on the basis that it doesn’t contain your SEO target keyword if it is “special blue widget”. You can’t really win with these tools if you are determined to follow everything they suggest.
Ultimately, most people that maintain or run a website will be very used to seeing prompts from the system or their SEO tools to shorten URL’s, or be told that a URL is over the recommended length.
This has helped to set the opinion that shorter URL’s are preferred by Google and are better for SEO purposes.
What Google says about URL structure
In a recent interview, Google’s John Mueller gave an answer to the question ‘does URL structure matter?’.
I enjoy listening to or reading these types of interviews. They often cause mayhem in the world of SEO. People often set about undoing what they’ve been doing for years or they protest that Google has mislead them.
The reality is that Google has never said that URL structure will have a direct impact on SEO. Many professionals have read into what they’ve said and decided it would. The truth is that URL structure does matter, but not in the way many think it does.
John Mueller said this:
“Often SEOs over-focus on URL structure (imo) — if the context of your pages isn’t clear from the … text on the page, then the URL structure isn’t really going to fix that.”
He then said:
“Anyway, Google generally (*) wouldn’t care. Create a useful structure. Make it easy for you to monitor. Make it helpful for users, if you want (do people even look at URLs? I assume most users don’t nowadays.)”
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Mueller is once again pointing to the importance of page structure and how content is presented on-page. That is a far greater priority than paying huge amounts of attention to a URL structure.
I’m not saying to ignore URL structure
Yes, URL structure matters, but it isn’t going to help you massively in SEO, and he makes a valid point about people not reading URL’s.
Let’s be honest, most URL’s you receive nowadays are cut and pasted. You then click on the link. You probably glance at it from a general security and interest perspective, but you won’t pay a huge amount of interest to it. The main focus is on getting to the content it takes you to.
I am delighted to see him reference that SEO’s “over-focus on URL structure” – because I’ve seen to happen countless times. I pay attention to URL structure, particularly if I’m involved from an SEO standpoint in the early stages of website development (the earlier someone in SEO is involved, the better in my experience). However, it isn’t the be-all and end-all.
The URL structure is just one of many elements
The point being made is just another way of re-emphasising what Google and Mueller have been saying for years – the URL structure is another tiny part of an increasingly large number of elements. It is the cumulative effect of all these elements that makes a difference.
I was also pleased he said “Google generally wouldn’t care”. There are some exceptions, and he did go into details about sites with adult content and those with annualised or periodically updated content, but he couldn’t have made Google’s stance on it much clearer.
Best practise URL structure
Mueller went on to issue some common sense but useful advice on how you should treat URL structure:
“Avoid making unnecessary URL structure changes (because changes will affect SEO at least temporarily, it takes time for search engines to recrawl and reprocess all affected pages), pick something that can last for a long time.”
And:
“Primarily think about users and about how you want to track performance (URL structures are great for grouping URLs for analytics, conversion rates, etc. — not directly SEO, but for monitoring how well SEO is working for you).”
If you read the first of the above notes and think “But that means URL’s do matter for SEO”, you’d be right in this instance. Mueller is referring to changing existing, indexed, URL’s. If you change them, and even if you put a redirect in place to tell Google where to go and find the content that the original URL referred to, then that will have an impact on SEO (at least until Google realises where they content now permanently resides).
Don’t let URL structure waste too much time
The over-riding point is that your URL structure shouldn’t be taking up too much of your time. Yes, pay it attention. It matters to a degree, but it isn’t going to drive you to No.1 on Google and they don’t really care about it (at least not to the extent many think).
Google are far more concerned about your page structure and what is on it. They want to be able to understand it, read it, and index it easily.
Get your headers right. Make the page easy to read. Tag images and have a good navigational structure, both at menu level and with links on-page and in-content. Download my Google content checklist if you think it’ll help.
I’ll be completely honest, the level of thought I have seen given to URL structure in the past has frustrated me. I sometimes wonder if some SEO people and website Administrators don’t have enough to do, or don’t know what they should be doing.
It is very easy to get wrapped up in the minor technicalities of the web. This is a great example of one of them. Don’t lose sleep over it.
Feedback
This is the type of blog that can upset people in my profession. If you think I’m saying you should ignore URL structure and are about to comment as such, I’d recommend reading the blog again – I’m not suggesting you do that. That said, I’m always open to feedback and will reply to comments.
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