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SEOL

    URL structure

    Readable, stable URLs help people and avoid duplicate-URL problems. Get them right for new pages, and be careful about changing old ones.

    Time
    12 min
    Level
    beginner
    Reviewed
    5 November 2026

    After this lesson you can

    • Write readable URLs that follow Google's recommendations.
    • Avoid parameter and case problems that create duplicate URLs.
    • Decide when changing an existing URL is worth the risk.

    Good URLs are readable, stable and unique: one page, one URL.

    Google's recommendations

    PatternProblemBetter
    /index.php?id_category=12Says nothing about the content/zygio-batai/
    /Zygio_Batai/Underscores and mixed case/zygio-batai/
    /batai/?sessionid=8f2aSession ID creates endless URLs/batai/ with the session in a cookie
    /#/bataiFragment-based content is generally not supported/batai/ with the History API in JavaScript apps

    Lithuanian characters

    URLs can contain non-ASCII characters if they are percent-encoded, so /žygio-batai/ is sent as /%C5%BEygio-batai/. Many Lithuanian sites transliterate instead (/zygio-batai/), because those URLs are easier to type, share and read in every tool. Both work. Pick one convention and use it everywhere.

    Keywords in URLs

    Google says keywords in the URL path have hardly any ranking effect beyond appearing in breadcrumbs. Readable URLs are still worth having, for people.

    When URLs must change

    1. Map every old URL to its new URL.
    2. Use permanent redirects (301 or 308) from old to new, without chains.
    3. Update internal links, canonicals and the sitemap to the new URLs.
    4. Watch Search Console's Pages report and the Performance report for the old and new URLs over the following weeks.

    Platform notes

    • PrestaShop: enable friendly URLs in Shop Parameters, then Traffic & SEO. Watch for IDs that some versions and themes add to product URLs.
    • WordPress: choose a "Post name" permalink structure before publishing content.
    • Shopify: URL prefixes such as /products/ and /collections/ are fixed by the platform. Focus on the handle, the part after the prefix.

    Practice

    Read the lesson, pass the quiz and do the exercise to complete it.

    Knowledge check

    4 questions. Get at least 4 right to pass.

    1. 1. Which separator does Google recommend between words in URLs?
    2. 2. Your old URLs work but contain IDs, such as index.php?id_product=12. Should you change them all for SEO?
    3. 3. Which pair of URLs does Google treat as different pages?
    4. 4. How should Lithuanian letters such as "ž" be handled in URLs?

    Exercise: Review your URL patterns

    Write down the URL patterns your site uses for each page type (home, categories, products or services, articles). Check them against Google's recommendations. List any problems, such as IDs, underscores, mixed case, session parameters, or several URLs for the same page.

    Deliverable: A table of page types, their URL pattern, the problems found, and whether you recommend changing them now, at the next migration, or never.

    Check your work honestly against each point
    Write up your work and meet every point to finish.

    Sources

    Checked against these sources on 5 November 2026. Next review by 5 May 2027.

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