UI/UX Tip 11: Optimize URLs for Users and Search Engines

URLs can be used by both search engines and users to navigate between websites.

Google, Bing and other search engines are getting more sophisticated. It’s crucial to think about the “user experience” of these search engines.

Taking into account the UX of URLs and Domain Names

URLs are rarely updated. If you want your users to return to your website often, they shouldn’t be changed. Nielsen Norman research has shown that people are more likely to guess domain names than search for them. If they have visited the site before, they may use a history or bookmark. Although they may seem insignificant in the scheme of things, URLs matter. It is important to think about URL structure and domain names.

A URL begins with a domain name. It should be:

• Simple to remember
• It is easy to type and spell
• Clear as possible
• Authentic to the service

It’s important to establish a domain name.

• Descriptive. To strategically link navigation to the content of a page, you can use relevant keywords. This is also a good SEO tip.
• Be consistent with the site’s organization and structure
• Hackable means that users can hack off the URL to access higher levels of your site.

These elements generate URLs with clear and meaningful content that provide direction to search engines and users .

Links that link Navigation to Content help direct users

Denise Jacobs wrote “The Missing Element of Redesign” that an allusion is a reference to an event, person or thing in literature. An allusion can be interpreted casually as a reference to something. [ . . . ] A well-crafted URL can make allusions to the content below on the meta scale of a website.

A URL that contains relevant keywords and a short description will show users what content they can expect to find.

The URL below can be used to identify whether the page or post is relevant to your query.

You can give users a quick glimpse of the content by using URLs to help them find their way.

Other Do’s and Don’ts of Optimized URLs

URL Optimization – Best practices to increase usability and organize traffic The author suggests that URL optimization should be considered as similar to copywriting. You need to pay attention to the best practices and rules that will maximize your ability to direct and organize page traffic. Here are some guidelines for URL writing.

Do’s

• Avoid using as, to, to.
• Important keywords should be included at the URL’s beginning
• Google prefers to index URLs with hyphens over underscores.

Dont’s

• Do not repeat words: Avoid repeating keywords between product and category (page) names
• Don’t CAPITALIZE keywords
• Avoid dynamically generated URLs as they can cause duplicates due to session IDs, sorting options, and so on.

URLs can be optimized and improved just as any other UX aspect, Rand Fishkin explains in 15 Best SEO Practices for Structuring URLs. He provides a list of best practices for creating good URLs. These three are especially important for this conversation:

1. The better the information that can be read by humans, the more valuable it is
2. It’s still a good idea to include keywords in URLs
3. Shorter > longer

Although the above lists don’t provide all of the best URL practices, they can be a good starting point. Pay attention to these points when optimizing URLs.

A URL that is too complex for users will be difficult to understand for search engines. This point is reinforced by extensive research at Microsoft as well as Google.

Conclusion

It is important to pay attention to the smallest details in an increasingly crowded Internet environment. URLs must be evaluated for usability. Search engine optimization Is important. We recommend that search engines be considered as key users of your site. Your URL will not only improve usability, but it will also help you get noticed.