Lowercase: URLs should be all lowercase to avoid duplicate content issues if your server treats uppercase and lowercase as different.
Hyphens vs. Underscores: Use hyphens (-) as word separators because search engines treat them as spaces, improving readability and SEO.
Query Parameters: Clean URLs without excessive query parameters are generally easier for both users and search engines to interpret.
Trailing Slash:
If a URL represents a directory or a non-file resource, it is best to include a trailing slash for consistency and to avoid potential duplicate URLs. However, if your URL points to a file (e.g., ending with .html, .php, etc.), the absence of a trailing slash is acceptable.
Example:
Ideal directory URL: https://example.com/blog/ (with trailing slash)
Ideal file-based URL: https://example.com/article.html (no trailing slash needed)
Path Segments: Keep them short and descriptive for both readability and SEO.
Example of an ideal URL:
This URL is ideal because it’s all lowercase, uses hyphens to separate words, ends with a trailing slash (consistent for a directory), and has no unnecessary query parameters.
Compare that to:
In the latter, uppercase letters, underscores, and query parameters reduce clarity and can cause duplicate content issues.