wadi logo
A colorful moiré pattern with overlaid wavy lines creating a cylindrical optical illusion.

Upgrade your marketing today

FURL And URL Rewrites

Regular URL and Friendly URL: What’s the Difference? URLs indicate the location of a document or page on the internet. It also describes the protocol
internet browser

Regular URL and Friendly URL: What’s the Difference?

URLs indicate the location of a document or page on the internet. It also describes the protocol used to access the resource. A regular URL usually has the following standard information: the protocol, the server location, the port number, and the location of the resource in the directory structure of the server.

Ideally, a URL structure should be constructed logically. URLs should be friendly so that it can help visitors remember the web address and so that it can help describe the page to search engines. What is a friendly URL and how is it different from a regular URL? A friendly URL is just a web address that is simple to read and contains words that describe the webpage’s content. Friendly URLs are human readable, descriptive, short, and consistent. Friendly URLs include keywords that describe the page content, and these keywords are often used to boost the page ranking. Having a descriptive URL gives people a reason to click the link. This is used as an effective SEO strategy.

Slash Structure and Hyphen URL: What’s the Difference?

There are several ways to create a URL structure.  There are some URLs that use a slash structure, and there are some that use hyphens. The right structure gives the site a greater chance of reaching the top of the search engines.

What is the difference between these two structures? The general difference lies in how Google reads it. Google sees a slash as a root of the folder. Slashes in URLs break all relative links. A URL with a trailing slash at the end indicates a directory listing. As a rule, a URL format must be without trailing slash. A URL ending in a trailing slash requires a 301 redirect to be sent out. The benefit of adding a slash is to avoid duplicates and to fetch proper content.

Google prefers URLs with hyphens when referencing a file or folder name. Hyphens are used for readability and they are more user-friendly. Google treats a hyphen as a word separator. If just spaces are used instead of hyphens, it takes away from the URL’s readability. Another advantage of using a hyphen is that it allows Google to get a clearer understanding of what the website is about. From an SEO perspective, using hyphens give the website a better chance of appearing higher on a Google search.

The Importance of 301 Redirection after a URL Rewrite

When a URL is rewritten, it alters the way that it is displayed. When a URL is rewritten, one important thing that should be done is to make sure that the former URL redirects to the current one.  To do this, it should undergo a 301 redirect process.  The 301 redirects URL to the new one, changing the URL that is displayed in the browser. This tells the search engines that any link that the old URL had should now be applied to the new URL. A URL rewrite is done so that it can be more SEO-friendly. A 301 is essential to maintaining a site’s search ranking and domain authority. 301 redirection is also important for a good user experience, instead of showing a 404 error page.

About the author

Paul Gladstone
Paul has 20+ years of digital marketing, business, and project management experience. He leads B2B Organic Marketing at Wadi, supports Glasgow Rangers, and enjoys off-road ultra running.

Share this Post