Webpage URLs & The Impact on Ranking

What are Webpage URLs

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a web page’s location used to direct users. For example, http://www.examplert4911.com/resources/contacts could be a URL for a page on some company’s website. As you can see, there are several parts to a URL.

Webpage URLs Scheme

• A scheme tells the browser what protocol it is using to exchange information. In this example, there is “HTTP”, which is the scheme. Other typical schemes include “HTTPS” (secure), “FTP” (for transferring files), and “mailto” (for email).

Authority

• The authority includes the domain name, which you can usually type to reach the website’s home page.

Webpage URLs Path

• This shows how to get from the home page to the desired location on the website. In the example URL, “/resources/contacts” show the path to the company’s “contacts” page. It is accessed from the home page to the “resources” page and clicks a link to the “contacts” page. You can even locate sections within a page using a URL, such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States#Geography, which links to the “Geography” section of the United States Wikipedia page.

What is SEO

If you want to make your website pop up in more search engine results, SEO can help. SEO is the art of making sites appear to more people in search results. There are many ways you can do this. For instance, you could improve your website’s design, leading to fewer customers “bouncing” and looking for another website instead.

Evidence

There is evidence that Google makes it so that websites with a lower “bouncing” rate benefit more from SEO. SEO experts know that using keywords helps increase website ranking and search results. Having a keyword and repeating it several times throughout your document will improve your standings in search results.

Other methods to gain followers and customers include word of mouth, advertisements, and social media. However, unless someone happens to see or hear about you, SEO is the best option. Even if you do not have the best prices, information, or whatever else would help you compete, SEO can get the most traffic to your website!

How to Create Parts of the Webpage URLs

SEO and URLs are not merely two isolated topics. You can use your URL to increase SEO for your website. The first thing that comes up in a URL is the scheme.

Primary Protocols in Webpage URLs

The two primary protocols used are HTTP and HTTPS. These are very similar, but there is one crucial difference. This difference is encryption. Because HTTP and HTTPS deal with sending and receiving information, you probably want the more secure one. Conveniently, the “s” in HTTPS stands for secure! Information you send over HTTP is seen word-for-word by anyone monitoring your actions. HTTPS encrypts that information and makes it impossible to understand by an outsider. Having HTTPS in your scheme will attract more security-conscious users also. Google expects this. Knowing there is less risk in visiting a website gives them peace of mind. 

Authority & URL

Authority is also essential in SEO. People are more likely to click on a website with certain URL domains. For example, it would be better to have a “.com” domain than a “.online.” Users will gravitate towards domains that they are comfortable and familiar with. The web is too uncertain of a place to click on just any URL.

Your URL should tell people that your website is safe and that it just might have what they want. It should be noted that a relevant domain name is also essential. The domain name should resemble the name of your company. For example, the URL www.seattlewebsitedesign.us helps the viewer understand that the website is for a web design company in Seattle. If your domain name was something like www.iamsohappytoday.com, but you were a custodial company, people might not click on your website just because they do not even know that you are a custodian.

Webpage URLs Path

The last part of your URL, the path, can also be adjusted to help you obtain maximum SEO. The course must be as short as possible. If someone wants to find a specific page on your website, they might want to type in the path in the search bar instead of clicking on links from the home page. To make it easy on them, you should create a short, simple way, like “/about/meet-the-team.” Backlinko has researched to show that shorter URLs are better than longer ones, as they improve your search ranking. If there is a way to condense your URL, it is in your best interest to do it.

This graph demonstrates the effect of a short URL on SEO:

source: https://neilpatel.com/blog/seo-urls/

Shorter Webpage URLs

The highest-ranked websites usually have shorter URLs than the lower-ranked websites. Just twelve extra characters result in a jump from first to tenth!  This highlights the importance of shortening URLs. This may be the most critical piece of a URL in SEO. As a guideline, neilpatel.com suggests using three to five words to keep it nice and short.

Keep Webpage URLs Easy to Understand

When writing a URL with SEO in mind, focus on readability. The average web user may only understand URLs containing clear, readable words. According to moz.com, several good practices take place URLs should be easy to understand and have wording relevant to their use. They should include total English words, not obscure abbreviations. URLs should be condensed and to the point. Spaces should be replaced with hyphens, not underscores, which is Google’s preference. All letters should be lowercase since uppercase letters can confuse the browser. Finally, it is good to avoid displaying parameters in the URL which are gibberish to the average user. A guide to the best SEO practices is shown in this image:

https://moz.com/learn/seo/url

These are all ways in which URLs influence SEO, but do they influence search rankings? After all, while a user might care about the security of HTTPS or the readability of a short URL, the web server does not. URLs do not have a significant effect on search rankings. Simply put, there are just other more critical aspects that weigh heavier in these rankings. Keywords can also affect rankings, but if adding one takes away from one of the more crucial attributes, do not bother them. Still, it should not be assumed that URLs are useless in terms of SEO. The previous recommendations mentioned previously still hold.

Webpage URLs Examples

For emphasis, let’s look at a good and bad URL example. First, what is wrong with the following?

http://www.001Seattwebdescompanywebsites.net/abt/cntcs/quality webdevelopersavailablein seattle

1. Does not have an HTTPS protocol.
2. The domain name is not specific, and it is not clear.
3. Abbreviations, uppercase letters, and underscores are used. Instead, there should be complete, easy-to-read words and hyphens in place of spaces.
4. The URL path is lengthy and not precise in terms of keywords.

A URL with these factors addressed may look something like this: https://www.seattleswebsitedesign.us/about/web-developer-james. This new URL is obviously for a specific contact (James) at a Seattle Web Design Agency website.

Takeaway on Webpage URLs

To recap, your website should include specific URLs. It is proven that URLs can have a positive or negative effect on searches.

If you have a business competing with other websites for the top spots in search results, consider changing the URL. Your website’s URL is only a single line of text, a few dozen characters long. Do not let just a few words keep you from seeing your business grow. Instead, take these few helpful online marketing tips and improve your website’s presence.