Readable addresses (URLs)

What we check

We collect the internal links of the home page, without files such as PDFs and images, and look at the addresses:

• Session IDs such as PHPSESSID or jsessionid in the address: a warning from the first link.
• Technical numbers instead of words, such as ?p=123, index.php?id=7 or /node/45: a warning from the first link.
• Parameters after the ?, capital letters, underscores, file extensions such as .php or .aspx, spaces, more than 100 characters and more than four levels: a note each, but only when at least three links or a fifth of all links are affected. A single outlier does not count.

A language or market folder at the start of the address such as /de-ch/ or /ch_de/ belongs to the structure of the whole site: it counts neither as a capital letter or underscore nor as a level. Campaign parameters such as utm_source, gclid or fbclid only count as parameters, not for length and levels, and each address counts once, even when it is linked with different campaigns.

In the report you see how many links we examined and how many are without issues.

Why it matters

The address of a page is part of its content. It appears in the search result, in the browser bar, in WhatsApp messages and on business cards. example.ch/services/heating says at once what the page offers. example.ch/index.php?id=17&cat=3 says nothing, and nobody types it out.

• Google reads the words in the address and shows them in the search result. Speaking addresses are clicked more often.
• Session IDs create a new address of the same page for every visitor. Google sees hundreds of duplicates and in the worst case indexes none of them.
• Technology in the address, such as .php or .aspx, changes with the next system switch. Then all old links are broken, in search results, directories and on other websites. Addresses without an extension survive every relaunch.
• Capital letters and underscores lead to typos and doubles: /Contact and /contact are two pages for Google.

Good addresses are short, lowercase, separated by hyphens and stay the same for years.

How to fix it

WordPress

Under "Settings › Permalinks" choose "Post name". This removes addresses such as ?p=123. WordPress redirects the old addresses automatically. Afterwards check the addresses of individual pages in the editor, where the part after the domain can be adjusted.

Drupal, TYPO3, Joomla

Enable speaking addresses: in Drupal the "Pathauto" module, in TYPO3 the "speaking URLs" of the site configuration, in Joomla "Search engine friendly URLs". Set up redirects from /node/45 and the like to the new addresses.

Wix, Jimdo, Squarespace

The builders create readable addresses from the page title. Check the "URL slug" in the page settings: short, lowercase, hyphens.

Choosing new addresses

• Lowercase, words separated by hyphens: /our-services, not /Our_Services.
• The two to four most important words, no filler words: /replace-heating instead of /everything-about-replacing-the-heating.
• At most three to four levels: /services/heating, not /en/content/services/building-technology/heating.
• No file extension, no numbers, no dates unless the content is tied to a date.
• Every old address that might be linked somewhere gets a permanent redirect (301) to the new one.

How to check it yourself

Hover over the menu items on the home page and read the address at the bottom left of the browser. Could you dictate it to someone over the phone? Then it is good.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to change existing addresses? That sounds risky.

Only if a new system is coming anyway or the addresses are really unusable, such as "?p=123". Every change needs redirects from all old to the new addresses, otherwise rankings and links are lost.

Do umlauts in addresses count as a problem?

No. "/über-uns" is allowed and easy for visitors to read; the browser encodes the umlaut internally. To be on the safe side, write "/ueber-uns".

I have only one link with parameters, for example the search. Is that bad?

No. For search and filters parameters are right. We only report them when at least three links or a fifth of all links are affected.